TikTok’s plan to transform itself into a world eCommerce powerhouse continues to face challenges, with the platform’s in-stream purchasing choices now struggling to achieve important floor in Indonesia, the place TikTok had been seeing increased ranges of purchasing success.
Final 12 months, TikTok acquired native on-line retail supplier Tokopedia, so as to adjust to native laws that restrict social media firms from working eCommerce platforms. The thought was that this is able to allow TikTok to each align with its authorized necessities, whereas additionally piggybacking off of Tokopedia’s success, with the purchasing app having established itself as a key on-line commerce instrument within the area.
However studies recommend that it hasn’t performed out the way in which that TikTok hoped.
In accordance with Remainder of World, TikTok has since pushed Tokopedia sellers to make TikTok-like content material, which could be very completely different from the static product photographs they may add to Tokopedia. Sellers have additionally reported decrease website visits, in addition to increased charges and advert prices, which has prompted lots of them to modify to different commerce platforms as a substitute.
So quite than constructing TikTok’s on-line purchasing presence, it’s seemingly now taken it again a step. Which might be a very powerful capsule to swallow for TikTok, on condition that it paid $US840 million for Tokopedia, and TikTok had been gaining traction with its in-stream gross sales choices in South East Asian markets.
It hasn’t, nonetheless, seen the identical success in Western areas, the place customers proceed to favor to maintain their purchasing exercise separate from their social and/or leisure apps.
For no matter motive, Western customers haven’t proven the identical choice as Chinese language digital customers to cram as a lot performance as they will right into a single app, which is what’s seen platforms like WeChat and TikTok develop into main cash makers within the Chinese language native market.
And now, TikTok’s gross sales push is stalling in different areas as effectively, and it’ll be attention-grabbing to see whether or not TikTok appears to shift focus onto its advert enterprise as a substitute, if it may possibly’t achieve actual traction for its on-line purchasing choices.
However then once more, TikTok purchasing is steadily rising, simply not as quick as TikTok would love.
Final month, TikTok reported that:
“Over the previous 12 months, our group of sellers has expanded into greater than 750 classes, bringing customers an unbelievable choice of over 70 million merchandise. Thus far in 2025, our rising group of customers, sellers, and creators has pushed spectacular momentum throughout the TikTok Store platform. Within the U.S., TikTok Store gross sales have elevated 120% in comparison with the identical interval final 12 months.”
So TikTok purchasing is on the rise, however it’s a far cry from the quick success that the corporate noticed with its purchasing choices in China.
Certainly, purchasing is now the highest income stream for Douyin, the Chinese language model of the app, with Douyin bringing in $US490 billion in gross merchandise worth (GMV) in 2024 alone. By comparability, TikTok reportedly generated round $US33 billion in GMV, throughout all different markets.
The numbers underline the potential, but in addition the problem, in that TikTok has been pushing its purchasing choices for 4 years now, and so they haven’t gained on the similar price as they’ve within the Chinese language market.
Nevertheless it’s nonetheless doubtlessly an space of alternative. And whereas TikTok is going through pushback in some areas, it appears possible that it’ll proceed to plough on with its purchasing choices, with a view to tapping into that very same potential in additional areas.
Challenges stay, however there’s seemingly sufficient progress to maintain TikTok targeted on making this a factor, which is price noting for on-line sellers.
