Written by Corinne Berger
Account Executive
If you have been on TikTok in the last six months, it is probable to assume that you have seen a video that promotes a product and links you directly to the page where you can buy it. At first, you may have been confused. How can you buy a product off of an app meant for entertainment? That is exactly what I thought when I first saw someone promoting their company on my For You Page, linking me directly to the page where I can buy what they are trying to sell.
I have to admit, TikTok Shop is genius. What better way to sell a product than to link it on the video you are using to promote it? Most TikTok Shop sellers are small business owners, who have been using Tik Tok to promote their businesses since before the new feature was introduced. If you can find a way to infiltrate the algorithm, there is a chance that you will find yourself on thousands of For You Pages. Many creators will use popular sounds, or play into video trends while using their product, as a sort of subliminal messaging. Now, they can sell their product directly from their page, and have the freedom of managing their own storefronts while utilizing TikTok’s resources.
A hallmark of the TikTok Shop feature is promotion of product “dupes”, or duplicates of high-end products that are sold at a fraction of the price. While the quality is almost never comparable, people care about their image, and covet the status they gain from owning a popular product. The age-old sales tactic of telling people they “need a product” because everyone is using it is one of the most popular styles of promotion on TikTok. The app has added a new layer to TikTok Shop, where average users who buy a product off the app can choose to post a review of the product and receive commission from the sales from their review.
This is where the genius part comes in. TikTok has created an endless circle of sales, where you see a product being promoted, purchase it within seconds, post a review and receive commission, then use that money to buy more products. I have to admit, I have even fallen victim to the TikTok shop. But hey, I had a 20% off my first purchase coupon!
We have been seeing the rise of TikTok for the last three years, at least. As a modern society, it seems that we have easily adapted to this phenomenon, whether we are fully on board or not. However, with the addition of TikTok Shop, it is hard to not be a little skeptical of how far the popular app is willing to push themselves. I don’t think that they will ever come close to the enormous scale of success that Amazon has achieved. With a little more time, will TikTok Shop grow into its own established platform? Or will it plateau once the excitement wears off? Only time will tell.
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