(Bloomberg) — TikTok’s in-app shopping feature has gone live for users in Spain and Ireland, marking the first steps in an expansion of ByteDance Ltd.’s fastest-growing business across Europe.
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TikTok Shop officially debuted in the two countries Tuesday after a clutch of creators set up digital stores and linked products from electric fryers to health supplements to their videos.
The roll-out reflects TikTok’s push to seek out alternative markets in the face of a potential US shutout. A federal appeals court last week upheld the Biden administration’s divest-or-ban law against the Chinese-owned app, citing national security concerns.
The initial products on Spain’s TikTok Shop span categories from beauty to home appliances and fast-moving consumer goods, with a price range from €3 ($3.16) to €60, according to a list TikTok shared with creators and viewed by Bloomberg News. In Ireland, local businesses are now selling things like books and cosmetics through the social media platform, the company said.
TikTok Shop — which combines video with impulse-buying in visual fashion — is the app’s biggest growth engine after advertising. The combination of eye-catching content, popular influencers and full-scale commerce sets it apart from rivals like Instagram and YouTube. It also opens a path for the firm to take on Amazon.com Inc. in major markets.
TikTok tripled its US shopping sales to more than $100 million on Black Friday, a sign the looming ban has done little to dampen interest among the more than 170 million Americans who use the app every month. Its Beijing-based parent ByteDance had set out to increase US merchandise volume tenfold this year, to as much as $17.5 billion.
TikTok has been prepping what it calls shoppable content for major European markets for the better part of 2024, after a trial run in the UK as early as 2021 generated mixed reviews. The company had initially intended to bring the Shop feature to Spain, Germany, Italy, France and Ireland earlier this year, but delayed the expansion to focus on the US, Bloomberg News reported in May.
In Europe, TikTok has to contend with a slew of Chinese e-commerce upstarts including Shein, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Miravia and PDD Holdings Inc.’s Temu.