TikTok’s new Amazon copycat ‘Shop’, now live in the US, full of cheap Chinese goods
- Many listings on the Shop marketplace mention products being shipped from China, home to TikTok’s parent company ByteDance
- That may reignite US regulatory concerns if it puts user data in the hands of Chinese sellers, with concerns too about potential counterfeit sales
Social media app TikTok's online shopping option, prominently displayed between the For You and Following feeds where users watch videos, presents a never-ending scroll of “recommended” random products, according to an early version reviewed by Bloomberg, from a US$2.99 Nike sweatshirt that appears counterfeit to a US$6.99 statue of a “naughty dwarf” sitting on a toilet.
TikTok Shop will be competing with Amazon.com to sell a target of US$20 billion in merchandise this year, Bloomberg has reported.
The effort has been discussed internally as a “community commerce” effort, according to people familiar with the matter, meaning it is meant to capitalise on the app’s potential to bring people together through their niche interests.
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But the early version of the experience shows no evidence of the ultra-personalised algorithm TikTok is known for in its video feed, which has been key to its success in capturing users’ attention.
