TikTok Launches Shoppable Ads With Shopify: What Retailers Need to Know

Right now, my “For You” TikTok feed is a power clash of Twilight roasts, disco choreo, and a crowdsourced Ratatouille musical (don’t ask). Soon, it’ll be yet another mobile mall.

TikTok yesterday shared it will enable shoppable video content in a sweeping partnership with Shopify.

• Phase 1: Shopify’s one million+ U.S. merchants can now create shoppable ads through a TikTok for Business integration with their stores.
• Phase 2: TikTok and Shopify said they’ll continue to develop in-app purchasing tools and experiences, potentially for #notspon organic content.

Initial reaction: “Brands have already seen great success with existing TikTok tools for retailers, including branded takeovers [...] and sponsored hashtags,” Benjamin Crudo, CEO at Diff Agency, told Retail Brew. “[This] will allow them to further capitalize on the app's popularity with a native integration that smooths out workflow.”

Are we recording?

Good, because I can recite a sample of the tech platforms entering social commerce in a single take:

• Google’s testing on-site shopping features for YouTube.
• Snapchat is piloting virtual branded profiles.
• Between IGTV, Reels, and the OG feed, there’s not a surface on Instagram that isn’t shoppable.

No matter the platform, “these tools democratize the ability for merchants and influencers to bring brand awareness,” Sterling Smith, CEO of Sandbox Commerce, told Retail Brew.

Still, TikTok hits different. “TikTok's potential competitive advantage is its combination of exceptionally high user engagement, creative medium, and algorithmic prowess,” said Andrew Lipsman, principal analyst at eMarketer.

• TikTok has 100+ million U.S. users, with ~50 million active per day.
• The app's shorthand for Gen Z, so it's a target for Shopify’s DTC brands in particular.

Which brands benefit most? Fashion and beauty’s visual DNA make them prime candidates. But any retailer could hit Ocean Spray status with good lighting and the right throwback jam. “TikTok [...] will favor any brand clever enough to figure out what content works,” Lipsman told me. “I wouldn't be surprised at all to see a blender brand sell well on TikTok.”

Either way...TikTok’s just the latest platform heading home with Shopify green bags. Shopify’s a launch partner for Facebook Shops, it’s powering stores on IG, and it’s amplifying merchants in a Walmart marketplace tie-in.

My takeaway: While TikTok’s gaining ground from rival social platforms, Shopify may have made itself an even more attractive storefront provider.