TikTok Wants To Go Live This Christmas

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Oct 4

For years, many in media and commerce have been wondering, when, if ever, will people in the U.S. shop like they do in China?

That can mean many things of course, but at the heart of that question is, will this whole live shopping thing catch on like it has on the other side of the globe?

It’s been understandable if any execs have been impatient - there have been numerouos attempts by major platforms to push more social and live commerce, to little avail. We’re an Amazon country, after all. Yet the rise of Temu, Shein, and the year-old TikTok Shop has both shaken up behavior and expectations. So, could we see a live shopping surge? Well, that’s the plan over at TIkTok, which recently gathered a slew of influencers to talk live shop. "Probably 60% to 70% of the discussion was around livestream," said Jake Bjorseth, the founder of the marketing firm Trndsttrs, told Business Insider.

I still think that the U.S. and Chinese shopping cultures may have some fundamental differences, but I’m more inclined to think that if anyone, TikTok has a shot at this. In general, online shopping appears to have become a more frivolous, leisure oriented action in recent years. So why not almost make a sport of the whole thing by doing it live? This could be a fascinating holiday shopping season, particularly if many Americans might need some post election retail therapy.