Logistics positions open! TikTok Shop may enter the US market

As cross-border e-commerce becomes more and more popular , many platforms have begun to expand overseas, and ByteDance also has high hopes for its overseas e-commerce business .

According to Bloomberg and Yahoo Finance, a source from ByteDance said that the GMV ( gross merchandise volume ) target for TikTok's e-commerce business in 2022 is US$2 billion. More than US$1 billion has been achieved in the first half of this year . The e-commerce GMV target for 2023 is US$23 billion, which means an increase of more than 10 times a year , which shows that the company has great ambitions .

Recently, there have been multiple reports from foreign media stating that TikTok’s “US trip” has begun.

Logistics first, TikTok starts recruiting for related positions in the United States

On October 12, local time , multiple foreign media reported that TikTok is trying to establish its own logistics and warehousing operations center in the United States.

According to reports, in recent times, several new positions posted by TikTok on its recruitment website and LinkedIn page are all related to logistics and warehousing positions . Therefore, foreign media speculate that TikTok is establishing its logistics center in the United States to cooperate with the e-commerce business of the upcoming TikTok Shop US site.

TikTok added specific recruitment information for the United States, saying, "By providing warehousing, delivery, and customer return services, we will help sellers improve their operational capabilities and efficiency, provide buyers with a satisfying shopping experience, and ensure the rapid and sustainable growth of TikTok Shop . "

Additionally, in another job posting, TikTok said it was looking for someone to "build a new fulfillment service from scratch" and "be responsible for business development of TikTok's e-commerce logistics fulfillment services in the United States . "

Through its multiple recruitment information, it can be seen that the locations of these new logistics-related positions are all in Seattle.

Judging from these latest recruitment information , compared to simply being a platform for consumers to purchase goods , TikTok may also want to establish its own logistics system to provide logistics support for consumers in order to establish a "new and better e-commerce experience" and thus increase user loyalty .

Although TikTok has not responded directly to the report , logistics construction has always been the first priority in order to enter the new e-commerce market and quickly gain a foothold. This can also be verified from the "logistics first" approach of giants such as Amazon when opening new sites.

TikTok outsources live streaming and cooperates with US companies to promote products

It is no longer a new thing for TikTok to develop social e-commerce. Since April and June last year, it has launched the e-commerce project TikTok Shop in Indonesia and the United Kingdom respectively . Since then, it has expanded this project to Southeast Asian regions such as Vietnam and achieved good revenue performance .

In July this year , due to improper compilation, the Financial Times' report that "TikTok will temporarily shelve its plans to expand its live e-commerce in Europe and the United States " was mistakenly reported as " TikTok will abandon the development of its e-commerce business in Europe and the United States . "

However, TikTok later denied the report, and several TikTok e-commerce employees also confirmed that they would continue to invest in existing markets and continue to try more new markets .

In early October, the Financial Times reported that TikTok is planning to launch live shopping in North America, and this e-commerce project will be promoted by outsourcing to other companies .

It is reported that TikTok will establish a partnership with Los Angeles-based TalkShopLive, which will provide basic technology and support for TikTok Shop 's live streaming sales .

The two companies are still finalizing the details of their cooperation and no contract has been signed yet.

It is understood that TalkShopLive has four years of experience in live e-commerce, successfully completing thousands of live broadcasts every year. It has rich experience in the field of live streaming with goods . Even Walmart and Microsoft have used its technical support for live broadcasts .

In the United States, live streaming sales are still in their infancy , and TV shopping remains the favorite of the vast majority of Americans.

TalkShopLive adopts the TV shopping model of QVC (the world's largest TV and online department store retailer) in the United States. Its technology supports sellers to add products after creating a channel . When the seller starts a live broadcast, these products will be listed in the field on the side of the screen. Buyers can add the products they want to buy to the shopping cart and finally check out on the platform.

At the same time, TalkShopLive ’s technology also enables brands to host the same live broadcast on their own e-commerce websites and drive sales on other channels outside of TikTok.

TalkShopLive will charge a commission of approximately 10% from live streaming sales events , and this cost will be borne by TikTok initially .

The Financial Times also stated that if TikTok really cooperates, live shopping may be launched in the form of " cooperation with major brands " before the holiday shopping season .

TikTok said that in terms of the market expansion of TikTok Shop, the company has always been demand-driven and constantly explored new possibilities , including partnerships , e-commerce experience for merchants and consumers on TikTok , in order to gain more trust from users .

The trend is about to start, and the number of social e-commerce buyers in the United States will exceed 100 million

Although TikTok has been trying to develop e-commerce projects in the United States, including live streaming sales, this model does not seem to be well accepted in the United States.

In recent years, Meta and YouTube have tried live streaming to sell goods , but the market response was mediocre . As a result, Meta announced that it would shut down its live streaming shopping function on Facebook in October , while its Instagram subsidiary began testing live streaming to sell goods .

Although the reality shows that live streaming shopping in the United States does not seem to be recognized by local consumers, industry insiders say that this shopping model still has a lot of room for development in the United States.

Katie Hansen, senior retail and e-commerce analyst at market research and consulting firm Mintel , said, " Compared with other countries such as China , live streaming purchase participation in the United States has grown slowly , but it is growing overall and may have unlimited potential in the future. "

According to the latest data from market research firm eMarketer , the average spending of social e-commerce buyers in the United States in 2022 was US$518, a year-on-year increase of 26.9%.

eMarketer predicts that the average annual spending of social e-commerce buyers in the United States will continue to grow by double digits over the next three years, and by 2025, the average spending of social e-commerce buyers will increase to $ 937 .

At the same time, the number of social e-commerce buyers in the United States will also increase. eMarketer predicts that the number of social e-commerce buyers in the United States will exceed 100 million in 2022. By 2023, more than half of social network users will make purchases on social platforms.

eMarketer pointed out that influenced by the global trend of social shopping, more and more Americans will consume on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok .

Data shows that in 2020, social e-commerce sales in the United States experienced a blowout growth, up 38.9% from 2019 to US$36.62 billion. By 2021, social e-commerce sales in the United States were approximately US$36.62 billion, a year-on-year increase of 35.8%. Although the growth rate has slowed down compared with 2020, the overall growth trend is still very obvious .

eMarketer also predicts that by 2023, social e-commerce sales in the United States will reach US$56.17 billion; and by 2025 , social e-commerce in the United States will become a US$79.64 billion industry.

It can be seen that in the future, social e-commerce may become a rival to traditional e-commerce in the United States, and TikTok’s layout also shows that it is full of confidence in this "potential social e-commerce stock" in the United States.

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