TikTok Shop turns to livestreaming to maintain momentum

The stat: TikTok Shop’s gross sales have topped $1 billion monthly since July, putting it on track to hit its goal of $17.5 billion in US gross merchandise sales this year, per The Information.

Why it matters: After early growing pains, TikTok Shop is finally making headway with consumers—just as the app faces an existential crisis in the US. Despite the threat of a ban, the company is pressing on with its ecommerce ambitions, particularly with regards to livestreaming, as it tries to replicate the playbook that turned sister app Douyin into a major retail player in China.

While live-shopping adoption is in its infancy in the US, TikTok sees it as the key to growing ecommerce sales given the channel’s ability to drive impulse buys and increase purchase frequency.

• Live shopping was the main focus of TikTok’s first partner summit for US sellers, with the company offering up advice on how merchants could build their live-selling operations and find studio space to film livestreams.
• The platform is pushing brands to host more frequent—and longer—livestreams to maximize engagement.
• And TikTok is also working on tools to make livestreaming easier for creators, such as an AI-powered script generator, and exploring the possibility of incorporating “gimmicks” to encourage impulse buying.

Our take: TikTok Shop is rapidly becoming an important ecommerce player, thanks to its popularity with Gen Z shoppers.

• More than half of Gen Z marketplace shoppers have made a purchase on the platform, per an EMARKETER survey.
• TikTok is tied with Instagram as Gen Zers’ top destination for social commerce, with more than half (54%) planning to shop for holiday gifts on the app this year.

As livestream shopping slowly gains currency with US shoppers, TikTok is poised to benefit—assuming it can avoid a ban.

Go further: Read our report on The US Online Marketplace Shopper.