Social video innovator TikTok said this week it has started to allow some users to add links to e-commerce sites, or any other destination, to their profile biography as well as offer creators the ability to easily send their viewers to shopping websites.
The company said the rather quiet roll-out of these two features are part of its usual “experimentation” to improve the app experience for users. The social commerce option could significantly change how lucrative influencers find TikTok.
A spokesperson of ByteDance, one of the world’s most valuable startups that also owns TikTok, said, “We’re always experimenting with new ways to improve the app experience for our users. Ultimately, we’re focused on ways to inspire creativity, bring joy, and add value for our community.”
In many markets, such as China, Southeast Asia and India, which is one of TikTok’s biggest markets, social commerce is increasingly becoming popular and beginning to pose a challenge to “traditional” e-commerce players such as Amazon.
And major giants are beginning to see an opportunity in this space. Facebook, which offers a marketplace, this year backed Meesho, an Indian social commerce startup.
Source: TechCrunch