Let's tok Shop

After nearly a year of testing and development, TikTok is rolling out TikTok Shop to all of its ~150 million US users.

Here’s how the feature works (if you’re not among the ~40% of US users who already have it available):

• Users are able to access TikTok Shop – basically a marketplace of various goods – either through a standalone tab called “Shop,” or via videos on their FYP containing products that link back to the Shop.
• Once a user is ready to check out from the Shop, they’ll be prompted to enter their details and pay right there; TikTok will be processing payments through its app, Bloomberg reports.
• The company has also built fulfillment centers, meaning it could potentially process the transaction, then ship orders straight to doors across the US. Think: Amazon, but with a wildly popular social media app attached (that already has a hashtag called #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt with ~70 billion views).

TikTok Shop isn’t without its issues, however. During beta testing, users and news orgs reported encountering a preponderance of cheap, knock-off goods made in China, and being overwhelmed with all of the products available (which range from a $2.99 apparently counterfeit Nike sweatshirt to a $6.99 statue of a “naughty dwarf” sitting on a toilet). Plus, the additional data the Chinese-headquartered app will need to collect in order to process and fulfill orders may put US regulators on further notice.

But TikTok Shop also has some things going for it, which is nice (s/o Caddyshack). The company says it’s already signed up 200,000 sellers to the platform, including big names like PacSun, Revolv, OtterBox, and Willow Boutique.

👀 Looking ahead… TikTok has set a goal to sell $20 billion worth of goods through its Shop tab over the rest of this year – so prepare to see more and more orange shopping cart icons on your FYP.