After winning over Chinese consumers, TikTok wanted to convert Western internet users to live shopping, a live video format where an influencer encourages their audience to buy new products. But the Chinese app was forced to revise its plans and stop expanding its “TikTok Shop” format in the European continent and the United States, reports the Financial Times.
After a year of testing in the UK, the success of this new form of teleshopping is not there. Some live videos didn’t generate sales. And the influencers who had invested in this project abandoned it due to a lack of commitment from their audience.
Ultimately, the app fell short of its financial goals. Employees interviewed by the British newspaper said the Chinese company wanted to sell at least 400,000 books a month. But the most successful live buys struggled to earn £5,000… The app charges around 5% commission on each transaction.
Faced with these disappointing results, the Chinese group decided to cancel the TikTok Shop launches in France, Germany, Spain and Italy, which were planned for the first half of 2022. The same goes for the American release, which was supposed to happen later. in the year. However, the service remains active in the UK.
Success in Asia, crisis in the UK
The parent company of the social network, ByteDance, has developed the recipe for live shopping in Asia. On Douyin, TikTok’s Chinese twin, 10 billion items were sold in 2021, three times more than in 2020.
TikTok Shop launched in Indonesia in 2021. Recently, expansion has reached Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. TikTok claims that: “The act of purchasing through the application will be 1.7 times higher compared to other social platforms.”
The official tiktokshop_uk account regularly offers sales and offers, as well as reminders on how to shop. Brands like L’Oréal©: are invited to multiply flash sales and sales.
The British version also suffered from managerial tensions in the London office. According to another Financial Times survey, at least twenty employees have left the e-commerce team since the functionality was launched.
The interviewed employees condemned the Chinese management policy of working more than twelve hours a day, from early morning to late night. The team leader said: “Relationships are based on fear, not cooperation. They are not afraid of burnout because the company is so big that they can directly replace us“.
The store’s head of European development, Joshua Ma, was replaced after being questioned about his statements, particularly his skepticism about the importance of maternity leave.
Source: Le Figaro
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.