Will There Be TikTok Shopping in the US Despite Its Huge Failure in the UK?

Will TikTok's feature for e-sellers and shoppers roll out in the United States one day?

TikTok shopping was incredibly popular in Asia, but after a catastrophic launch in the United Kingdom, efforts to extend it to the U.S. have been shelved.

What Happened With the U.K. Launch?

According to 9to5Mac, around half of the project team left because of how poorly the U.K. launch was handled, and the executive in charge had to be replaced because he did not believe in adhering to U.K.'s labor law.

For TikTok's parent company ByteDance, live-streamed eCommerce has demonstrated to be an effective business strategy in both its native market of China and other nations in the continent. A clickable purchasing basket is displayed alongside a brand's brief QVC-style product video.

According to reports, ByteDance sold an astounding 10 billion items using the shopping feature on the Chinese TikTok partner app Douyin.

Prior to launching in the U.S., the company introduced TikTok Shop in the U.K. with the intention of expanding the feature into the European continent.

Plans for TikTok Shop's extension have been scrapped due to the U.K. project's failure to fulfill its targets, and several influencers backed out from the initiative, according to three sources who spoke to the Financial Times.

According to a TikTok employee, the market was simply not yet ready because "general consumer awareness and acceptance" are still limited and in their prematurity.

Despite the social media app providing subsidies and financial programs that support businesses and personalities to sell through the app, numerous TikTok Shop live streams have had low sales.

"Toxic Workplace Culture"

Senior ByteDance executive for TikTok Shop in Europe Joshua Ma said he "didn't believe" in maternity leave. As a result, an investigation was conducted regarding his comments, and he was eventually dismissed from the company.

More information about the London branch's alleged toxic workplace culture was provided by an organization that aims to fight employer abuse.

Business and Human Rights Resource Centre wrote in their report that the E-commerce team members were expected to continuously work for more than 12 hours a day, which usually starts early to answer calls from China and finishes late since live streams gain more traction in the evening, at the same time, they are required to accomplish "feedback reports" after their work.

The organization further claimed that since the debut of TikTok Shop, at least 20 employees of the London e-commerce team -which is roughly half of the whole original staff - have left.

They added that there had been settlements over the working conditions of two employees as well.

The former leader of the London team claimed that the workplace's culture was "really toxic" and said that their relationships were created on "fear" and "not co-operation."

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Joaquin Victor Tacla