TikTok begins testing in-app shopping in the United States

Popular short video platform TikTok has reportedly begun testing its in-app shopping feature in the United States earlier this week, as reported by Semafor.

The feature, named ‘’TikTok Shop’’, will allow users to buy products from sellers directly within the app, without having to visit their websites.

In fact, TikTok has been offering the feature in several markets for a while, including Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom.

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‘’We’ve seen the positive impact of TikTok Shop, and we’re excited to continue experimenting with this new commerce opportunity to support businesses of all sizes,” said a spokesperson for the company in a statement to Semafor, without providing any further details.

According to Semafor’s report, only U.S. businesses will initially be able to start selling products via their TikTok Shops. However, the ByteDance-owned company plans to expand it to international sellers in the future.

The news comes a month after sources familiar with the matter said TikTok held talks with TalkShopLive to launch live-shopping in the United States. The company also announced a partnership with Shopify last year to enable Shopify merchants to sell their goods on the platform. 

Given the fact that the U.S. is one of the largest markets of TikTok, which has over 3 billion app downloads in total, launching TikTok Shop in the country could help businesses grow their sales significantly. The timing also seems to be in favour of the launch thanks to the holiday shopping season.