TikTok has abandoned plans to expand its live ecommerce initiative in Europe and the US, after the social media platform’s foray into QVC-style shopping in the UK was hit by internal problems and struggled to gain traction with consumers.
The Chinese-owned company’s venture called “TikTok Shop” was launched in the UK last year, its first market outside Asia. Brands and influencers broadcast live and sell products through a clickable orange basket on the screen of the viral short-video app.
Livestream commerce is seen as the future of shopping by social media platforms. They take a commission on sales, with rivals YouTube and Instagram developing similar features in Europe. The model has proved lucrative for TikTok parent ByteDance, which has seen sales on Chinese sister app Douyin more than triple year on year, selling more than 10bn products.