According to a report in Semafor, China-based short video platform TikTok is officially testing an e-commerce feature called TikTok Shop in the U.S. TikTok Shop has previously been launched in the U.K. and Southeast Asia.
Currently, TikTok is said to be limiting sales of products on TikTok Shop to invited U.S. retailers, meaning retailers located outside the U.S. that wish to promote products to American consumers via TikTok need to direct U.S. shoppers to other e-commerce sites. However, TikTok reportedly plans to enable retailers outside the U.S. to participate in the American version of TikTok Shop over time.
Semafor reports that the pilot of TikTok Shop in the U.S. is part of a larger effort by TikTok’s parent company, China-based ByteDance, to establish a robust livestream shopping business in the U.S. which it internally refers to as “Project Aquaman.”
Source: Chain Storage
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