Amazon sellers are testing the waters on the TikTok shop despite looming threats of the app being banned in the U.S.
Since its release in September 2023, TikTok Shop has allowed users to purchase items directly from the app often with discounts attached, kindling the urge for impulse buying in the e-commerce marketplace, making it a serious contender for Amazon.
These are often promoted on TikTok Live where creators like celebrity hairstylist, Potempa, go live multiple times a week advertising the products they are using or packing and offering discounts.
Potmepa films herself packing orders of her viral Beachwaver curling iron for six to eight hours at a time and said in an interview with CNBC shoppers race to get 50% discounts and free add-ons.
“When TikTok Shop was new and people hadn’t used it yet, they would ask, ‘Is this on Amazon yet?’" Potempa, Beachwaver’s CEO and co-founder, said in an interview.
“I would get those questions like, ‘Can I buy it somewhere else?’ Now that it’s been around for a year or so, we’ve done 1.2 million orders.”
Since its inception, TikTok Shop has already hired sellers and talent away from Amazon.
However, the waters are murky as TikTok’s push comes at a precarious time for the company.
TikTok is currently owned by the Chinese company, ByteDance and in April of this year President Joe Biden signed a law that requires the company to sell TikTok by 19 January or it will be banned in the U.S.
Despite this, the platform could be saved from the ban by President-elect Donald Trump, who has changed his stance on the platform after meeting with a major investor of ByteDance, Jeff Yass.
As the deadline looms nearer, TikTok is operating with business as usual.