• by Karlene Lukovitz  @KLmarketdaily, December 8, 2021

TikTok is testing TikTok Seller, an app that lets brands and merchants use its TikTop Shopping features to manage their TikTok ecommerce shops from smartphones.

The app, currently available only in Indonesia, lets users who register as sellers manage and analyze promotions and campaigns, as well as inventory, orders and other aspects of their online businesses.

If the pilot is deemed a success, TikTok would presumably expand it to other markets.

TikTok has been running its Shopping pilots from Indonesia, which it frequently uses as an ecommerce test market because of its population’s mobile-first lifestyle (64% were accessing the internet via their mobile phones as of 2020).  

This year, after launching a website in Indonesia to educate brands about how to advertise products on videos and sell through its app — a “Seller University” — TikTok launched a pilot of its TikTok Shopping tools among select Shopify merchants with a TikTok for Business account in the U.S., U.K. and Canada.

Participating Shopping merchants added a “Shopping” tab to their TikTok profiles to sync product catalogs and create mini storefronts on the app, reported TechCrunch.

TikTok subsequently expanded its partners to include Square and others, introduced new LIVE shopping features that let brands share dynamic links during live broadcasts, and enabled access to ad formats for online shopping that can target users with personalized videos, generate leads and offer swipeable product catalogs.