TikTok Woos Amazon Sellers in Spite of US Ban Threat

TikTok has reportedly begun courting Amazon sellers and staff despite a pending U.S. ban.

The video-sharing giant’s eCommerce arm TikTok Shop is persuading Amazon sellers to sample its service, promising low fees and high discounts, CNBC reported Monday (Dec. 2).

At the same time, TikTok Shop has hired talent away from Amazon to fill key positions in its marketing, creator relationships, brand safety and operations divisions, CNBC added.

The report noted that TikTok Shop — launched a little over a year ago — has become a “massive e-commerce machine,” according to ecommerceDB, a market research firm.

That company projects that TikTok Shop will more than double its gross merchandise volume to $50 billion this year. While that’s just a sliver of Amazon’s expected $757 billion gross merchandise volume, the CNBC report argues that it’s a sign of TikTok Shop’s momentum.

“Every time you scroll, every other scroll is a Shop post, so they’re making a lot of investment to encourage that in-app conversion,” said Caila Schwartz, director of consumer insights and strategy for retail and consumer goods for Salesforce.

Amazon spokesperson Mira Dix told CNBC that sellers are engaging with its store “more than ever before” and seeing more success.

“Our selling partners are incredibly important to Amazon, and we work hard to innovate on their behalf and support the growth and success of these businesses across all of their sales channels,” Dix said.

Against this backdrop, there’s the looming threat of a U.S. ban on TikTok. President Joe Biden in April signed a bill into law requiring TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the platform by Jan. 19, following concerns that the service presented a national security threat. TikTok is suing to keep the ban from happening.

It’s not clear whether a new administration will make a difference. While President-elect Donald Trump also attempted a TikTok ban during his first term, he has since seemingly reversed course. A recent NBC News report notes that members of his incoming administration seem divided on the question of carrying out the ban.

Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote last month about the rise of social commerce, a trend that has gone beyond TikTok to now include major retailers like Walmart, Target and Ulta Beauty.

“As a result, brands are turning to influencers to help bridge this gap. Influencers, once niche players in the digital world, are now essential to the marketing strategy of many brands. Consider that Generation Z consumers are now 117% more likely to shop from influencers, a statistic that highlights the growing power of social media,” that report said. “With product recommendations and creating authentic connections with their audiences, influencers have become key touchpoints in the customer journey.”