From its sudden boom during the pandemic, the continuous rise of the video sharing platform sees TikTok entering a new venture in late 2022 for users across North America.
Business Standard reports that TikTok will launch in the e-commerce scene by allowing users to use the Live Shopping feature in North America, starting the holiday season.
TikTok Will Now Let North American Users Shop With TalkShopLive
Following the launch of the feature in Asia and the United Kingdom, TikTok is allegedly partnering with Los Angeles-based outsourced technology 'TalkShopLive' to provide support for live stream selling, Financial Times writes.
This feature will let influencers, brands, and retailers sell and buy products through links on the screen during live broadcasts on the app, allowing users to make transactions within the comforts of their own homes, says Mashable.
TikTok has not confirmed or denied anything yet, but according to Financial Times, agreements are in the works and under consideration even if there has not been any contract signing yet, Engadget reports.
Mixed Reviews For Similar Feature Come From Across The Globe
According to an article from Engadget, TikTok's sister app in China, which allowed live e-commerce broadcasts in Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines, had massive success in the past year.
Douyin, the outsourced technology for live selling in Asia, reportedly hosted nine million broadcasts per month and sold billions of products only from May 2021 to May 2022.
"When it comes to market expansion for TikTok Shop we are always guided by demand and are constantly exploring new and different options for how we can best serve our community, creators and merchants in markets around the world," the company said in a statement to Financial Times.
However, TikTok Shop's launch in the United Kingdom apparently did not go as well as the Asian-wide rollout earlier this year, as sales targets were not met by the UK market, forcing influencers and brands to back out.
Financial Times also revealed that after an investigation, it was found that some members of the staff have suffered from aggressive work culture regarding the UK shopping feature, contributing to its failure with unrealistic targets.
Although still alleged, TikTok's supposed partnership with TalkShopLive could not have come at a greater time as rival Facebook has just abandoned its Live Shopping feature, much to the dismay of its users, Engadget claims.
"Livestreaming participation in the US is growing, albeit slowly compared to other countries such as China, which indicates that trial periods and consumer education are necessary to encourage the use of this tool on social media," said Katie Hansen, senior retail and ecommerce analyst at Mintel, tells Financial Times.
In recent years, TikTok has made it easier and free to advertise small businesses that follow micro-trends in order to get ahead with the help of the algorithm through video content creation.
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