WE COULD SOON BE SHOPPING ON TIKTOK AS THEY TEST A NEW ECOMMERCE FEATURE.

Continuous innovation and diversification are necessary in order to stay successful with your users. Although TikTok is still growing in popularity, they must continue to innovate with fresh features to compete with already diversified platforms. Due to this need for constant growth, the next step for TikTok is certain to be eCommerce.

YouTube and Facebook do not just have one feature for their users. Inside, other features have been introduced by these platforms to allow creators to have another source of revenue. TikTok has yet to implement this on their platform to their developers. Their advertisement structure has yet to match the big platforms such as YouTube and Facebook. If TikTok does not act quickly to fix this lack of revenue for its creators, it will result in the demotivation of creators to remain on this platform.

The solution to TikTok’s dilemma is e-commerce options, leading to a simple path for developers to create opportunities for monetisation. The app is slowly integrating this approach into its platform through Shopify and Walmart. However, it will not end there, as the launch of a feature that allows popular creators to share product links has been outlined by TikTok. Therefore, when users click on their link, creators will earn a commission from each purchase. This feature enables brands to promote a range of items and a Livestream shopping experience will be available to users. This acts as a mobile version of TV shopping networks, enabling users to buy from their favourite creators.

When can we use this feature?

At present, these features are being tested or are still in the process of development. In the Chinese version of TikTok, Douyin, these features are already in full use. Douyin has reportedly accumulated most of its revenue from this integrated eCommerce compared to advertising. TikTok has also been exploring links to video commerce, leading to their collaboration with Shopify.

It’s not all good for TikTok. They got into some trouble last year, too. They were banned in India and almost banned in the US. Complications such as these have undoubtedly contributed to the limited development of options for monetization. To discourage creators from moving to other platforms, resulting in a potential loss of users. TikTok will continue to test these new features to ensure that it generates a generous stream of revenue for its creators. 

TikTok needs to ensure that creators can achieve a quality level of revenue to keep them from moving to other platforms. It is no surprise that TikTok is heading in the same direction, with Douyin already launching eCommerce options with great results on their app. We can certainly expect more creativity from the platform in the near future.

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