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TikTok is set for a significant European expansion of its e-commerce offering, TikTok Shop, on Monday with the feature launching in Germany, France and Italy, even as it faces uncertainty over its future in the US.
The feature has been available in the UK since 2021 and launched in Spain and Ireland in December.
The company said it is seeking cross-border merchants who can operate under its full-custody model, in which TikTok itself handles listing, advertising, shipping and after-sales service, while self-operating merchants will need an invitation to join.
European expansion
TikTok reportedly began inviting merchants to join the platform in February.
The e-commerce platform may launch in Japan in June and a Brazil launch is also planned, although no date has been decided upon, according to local reports from China, where TikTok parent ByteDance is based.
The platform has been trying to get more Europe-based sellers involved, at a time when many merchants sell products direct from China, Reuters reported.
Jan Wilk, head of operations at TikTok Shop UK, told the news service that he expected the launch to gather momentum more quickly than in the UK as the model is now more familiar.
The company said supermarket chain Carrefour would join in France and that fast-fashion retailer AboutYou and cosmetics firm Cosnova would sell on the platform in Germany.
The US has become TikTok Shop’s largest and fastest-growing market, with gross merchandise volume expanding sevenfold to $7 billion (£5.4bn) to $8bn last year, according to figures from analyst EchoTik.
E-commerce growth
But parent company ByteDance was targeting tenfold growth to $17.5bn, Bloomberg reported last year.
The disparity has led ByteDance to place more more pressure on the US team, Business Insider reported on Friday.
Meanwhile TikTok faces a 5 April deadline to divest its US operations under a law passed last year.
A deal is reportedly being considered that could see ByteDance retaining a minority stake in a US spin-off, but US lawmakers including representatives John Moolenaar and Kat Cammack have argued the parent company must not be involved.
