TikTok, Shopify Pilot Simplified In-App Shopping
"TikTok is uniquely placed at the center of content and commerce, and these new solutions make it even easier for businesses of all sizes to create engaging content that drives consumers directly to the digital point of purchase,” said Blake Chandlee, president, global business solutions at TikTok, in the release, while crediting the platform for transforming shopping into an experience rooted in “discovery, connection and entertainment.”
"Creators are paving the way for a new kind of entrepreneurship where content, community and commerce are key,” Harley Finkelstein, president of Shopify, added. “By enabling new in-app shopping experiences and product discovery on TikTok for the first time, Shopify is powering the creator economy on one of the fastest-growing social and entertainment platforms in the world.”
Video-sharing social platform TikTok has expanded its partnership with Shopify, making it the first commerce platform to bring organic product discovery and shopping tabs to TikTok.
Through the “TikTok Shopping” pilot, Shopify merchants with a TikTok For Business account will be able to add a shopping tab to their TikTok profiles and sync their product catalogs to create a mini storefront that links directly to their online store for checkout, making it easy for consumers to explore and buy products they discover on the platform.
The TikTok Shopping pilot is currently available to Shopify merchants in the U.S. and U.K. A select group of merchants in Canada will participate in the pilot in the coming weeks, and the feature will roll out to additional regions in the coming months. Shopify merchants can request early access to the TikTok Shopping pilot via Shopify’s TikTok channel.
As more brands and retailers alike explore TikTok’s potential as a marketing and selling tool, the platform (which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance) is looking to gain more ground as a creative outlet that can help merchants drive sales and make connections with new audiences.
Shopify and TikTok have also partnered to bring product links to Shopify merchants, which can be used to tag products in organic TikTok posts. The TikTok community can choose to shop directly from the merchant’s storefront or click a tagged product in a merchant’s TikTok video, which will take them to the merchant's online store for checkout.
