TikTok Shop introduced to support local SMEs

• Brings together online seller, buyers, creators under one roof
• Provides sellers with end to end full e-commerce experience 

TikTok Shop, the newest e-commerce solution from TikTok, has now reached Malaysian shores.

In a statement, the company said TikTok Shop is a part of its plans to support local businesses and provide a platform that brings together online sellers, buyers and creators under one roof.

It added that this will benefit particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs) who have yet to set up a physical, brick-and-mortar store to sell their products due to the high initial investment costs.

Darren Quek, strategy operations manager, TikTok Malaysia, said in the third quarter of 2021, Malaysia recorded a total of US$63.9 billion (RM279 billion) of e-commerce income, a jump of 17.1% from the same quarter the year before when e-commerce income was at US$55 billion (RM238.2 billion). 

[Ed: Para updated.]

“This shows that more Malaysians are shopping online, and we want to tap into this market to make it more convenient for our creators to reach their buyers, and vice versa.

“We hope that TikTok Shop will help shape the e-commerce space in Malaysia and encourage more local businesses to maximise opportunities to engage with their customers and drive business results on TikTok Shop," said Quek.

According to TikTok, business owners can now sign up to become a seller using their TikTok accounts via the TikTok Shop Seller Centre, where they will be onboarded to be a part of TikTok Shop. 

It said the shop offers a suite of ecommerce solutions that sellers can take advantage of by selling directly through their TikTok account. 

Powered natively within the platform, products are recommended to users through in-feed videos, livestreams and a product showcase tab prominently featured on sellers' TikTok profile page - all of which can help increase orders, sales performance and video views, TikTok claimed.

Sellers will be able to tap on the community-centric approach of TikTok Shop to showcase their creativity, connect with their audiences and be discovered by the community, it said. 

They can also tap into a full e-commerce experience and manage everything from end-to-end including uploading of products, point of purchase, shipping to fulfillment all within TikTok, the company said. 

To incentivise sellers to join the platform, TikTok Shop only charges a 1% payment service fee and zero commission fees for its merchants at the moment.

Existing customers can enjoy up to six free shipping vouchers a month, and new customers will be rewarded with an additional voucher for choosing to use TikTok Shop, it said.

Thanks to TikTok's unique, diversified, interest-based recommendations, users can discover  products while watching, creating and sharing content on TikTok and shop directly via shopping carts embedded in short videos, livestreams and creator products - all without having to leave the TikTok app.

According to TikTok, products can be purchased through product anchors embedded in short videos, livestreams and the TikTok Product Showcase tab of a merchant's TikTok page. 

And to drive greater awareness of TikTok Shop, the company said campaigns and sales promotions are held on the platform so buyers can enjoy greater savings and deals from their favourite brands and creators.

It added that from now until April 30, TikTok Shop is launching its Raya Sales campaign for shoppers to enjoy a wide range of deals to help them usher in the festivities.

This includes free shipping vouchers, discounts up to 99% and discount coupons from TikTok Shop. 

Previously, TikTok Shop ran the Selamat Super Deal campaign from March 21st to April 2nd which featured brands such as Vivo Malaysia, Ohbay Beauty MY and creators such as waterdaddy_oe, watermummy_oe and bospami. 

The company claimed the campaign saw a 335% increase in gross merchandise value compared to the platform's daily average prior to the campaign.

TikTok is available for free on iOS and Android via the Apple Store, Google Play Store and Huawei AppGallery.