Canadian e-commerce company Shopify announced a new partnership with social media platform TikTok to create advertising opportunities for more than 1 million merchants.
“We’re thrilled to be the first partner to welcome TikTok to the world of commerce, particularly right now, as our merchants prepare for a busy online holiday shopping season,” said Satish Kanwar, vice president of product at Shopify.
Shopify’s new TikTok channel will allow merchants to create in-feed videos directing consumers to their Shopify store for checkout.
“Building a successful brand means Shopify merchants need to be wherever their customers are spending time, and today that means growing their social commerce presence,” Shopify said in its Tuesday announcement. “Merchants select which product they would like to feature, and video ads are automatically generated that drive to their Shopify stores for checkout.”
Shopify and TikTok said they will “collaborate to test new commerce features over the coming months that will further empower merchants to expand their paid and organic reach in video and on profiles.”
TikTok emphasized the importance of brand recognition and community engagement in the announcement.
“Brands are an important part of the TikTok experience, and we’ve seen that our community loves connecting with the brands they’re passionate about,” TikTok wrote. “In a recent study, 88% of TikTok users said that they discover new content that they enjoy while using the app, and about half of users said they discover new products through advertisements posted by a product or brand.”
TikTok Vice President Blake Chandlee said, “As social commerce proliferates, retailers are recognizing that TikTok’s creative and highly engaged community sets it apart from other platforms. We’re constantly exploring new and innovative ways to connect brands with our users, and Shopify is the perfect partner to help us grow and expand our commerce capabilities globally.”
The partnership builds on TikTok’s TikTok for Business ad management platform and integrates those functions into Shopify so merchants can participate “without leaving the Shopify dashboard.”
The deal comes as Walmart, which previously offered to buy TikTok’s United States operations in a deal with Oracle, considers a deal with TikTok to update its advertising strategy, according to NBC News. Walmart entered into a partnership with Shopify in June that gave Shopify merchants access to Walmart’s marketplace.
The fate of Walmart and Oracle’s potential TikTok acquisition is unclear. An appeals court is expected to hear a case in November concerning whether the federal government has the authority to ban the social media app, according to the Wall Street Journal.
