TikTok ready to launch in-app commerce in UK soon

TikTok is reportedly working to test in-app commerce in Europe, a move that will intensify its competition with Facebook and further blur the line between social media and online shopping.

The popular video app is hoping to replicate the success of its Chinese-only business Douyin, which racked up $26 billion of in-app commerce transactions in just its first year of operation.

TikTok has begun working with merchants in markets including the UK on ways they can sell products directly to millions of users within the app, people familiar with the matter say.

While TikTok has run promotional shopping campaigns in the past, the current trials are a precursor to a broader launch of a global e-commerce service.

The prototype so far is only visible to select participants and it remains unknown when the company will kick off the formal launch.

ByteDance is moving aggressively into a $1.7 trillion Chinese e-commerce arena in hopes of adding another mega-growth story to its stable ahead of a much-anticipated initial public offering.

It aims to handle more than $185 billion of in-app commerce annually by 2022, building on the reach of social media wunderkinds TikTok and Douyin.

Unlike Chinese rivals Alibaba or Tencent, ByteDance’s apps also enjoy a broad global fan base and co-founder Zhang Yiming wants to use that as a springboard into the game of online commerce.

“Chinese internet companies will go and incentivise behaviours they think they need for the next stage of ecosystem behaviour,” said Rui Ma, a partner with Synaptic Ventures.

“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.”

The internet giant remains a late entrant to China’s social commerce scene, where influencers tout products to fans like a Gen-Z version of the Home Shopping Network. It’s counting on its artificial intelligence-driven, interest-based recommendations to help its in-app commerce business catch up.

“TikTok has been testing and learning with e-commerce offerings and partnerships, and we are constantly exploring new ways to add value,” the company said in an emailed statement. “We will provide updates as we explore these important avenues for our community of users, creators and brands.”