TikTok has begun testing in-app sales with a number of brands in Europe marking the social media giant’s biggest push into ecommerce to date.
The short-form video app, owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, is testing a new service which would allow merchants to sell goods to users directly within the TikTok app, according to Bloomberg.
It is understood that UK streetwear label Hype is among the first brands to have access to the new functionality, enabling it to display a range of merchandise with product images and prices on a TikTok storefront page.
While TikTok will not handle any sales or merchandise itself, brands will be able to run dedicated stores within the TikTok ecosystem, receiving orders and interacting with shoppers in-app.
The trial is currently only available to select TikTok users and it is yet unclear when TikTok is planning a wider roll out.
READ MORE: TikTok users will now be able to shop from nearly 1 million Shopify retailers in-app
Douyin, ByteDance’s Chinese-only version of TikTok, already includes in-app shopping and has proved staggeringly successful for the company, seeing $26 billion of e-commerce transactions in its first year of operation
The social media platform has been testing the ecommerce waters outside of China for some time, partnering with Shopify last year to give more than 1 million retailers the ability advertise on and link their shops to their TikTok Business accounts.
TikTok is hoping to cash-in on the high engagement levels of its users compared to its social media rivals, providing an effective means of for retailers to advertise directly to its hundreds of millions of Gen Z users.
“We’ve seen that our community loves connecting with the brands they’re passionate about,” said a TikTok spokesman.
