TikTok may not give up on live shopping in the US after all. According to a report of the Financial timesthe company plans to partner with TalkShopLive to launch live shopping features in North America.
TalkShopLive is a live shopping platform based in Los Angeles and, as stated by the FTis used by companies like walmart and MSN . from Microsoft to keep shopping live streams. The partnership will reportedly allow TikTok to use TalkShopLive’s technology to enable creators to host live shopping sessions on TikTok, while also giving brands the ability to broadcast the stream to their own websites at the same time.
Back in July, a report of FT indicated that TikTok scaled back live shopping in the US and Europe after seeing mediocre results from its process in the UK. While the company’s deal with TalkShopLive is reportedly not yet set in stone, it could mean TikTok isn’t phasing out its live shopping plans just yet — at least not here in North America.
Live shopping has yet to take off in markets outside of Asia, where TikTok’s Chinese sister app Douyin has seen success with QVC-style live streams. This has companies like TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest and . still not stopped Amazon from experimenting with the function outside the region, however. Even Facebook has tried live shopping, but the company announced in August that it was shutting down the feature to focus on Reels. (Live shopping will still be available on Instagram, though.)
In a statement to the FTTikTok said it is “constantly exploring new and different options for how best to serve our community, makers and merchants in markets around the world,” including “partnerships that further support a seamless e-commerce experience for merchants.” TikTok did not immediately respond to The edge‘s request for comment.
