TikTok and Shopify introduce TikTok Shopping

Tiktok and Shopify have announced TikTok Shopping, making Shopify the first commerce platform to link with the rapidly growing social video network. This partnership boosts the social commerce landscape, a market projected to bring in up to $36 billion in revenue this year in the U.S. alone.

The new in-app shopping experience will let Shopify merchants connect with their TikTok profiles to create a mini-storefront for consumers.

Product links in TikTok Shopping will also be available to tag products in organic TikTok posts, enabling any video watcher to shop directly from the platform.

While the TikTok Shopping experience provides a new channel for Shopify merchants to sell, it also gives creators an opportunity to monetize their content on TikTok.

One of the first businesses that will participate in TikTok Shopping is Kylie Cosmetics, a social-driven ecommerce beauty line started by Kylie Jenner.

“By enabling new in-app shopping experiences and product discovery on TikTok for the first time, Shopify is powering the creator economy on one of the fastest-growing social and entertainment platforms in the world,” said Shopify President Harley Finkelstein in a statement. “We are excited to help this next generation of entrepreneurs connect with their audiences in more ways, with TikTok as a visionary partner.”

Why we care. Shopify is an ecommerce platform to watch in the evolving social commerce space. In order to meet customers where they are, digital marketers are trying to close the distance between social content and buying. Social media platforms like TikTok are where consumers are exposed to new products through discovery and “authentic” pitches by influencers. The TikTok Shopping experience will allow marketers to close the gap even further on a platform with hundreds of millions of active users.

Shopify also claims that between February 2020 and February 2021, installs across Shopify’s existing social commerce channels increased by 76%. With the pandemic challenges persisting and no “old normal” in sight, social commerce will continue to be a driver of growth essential to any marketer’s playbook for the foreseeable future.

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