TikTok is launching its e-commerce platform, TikTok Shop, into three large European markets: Germany, France, and Italy. The rollout is an important aspect of TikTok’s strategy to grow its standing in social commerce and offer new business possibilities for accessing the platform’s huge audience. Expansion was launched before in Spain and Ireland and positions TikTok as a formidable player in the quick digitally evolving European e-commerce market.
In these countries, merchants can now register to sell on TikTok Shop, allowing them to integrate their businesses with the app and sell products directly to consumers. Only locally registered businesses can sign up initially, but TikTok will expand the platform to independent sellers in the near term. The app is renowned for having a seamless purchasing experience, whereby consumers can purchase products directly in live streams, creator videos, or brand pages without ever being required to exit the app.
The entry of TikTok Shop in Germany, France, and Italy will apparently help local businesses reach strongly engaged audiences directly. These countries boast some of Europe’s most engaged online purchasing groups, aggregating to take up a significant portion of the continent’s online shopper market. The platform’s algorithm-based content discovery allows brands to be noticed without relying exclusively on digital marketing of the conventional kind, and short videos and live shopping webinars can better impact consumers and drive sales than conventional e-commerce websites.
In France, Carrefour supermarket chain will join TikTok Shop, and in Germany, fast-fashion brand AboutYou and cosmetics firm Cosnova will start selling on the platform. TikTok Shop is renowned for discounted products but wants to diversify its offerings and prices. For instance, a UK luxury store sells second-hand Birkin handbags on the platform, illustrating the potential for high-end sales.
TikTok has also been preparing to launch its fulfillment service, Fulfilled by TikTok (FBT), in Germany to help sellers with inventory management and order processing. FBT already operates in the UK, and other European countries are expected to roll out the same services, including possibly Italy and France.
The expansion into these European markets comes after uncertainty in the U.S. for TikTok, whose future now depends on finding an American acquirer for parent company ByteDance. Despite that, Shop on TikTok has had strong sales in the U.S. over the holiday season last year. That of the platform within the UK, launched since 2021, has also grown stronger, with over 200,000 companies now involved.
TikTok’s plan in Europe is to add more on-board local vendors to reduce reliance on directly Chinese-delivered products. The move comes in synchronization with the broader goal of creating a more native and more enriching e-commerce experience for the platform. While TikTok extends its e-commerce business globally, it is due to roll out in other markets such as Japan and Brazil soon.
