TikTok may be about to take on the likes of Wish, Temu and Shein, with the experimental launch of direct to consumer sales under the Trendy Beat Shop banner.
This is the equivalent of the online pound shop supplied by China, which in particular Temu are currently excelling at attracting consumers to, while Wish have been there and done that and in recent times are attempting to move to higher ASP products supplied by Western merchants.
TikTok with the already massively popular #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt hashtag are supremely positioned to put the latest must have gadget in front of the most susceptible shoppers likely to make a purchase. They know if you watch cookery videos you might be tempted by a washing up liquid dispenser or if you videos of cats then showing you a magic cleaning cloth to remove pet hair from clothing might be more up your street.
If you see a viral video then there’s a good chance you might be exposed to the TikTok Trendy Beat Shop, with products currently exclusively supplied by a sister company. This means that TikTok cut out the middle man and instead of taking a commission on sales from TikTok Shop, are taking all of the profits from the sale.
Mind you, when TikTok take all the profits they’re also stepping into the customer service, fulfilment and returns minefields of ecommerce and that’s where they’ll have to rule supreme to keep the inevitably fastidious online pound shopper happy. Although, many when they are only spending a couple of quid won’t complain, will accept that if they buy a dozen items half might be tat, some might be ok, and that’s worth it for the one or two that turn out to be pretty darn brilliant for the price. After all, that’s how many of the Trendy Beat Shop competitors have operated and so long as something turns up shoppers have generally been accepting that you get what you pay for.
If you are heavily engaged with selling on TikTok Shop, then you really shouldn’t be worrying too much yet as there’s a long way to go from selling low cost products from China to those that might threaten to take market share from your brand. Indeed, if people become more engaged with shopping from TikTok’s Trendy Beat Shop they might end up more likely to shop higher ASP items on the platform.
TikTok’s Trendy Beat Shop is one to watch and it will be interesting to see the engagement as they ramp up activities. The biggest threat is probably not to established UK brands selling on the platform but to their immediate competitors Wish, Temu and Shein…. TikTok already has the data on which consumer to market which product to and in the world of ecommerce data is all the power you need.
One Response
Its good to have more choice, particularly as if things continue as they are there wont be many UK small sellers left.
In the end they’ll work out they’d make the same with the cash in a 5% bond and getting temporary job