TikTok has been looking to change itself into a global eCommerce powerhouse but has been facing challenges of late and it has become difficult for it to gain significant inroads into Indonesia where TikTok has been witnessing high levels of shopping success.
It had acquired Tokopedia which is a local online retail provider for complying with local regulations which limits social media companies from operating ecommerce platforms. The idea behind it was that it would let TikTok to align with the local law requirements and also gain from the initial success of Tokopedia where the shopping app established itself as a major online commerce tool in the region.
If we consider the reports, this did not play out the way Tik Tok wanted it to. TikTok has been pushing Tokopedia sellers to make TikTok like content which has been quite different from the static product shots which they could add to Tokopedia. On the other hand, sellers reported lower site visits and higher fees and ad costs which has prompted many of them to switch to other ecommerce platforms.
TikTok seems to be on a back foot with regards to its plan on enhancing its online shopping presence and it’s a bitter pill which TikTok seems to have swallowed considering the fact that it paid $US840 million for it and it had been gaining traction with its in-stream sales option in South East Asian markets.
It has not tasted the same success as Western regions where customers continue to keep their shopping activity separate from social media apps. If you consider the pattern, Wester users don’t show preference for many functionalities in a single app which is otherwise seen in Chinese apps like TikTok which has become major money minters in the Chinese markets.
The sales push of TikTok is now getting stalled in other regions and it would be really interesting to see if TikTok would be looking to focus onto its ads business if it cannot gain real traction for its online shopping options. Though TikTok shopping has been rising fast but it has not been as quick as TikTok would have liked to.
TikTok has revealed that its seller community has grown into more than 750 categories which gives shoppers access to over 70 million products. In 2025, TikTok has seen positive growth across TikTok Shop platform. In the US itself, sales of TikTok shops have increased 120% in comparison to the same period last year.
Though TikTok shopping is increasing but it is not as prominent as the success it tasted in China. The Chinese version of the app, Douyin brought in $US490 billion in GMV in 2024 alone whereas TikTok generated $US33 billion in GMV across all other markets.
If you see, then TikTok has been pushing shopping options for four years now but they have not covered market as much as they would have wanted but still there is a lot of opportunity in this arena. Though TikTok is facing pushback in some of the regions but it looks that they would continue with its shopping options with a view to tap into that same potential in more regions. Even though challenges remained but there seems to be enough growth for keeping TikTok focused on making this a thing which is worth taking note for online sellers.
Not every product can click in every market and is always not possible to replicate success of one market in others, what needs to be seen is how you can spill off the success of one market in other markets but with caution so that you are on a realistic pedestal.
