WooCommerce merchants will start selling on TikTok Shop in the US

Let’s set aside the fact that “ice cream is so good,” because it seems TikTok is looking to open up its Shop feature to a lot more retailers.

WooCommerce is expanding its partnership with TikTok, and its merchants will be among the first to bring their shops to TikTok Shop in the United States.

With TikTok Shop, WooCommerce merchants can bring all their products to the social platform and sell directly to users with in-feed videos, live streams, and through a featured product showcase tab on their profile.

• The goal is to create a more streamlined shopping experience that allows buyers and browsers to move seamlessly from product discovery to checkout without leaving the TikTok app.
• TikTok began testing its Shop feature in the US last November in an effort to compete with Amazon and other retail giants.
• Some of the brands participating so far include PacSun, Revolve, Willow Boutique, and KimChi Chic.

The numbers don’t lie: Last year, WooCommerce partnered on a TikTok for WooCommerce extension in which merchants joined the platform and started running ads. The extension also now supports TikTok’s Smart Performance Campaigns, an automated ad creation and targeting platform.

• For WooCommerce, the expansion of the partnership presents a major opportunity for its merchants given TikTok’s massive 150 million monthly active user base.
• Also, 61% of TikTok users have engaged in e-commerce shopping on the platform, according to a 2022 TikTok marketing science global shopping product study conducted by Material.

Zoom out: TikTok appears to be very intentionally moving into the shopping space. Last month, Semafor reported that the company could introduce an in-app retail store in the US as early as this month.

• It was also reported that it signed logistics deals for warehouses to store, pack, and ship inventory, and had listed a job for “Global E-Commerce Shopping Center Operations.”