TikTok Live Shopping

Think QVC in the digital world. Live shopping has been slow in the west. TikTok tried to launch it in the UK but has since abandoned the investment after expectations were not met. The launch in the U.S will happen just before the holidays and will feature livestreams with e-commerce to allow viewers to buy products without leaving the app.

The platform is partnering with Los Angeles-based TalkShopLive to bring live shopping to the United States. Live shopping is a massive success in China, where annual sales are in the hundreds of billions, though western consumers haven’t responded to it the same way. Facebook has abandoned its live shopping in the beginning of October.

What that means for businesses remains to be seen. We don’t know if TikTok live shopping will be open to all interested businesses or only limited brands. Let’s wait and see what happens.