TikTok partners with Shopify to launch in-app purchases

In what I can only assume, this is a carefully crafted plan to secure my personal and financial demise in the long run, TIC Tac and Shopify on Tuesday announced a new partnership that for the first time will allow users to make in-app purchases directly from the streaming platform.

Shopify, an ecommerce platform, and TikTok, a shorthand video app that people run on milk crates, said the new partnership will allow participating Shopify merchants to add purchase tabs to user profiles and will also ensure product links are nested within applicable TikTok posts. According to New York Times, Shopify hopes to extend the functionality to all of its merchants by next fall.

While TikTok’s small-sized content has long provided a literally endless scroll of content designed to waste your time, this will be the first time TikTok has explicitly designed a pilot program to waste your money. It’s a business that makes more than a little bit of sense for a platform that has something to sell to everyone, whether it’s book recommendations, makeup, cleaning supplies, or new food products. And while the feature’s pilot only allows in-app purchases for merchants, it could also be a boon for creators down the line, assuming they actually earn commissions on affiliate links.

Clothing has gained a particularly strong place on the app in recent months. Look no further than the recent wave of Alabama sorority girls posting OOTD, or “outfit of the day,” videos for proof, which Harley Finkelstein, president of Shopify, told The Times is a symptom of social media becoming “the new town square” for consumers at looking for help or recommendations on products to buy.

According to a survey TikTok conducted in the fall with London market researcher Walnut Unlimited, there are over 4.6 billion views on the hashtag #tiktokmademebuyit, which admittedly makes you wonder if there has or does not have something to the idea that it might be financially prudent for them to make it easier for you to buy things. Kylie Jenner, whose makeup and skincare brand Kylie Cosmetics is said to be one of the brands that will be tested in the pilot, told The Times that the ability to make in-app purchases is integral to the success of her lines. .

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“The ability to buy my products directly from these platforms is so important because that’s where our audience goes first,” said Jenner, whose TikTok account currently has 34.9 million subscribers.

Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook already offer in-app purchases, so it makes sense that TikTok is joining the crowd. It’s just a horrible development for me both personally and financially.