Shopify expands TikTok partnership to boost payments volume as social commerce surges

The news: Shopify and TikTok expanded their existing partnership—a marketing tie-up formed in October—with a pilot program that lets merchants enable more shoppable content on TikTok, per TechCrunch.

Here’s how it works: Merchants with a TikTok for Business account can create dedicated shopping tabs on their profiles and sync product catalogs so customers can shop directly from the app.

They can also create product links to tag in their TikTok videos so users can easily discover products within videos and purchase them in the app. For now, only US and UK Shopify merchants can access the features, but it’ll roll out in Canada in the coming weeks.

The opportunity: TikTok has a vast user base—and Shopify’s expanded relationship with the app can help it take advantage of the growing popularity of social commerce, potentially opening growth opportunities for solutions like Shop Pay.

• The number of US TikTok users is expected to grow 18.3% year over year to hit 78.7 million this year, according to Insider Intelligence forecasts. And the average daily time spent on the app is expected to continue its upward trajectory—making it an attractive shopping destination that merchants can target.
• The new TikTok features give Shopify merchants direct access to the app’s user base. It also helps Shopify capitalize on social commerce and increase its gross merchandise volume and revenues, which hit $1.119 billion in Q2.
• The features could also be bundled with Shop Pay, Shopify’s dedicated buy button, if the company decides to expand the solution to TikTok—merchants can already use it on Facebook, Instagram, and Google.

For a deeper dive into Shopify's expanded partnership with TikTok, check out this article from our eMarketer briefing.