Like many emerging social media players, questions surround TikTok’s business model and monetization ambitions. And like several social players that preceded it, TikTok continues to ramp up and double down on user traction as it engineers the monetization end. It just passed 1 billion monthly active users.
Meanwhile, signs point to an advertising-fueled model that’s partly built around shopping. This makes sense as it’s organic to TikTok (e.g. product placement). Successful brands on TikTok have embraced the medium’s raw and unscripted vibe to boost engagement. The handoff to shopping could be next.
TikTok took a step in that direction this week with its new Seller app. With an initial rollout in Indonesia – where TikTok often tests things that we’ll soon see in the West – it provides a mobile hub for sellers to run their stores. This includes everything from managing inventory to tracking performance.
This is the latest but not the first move TikTok has made in eCommerce. As we’ve examined, the company has formed partnerships with Shopify and others, including the ability to distribute content from those stores on TikTok. This week’s move zeroes in on stores that reside directly on TikTok.
Jumping-off Point
Going deeper on TikTok’s new app, it’s meant for brands, SMBs, or anyone interesting in starting an eCommerce Store on TikTok. As noted, it provides a mobile jumping-off point to manage all aspects of a TikTok-native store including signing up, managing promotions, and customer communications.
As further background TikTok has accelerated eCommerce through the eCommerce integrations mentioned above. Brands and users can also create a “shopping” tab on their TikTok profiles that link to a TikTok-native store. The new app essentially provides a dedicated place to manage those stores.
Available on iOS devices initially, other features include access to educational materials on eCommerce strategies. Though that’s an established playbook, there are specific tactics to being effective on TikTok, such as the unscripted approach noted above. The new app provides a crash course.
The app could also soon integrate with related programs such as ad campaigns. In fact, we’ve theorized in the past that TikTok’s eCommerce rollouts could be meant to boost its ad business. In other words, it’s free to sell wares through TikTok videos, but paid campaigns can amplify those creations.
This amplification takes place through product-centric TikToks. Here, the option already exists for brands to highlight and link to products within videos. Paid amplification lets sellers gain greater scale and target audience groups. In fact, campaign management could be next for TikTok’s mobile app.
Create with Intent
Back to the concept of shopping as an organic activity on TikTok, it reports that the #TikTokMadeMe BuyIt hashtag – applied when users boast TikTok inspired purchases – has exceeded 4.6 billion uses. TikTok users are also 1.7 times more likely to purchase products through its app shopping features.
In fact, “organic” is a key principle at TikTok, as Head of SMB & Operations Rebecca Sawyer told us during May’s Localogy Place conference. This involves video productions that align with the platform’s signature unscripted vibe, as noted. This means things like products placed in everyday scenarios.
“Brands should approach the platform in a way that feels native and is similar to the way any user would approach the platform,” Sawyer said. This means that brands should engage the experience as if they were an organic user. Get to know the language and style of the platform, and “create with intent.”
How does all of this translate to SMBs? It’s all about content that’s genuine, such as behind-the-scenes footage. That could be everything from a restaurant kitchen to a pizza delivery ride-along. Sawyer cites a particularly-popular beekeeper who builds narratives around the honey production process.
These examples also signal TikTok’s broad applicability. Varied SMB verticals use it — everything from bars to beekeepers. The common thread for success goes back to being native and genuine. And this ongoing lesson at TikTok will carry over to its developing eCommerce and advertising playbook.
