As one of the largest social media platforms on the market today, TikTok is a juggernaut. It is a content factory that has seen people develop legendary status in the short time the app has existed. It has gone from a massive social media craze to a genuine opportunity for people to become media celebrities and massive names in the next generation. However, the app has kept ahead of its competitors one due to massive funding but two due to the fact it keeps innovating. The latest addition of a trial for in-app shopping is another innovation.
While other social media platforms like Facebook have been doing this for time, the move to include this as part of the TikTok platform could be massive. Many influencers and big names on TikTok will now be able to better monetise their accounts, helping them to turn their current huge follower base into consumers who buy into their brand mythology.
The massive video app is growing all the time, and will be looking to replicate the massive success of Chinese platform Douyin to come up with the in-house shopping app. Douyin are a big name in the eCommerce scene, with the company racking up some $26bn in transactions within its first year of operation. TikTok will also work with merchant groups in the UK to try and find ways to make direct sales of products through the app possible.
This will see TikTok work with major streetwear brands such as Hype to come up with an in-app sales program for Europe. Douyin is a Chinese-only platform that has immediately shown the path to success in this kind of field. TikTok, then, wants to help offer these opportunities to its millions of users across the European social media scene.
The Next Step In Promotional Progress
While in the past TikTok has enjoyed some wonderful promotional campaigns, the current trial programs are among the largest yet. This would be the pre-emptive move before moving into a massive global e-commerce program. The pilot program will be given to certain people to test out, and eventually it might lead to a formal launch of the program.
At the moment, the partnership with Hype will see TikTok form an alliance with a major streetwear name. This would give Hype a storefront within TikTok that would allow for people to buy merchandise as they would on any other online store.
With the Chinese eCommerce scene being worth in excess of $1.5tn, there is an obvious knowledge for Chinese-based companies about the power of online buying. By introducing this to the European market, it would give TikTok another leg-up over many of its competitors.
The hope is that it would be able to handle a huge amount of eCommerce in the future. Indeed, ByteDance is making a huge move into the eCommerce platform as it sees the opportunity to help continue building this massive new ecosystem. Chinese eCommerce platforms are growing thanks to their slow but sure move into Western and global markets.
TikTok has seen the next step to its plan come alive in pilots – how long, then, until you can buy goodies from your favourite influencers?