TikTok‘s leading retail exec has some big ideas related to the platform’s ecommerce hub. At Horizon Media‘s Night Market eCommFronts, TikTok’s Mike Westgate discussed several plans for TikTok Shop, including potential retail partnerships that would allow the platform to serve as a distributor of perishable groceries.
Westgate is the Head of Home, Living, and Retail for TikTok Shop U.S. At the eCommFronts, he said that his company is looking to “forge partnerships with retailers to do deliveries to support perishable products.” Currently, TikTok Shop vendors are only able to sell food and beverage items if they are in a specific “invite only” class.
TikTok has already experimented with some food delivery concepts. An integration with Instacart made it easier for viewers to add ingredients to their shopping carts after watching food videos. Last August, certain food vendors in the U.K. received permission to sell fresh food on the platform for the first time.
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The U.K. initiative relied on small businesses that sell on TikTok via direct-to-consumer relationships. Those brands make up a significant portion of the sellers on TikTok Shop, but Westgate suggested that the app could use its own in-house resources to assist individual vendors. “We do have fulfillment capabilities for those that don’t have DTC,” he said.
TikTok’s Stateside fulfillment capabilities have been expanding over the past year. In October 2022, the app shared job postings for fulfillment center jobs in the U.S. By building up its global supply chain, TikTok has brought new wrinkles to its ecommerce operation. Users in Western countries can now buy goods directly from TikTok, with the app taking care of the shipping.
Westgate’s eCommFronts appearance also included some updates about the platform’s ad products. He said that TikTok will leverage the Pulse Premiere format to launch live shopping collaborations during the holiday season. “Align that with your promotional launch calendar,” he told attendees.
