• by Colin Kirkland , July 26, 2023

TikTok is moving forward with recent plans to launch an e-commerce business in the U.S.

The company will launch the shopping center in early August, selling made-in-China goods to consumers. 

The social-media platform will store and ship clothes, electronics and kitchen gadgets via Chinese manufacturers and merchants, as well as running marketing, transactions, logistics and after-sale services, the report explains. 

In addition, users will be able to leave reviews for both products shipped by TikTok and external sellers. 

The “TikTok Shop Shopping Center” will also expand the TikTok Shop program through which consumers are able to shop directly from videos, Lives, and profiles of creators and brands. 

Parent company ByteDance made livestream shopping massively popular in Asian markets through TikTok’s Chinese counterpart, Douyin. In fact, TikTok has already rolled out a shopping tab and live shopping features in countries outside the U.S. But TikTok’s previous test of a live shopping feature with select retailers drew lukewarm results in Western markets.

Now the company will attempt to diversify its revenue stream from advertising while challenging Amazon and popular Chinese shopping platforms like Shein and Temu, which have been successful in the U.S. market. 

To break through consumer skepticism, the short-form video app has continued to introduce ecommerce features, including “Trendy Beat,” which showcases products made by TikTok, as well as a Shop feed with livestream capability the company began testing in July.