• by Colin Kirkland , August 9, 2023

To extend its ecommerce and liveshopping capabilities and make it easier for merchants in the UK to sell on TikTok Shop with the launch of “Fulfilled by TikTok” (FBT), TikTok is starting a new logistics program that ensures products are shipped faster to U.K. shoppers.

FBT is “designed to help free merchants from time-consuming logistics via a simple, fast and affordable solution, so they can focus on important aspects of their business such as marketing, content and product development,” the ByteDance-owned company explained in a blog post.

Merchants who are interested in the program will hand over a volume of their stock when they sign up, which TikTok says will be stored at a warehouse. Sellers have the option to select which of their products and how many they want to be stored and shipped through FBT.

“Once a merchant’s items are stored in the FBT warehouse, when an order is placed the warehouse will pick, pack and label the merchandise before it is shipped,” the company added.

To be eligible for FBT, merchants must be both based in and delivering to the UK. In addition, packages must not exceed 66 pounds in weight per shipment. TikTok Shop will charge fees for warehousing, shipping and other added value services like labeling, pre-packaging and inserting leaflets.

TikTok claims that the program offers same-day fulfillment for all orders made by 7pm, between Monday and Saturday. 

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.<

This new program marks an ongoing effort by the social media platform to scale in-app shopping and live-stream ecommerce in the West shortly after introducing other ecommerce features like “Trendy Beat,” which showcases products made by TikTok, as well as a Shop feed with livestream capability the company began testing in July.