TikTok and Shopify tie the knot: we will be able to shop between videos

Mixed marriage in the e-commerce world, or rather, social commerce world. The Chinese platform and the Canadian marketplace said yes to a union that will allow the millions of users that already use the app to make also purchases within it. 

TikTok was launched in 2016 as a new Chinese social network that allowed the creation of short videos editable with filters and other effects. It had a great success, especially among millennials and the generation Z, even if the over 30s posting videos in the app are not a few. These also include celebrities such as Jessica Alba and Will Smith. It was the app star of the lockdown that unleashed the creativity of the millions of people confined at home due to the pandemic, placing first among the most profitable apps during quarantine with revenues of $ 78 million (ten times higher than the pre-lockdown period). In the first quarter of 2020 alone, TikTok and its Chinese sister app Douyin generated 315 million downloads worldwide. And now the app founded by Alex Zhu and Luyu Yang expands its horizons by deciding to focus on in-app shopping and it does so by partnering with Shopify.

The latter is in fact an e-commerce platform that allows you to create, in a few clicks, an online store that can be easily customized and managed. There is no software that needs to be installed. You just have to create an account, choose one of the proposed themes and, in exchange of a monthly fee and a percentage of the store’s sales, Shopify provides all the digital infrastructures necessary for the creation and maintenance of the online shop, staying always updated and operational 24/7.

These were the words that formalized the union: “We’re thrilled to be the first partner to welcome TikTok to the world of commerce, particularly right now, as our merchants prepare for a busy online holiday shopping season”  said Satish Kanwar, VP of Product at Shopify. Blake Chandlee, Vice President, Global Business Solutions at TikTok said: “We are delighted to partner with Shopify and provide a channel for their merchants to reach new audiences and drive sales on TikTok”.

How will it work?

Merchants will be able to create and manage real marketing campaigns on TikTok directly from the Shopify dashboard. In this way they will create and share content, turning it into video ads that will promote their brands and appear in the TikTok feed. Sellers will also be able to set their target audience based on age, gender, user behavior and video category. Users interested in the advertised product will be able to make the purchase directly in the app and pay through Shopify.