ByteDance, the parent company of Tiktok, has started e-commerce testing on the Tiktok platform. The largest startup in the world has tied up with streetwear label Hype to test in-app purchasing in Europe. Experts believe that Tiktok is ready to compete with Facebook in the e-commerce sector based on social media. Not only that, but this move will also reduce the gap between social media and e-commerce.
Bytedance Testing about Social Media based E-commerce?
Bytedance is riding high on the success of Douyin in the e-commerce sector in China. Douyin, Tiktok Chinese version released by Bytedance, has helped in $26 billion e-commerce transactions in a year in China.
With the help of Tiktok, Bytedance wants to repeat the Douyin e-commerce experiment worldwide. It plans to start e-commerce operations from UK and Europe. As per the agreement with few e-commerce firms in UK and Europe, Bytedance will allow them to sell their products directly on the Tiktok platform. It will be a win-win situation for e-commerce firms and Tiktok both
In past also, Tiktok has helped e-commerce firms to promote their products but the recent feature is a broader launch of e-commerce on the Tiktok platform.
Currently, the Tiktok e-commerce feature will be available for limited users. The startup did not reveal the official launch date yet. Hype, an e-commerce firm, has also confirmed that the platform had tied up with Tiktok for e-commerce business.
Bloomberg has taken the screenshot of the Tiktok account that displays a range of merchandise with product images and prices.
After revolutionizing the short video ecosystem, Bytedance expects the same level of growth in the e-commerce sector worldwide. The startup targets to perform $185 billion transactions annually by 2022 based on its social media reach. The startup is on the way to utilize its short video popularity in online commerce experiments.
Can Bytedance Become Popular in Online Commerce?
Will Bytedance be successful in its new operation? Answering this question, Rui Ma, a partner with Synaptic Ventures said:
“Chinese internet companies will go and incentivize behaviors they think they need for the next stage of ecosystem behavior. TikTok has a lot of learnings from China and Douyin, but the dynamics and infrastructure in the international market are different so they need to make sure they” adapt.”
Talking about the social media-based e-commerce initiative, Bytedance said:
“TikTok has been testing and learning with e-commerce offerings and partnerships, and we are constantly exploring new ways” to add value.”
It further added:
“We will provide updates as we explore these important avenues for our community of users, creators, and brands.”
Online retail is getting great responses worldwide. It is expected that it will generate $5 trillion in revenue this year. Social media platforms like Pinterest, Facebook, and Tiktok want to contribute maximum in the online sale by their established networks.
Tiktok has also signed a memorandum of understanding(MoU) with e-commerce giants including Walmart and Shopify. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram have either set up their in-app storefronts or channel users to third-party services.
