Black Friday is a hallmark shopping day in America which records large sales among retailers like Amazon and Wal-Mart. This year, the big brands have a new competitor. Enter the TikTok Shop with its disruptive force.
A business model that is reaping rich benefits
Launched in September 2023, TikTok Shop allows sellers to showcase and sell products right within TikTok. Given the fact that the platform utilizes TikTok’s effective viral marketing edges, it actually gained traction soon after. On Black Friday, TikTok Shop reportedly raked in over $100 million in U.S. sales, an increase of 200 percent. Sales jumped yearly by 165 percent from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, with over 7 billion views for posts bearing the hashtags #tiktokshopblackfriday.
If this growth sticks with the patrons of TikTok, it puts an existential threat on the knees of retail monarchs. However, this success faces a very significant hurdle: the impending ban on TikTok in the United States.
The new law that can put a spanner in the works
Concerns related to national security have been stinging till date as TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has been under review in this regard. The sweeping change into the U.S. legal framework early in April, when President Joe Biden signed into law a mandate. The new law has far-reaching impact as it can potentially ban TikTok unless ByteDance sells it to someone in the United States. Until next year, this will continue on an uncertain footing for TikTok in the United States.
However, that does not stall the approach of TikTok shop toward a revolution in e-commerce. Notably merging entertainment with shopping while using its huge audience base, TikTok delivers a fresh take on Black Friday’s success. The turmoil remains in law, no doubt, as the influence on retail cannot be done away with.
