Latest news with #TikTokShop
New York Times
14 hours ago
- Business
- New York Times
Chinese Companies Set Their Sights on Brazil
Chinese companies urgently need to find new markets. Competition is intense at home, where the collapse of the real estate market has left consumers reluctant to spend. And escalating trade tensions have made it more difficult and costly to sell things in the United States and Europe, long two of the largest destinations for Chinese exports. As a result, some of China's biggest internet and e-commerce brands have set their sights on establishing themselves as household names in other parts of the world, like Southeast Asia, the Middle East and South America. Brazil has emerged as the most coveted prize. Latin America's largest economy, with a population of more than 200 million people, is a beacon for China's delivery and ride-hailing companies looking to export their ruthlessly low-cost business models. Chinese e-commerce giants also see promise in Brazil as they seek new buyers for a flood of products after tariffs and other restrictions in the United States shut off their biggest export market. Meituan, China's largest food delivery company, said in May that it would spend $1 billion to set up operations in Brazil. Mixue, the Chinese tea and dessert company that has eclipsed McDonald's as the world's biggest fast food chain, said it would hire thousands there. TikTok Shop, facing scrutiny in the United States and Britain about its Chinese parent company, launched in Brazil in May. 'Chinese companies are finding it harder to grow domestically,' said Vey-Sern Ling, an equities adviser in Singapore at the private bank Union Bancaire Privée. 'Exports and overseas expansion is one way to support continued growth.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Star
a day ago
- Business
- The Star
Teo: Empower Pulau Berhala women through digital platforms
SANDAKAN: Just a 15-minute boat ride from Sandakan, Pulau Berhala is home to a close-knit fishing community — where most men head to sea, and the women remain at home. But now, those housewives are learning to sew, build confidence, and earn their own income. Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching said she was encouraged by what she saw during her first visit to the island, where a women's community centre now runs weekly sewing sessions and skills training. Teo said the availability of strong 4G coverage on the island presents a real opportunity to connect these women to the digital economy. 'I will continue engaging with the women here. If this initiative proves sustainable, I'll explore the possibility of bringing in Shopee, Lazada or TikTok Shop to hold training sessions for them,' she said during her visit on Tuesday. 'This would give them a larger platform to market their products beyond this island.' Teo was invited to the island by Sandakan MP Vivian Wong, who founded the women's community centre in 2022 and has been sending volunteer teachers to conduct weekly classes ever since. 'It took two years to earn their trust. Every week, we send a teacher here to run the classes. And now, the women are finally producing their own handmade items and bringing them home,' said Wong. Wong said the centre will soon introduce batik making classes to develop a local identity through 'Batik Pulau Berhala', giving the women a sense of cultural ownership and potential branding for future sales. For Rina Ramio Abdullah, a housewife and mother living on the island, the centre has been more than just a place to learn — it's a space for connection, purpose and growth. 'Most of us rarely leave our homes. Before this, we didn't have much to do, and we depended entirely on our husbands. But now, I have something of my own,' she said. Rina is now learning to sew traditional Bajau garments — a skill she says could one day help her earn an income. 'A full outfit can be completed in a day if you know how. Right now, we're just practising and haven't started selling yet, but I believe that time will come,' she said. She hopes to see more training opportunities at the centre, especially in areas like cooking, baking, and making traditional kuih — skills she believes would benefit other women in the community who are still looking for a place to start. 'This initiative has really lightened the burden for many of us. It gave us something meaningful to do, and now, we look forward to learning more.' Pulau Berhala, located in the eastern waters of Sabah, is not yet gazetted as a formal village and remains off the grid in many ways — but community-driven efforts are slowly opening up new opportunities for its residents.
Nikkei Asia
3 days ago
- Business
- Nikkei Asia
TikTok to launch shopping feature in Japan, taking on Amazon, Rakuten
TOKYO -- TikTok is preparing to launch an e-commerce function in Japan, attracting the interest of sellers hoping to leverage the short-video app's ability to draw eyeballs, as well as ad agencies such as Hakuhodo and Dentsu seeing opportunities to offer support. ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent company, has already rolled out TikTok Shop in other markets including the U.S. and Southeast Asia. TikTok's privacy policy in Japan was changed on June 2 to incorporate mentions of "shopping features," spurring industry speculation that a launch could come as early as this month.
Japan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
TikTok Shop to launch e-commerce service in Japan as soon as this month
TikTok is looking to enter the e-commerce market in Japan via the launch of its TikTok Shop — a service in which users can purchase promoted products directly from the social media app — as soon as this month. Japan would be the newest addition to a list of countries where the service is available, including the U.S. and the Philippines. How TikTok Shop will perform in the Japanese e-commerce market, which has been dominated by Amazon Japan and Rakuten, will be in focus once the service begins. TikTok Shop, which allows users to purchase products promoted in a video or livestream on one's feed or through the Shop tab directly in the app, has managed to become a powerhouse in the e-commerce market since it was first launched in 2021. In the U.K., one of the first regions where the service was introduced, there was a 131% annual increase in the number of shoppers at the end of 2024 along with a year-on-year rise of 180% in revenue. The service's unique feature allowing users to directly buy products on the app without having to jump to an external site makes shopping easier. TikTok receives handling charges from businesses selling their products on the platform. According to the Japan External Trade Organization, the app has over 33 million monthly users in Japan, with an average screen time of 96 minutes per day — higher than other social media platforms such as Instagram and YouTube. In Japan, TikTok has generated ¥237.5 billion ($1.64 billion) in estimated consumption, having contributed ¥485.5 billion to the country's nominal gross domestic product during 2024, it said. With around 60% of users on the app being between the ages of 18 and 34, TikTok Shops have a particularly strong reach when it comes to younger demographics. In countries where the service is already available, the platform is often used to sell products such as cosmetics, clothes and diet supplements. As anticipation for the Japan launch builds up, many advertisement companies are jumping on the bandwagon to provide support for businesses to sell on the new platform. Major Japanese ad agency Hakuhodo and Dentsu Group subsidiary Septeni Japan each launched a new service last month that helps clients in setting up shop on TikTok as well as marketing and increasing traction for their advertisements. MicroAd, another advertisement company, on Tuesday set up a new subsidiary called Universe Pulse, which will specialize in assisting businesses on TikTok Shop Japan. Artificial intelligence technology company Niusia launched a 24-hour AI call center service last month that utilizes AI agents to help businesses answer questions from clients regarding their TikTok Shop products and operations. TikTok has been working to expand its e-commerce presence in recent months, having also introduced its TikTok Shop in Mexico, Brazil and France, among other countries, so far this year.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
TikTok Says In-Stream Shopping Has Increased 120% This Year
This story was originally published on Social Media Today. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Social Media Today newsletter. TikTok has shared some new stats on in-stream shopping engagement in the app, which it says has seen a big rise over the past year. According to TikTok, Americans, in particular, are warming to its TikTok Shop offerings, as it continues to promote its in-app buying options to its billion-plus users. As per TikTok: 'Over the past year, our community of sellers has expanded into more than 750 categories, bringing shoppers an incredible selection of over 70 million products. So far in 2025, our growing community of shoppers, sellers, and creators has driven impressive momentum across the TikTok Shop platform. In the U.S., TikTok Shop sales have increased 120% compared to the same period last year.' TikTok says that womenswear, beauty & personal care, health, sports & outdoors, and electronics are the top sales categories in the app, with TikTok shopping now available in even more regions. 'Today, millions of people are discovering products they love on TikTok through shoppable videos and livestreams from sellers and creators who demonstrate how the products actually work and answer all your questions in real time. In fact, according to a new research by GlobalData and TikTok Shop, 83% of all shoppers say they have discovered a new product on TikTok Shop, and 70% have discovered a new brand.' Those are some impressive numbers, while TikTok also claims that: Brands and creators have hosted over 8 million hours of LIVE shopping sessions in the U.S. 171,000 local and small businesses are now operating TikTok Shops 76% of consumers who've engaged with TikTok Shop bought something from a livestream in the past year. Sales to small U.S. businesses in the app have grown by 70% year-over-year So, livestreams are generating more interest in TikTok shopping, which is also where TikTok has seen significant in-stream sales success in China as well. In order to further fuel this growth, TikTok says that it's adding a new set of 'assortment, content and empowerment tools' in its Seller Center, which are designed to provide tailored, actionable guidance to help sellers attract the right audience. It's also gearing up with new offers for summer's 'Deals for You Days' July 7 – 19), including a 'LIVE Price Match Guaranteed' program, which will enable customers watching select 'Deals for You Days' livestreams to get cash back if they find a lower price off-platform on featured products. Which all sounds positive, all sounds like TikTok's shopping push is headed in the right direction. But even so, the platform is still a long way off from where it envisioned that it would be at this stage. As noted, TikTok's been pushing to get Western audiences excited about in-stream shopping for years, but thus far, TikTok users have been less enamored by the platform's expanded digital shopping mall vision, preferring instead to keep their shopping activities within dedicated shopping apps. In China, however, it's been a much different story. Shopping is now the top revenue stream for Douyin, the Chinese version of the app, with Douyin bringing in $US490 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2024 alone. Indeed, Douyin is now the third-largest ecommerce platform in China. In comparison, TikTok generated around $US6 billion via in-app spending throughout 2024. Yet even so, that smaller intake is still up 15% year-over-year, so TikTok shopping is catching on, while as TikTok notes, overall shopping engagement in the app is trending up, in various ways. The next step, then, could see TikTok leaning into services, like meal ordering and ride-hailing, direct from the app. Douyin has seen big success with these options, which has helped to get even more money moving through the app's circuits. If more people feel more comfortable spending in the app, that'll lead to more shopping activity, which could help to spark TikTok's in-stream shopping push, as it builds towards its broader revenue goals. Though the signals do remain mixed. TikTok's future in the U.S. is still under a cloud, as the White House works on a sell-off deal, while TikTok also recently restructured its entire U.S. commerce team, after it failed to meet its 2024 targets. So while the data that TikTok's reporting suggests that things are all going well, that everything's all rosy for TikTok's in-app sales push, clearly, they're not exactly where it wants them to be just yet. Can TikTok translate its broader success into becoming an online sales juggernaut in the West? And more specifically, is it worth trying out TikTok Shop for your brand? It is worth noting the broader push here, and considering what's resonating with the TikTok audience.
