Numerous salespeople rotate selling cosmetics, contact lenses, and hair accessories inside a shophouse in Northeast Jakarta. A man shouts out the most recent discount on vitamin tablets as a lady assists a potential customer in selecting the best lipstick colour for her skin tone.
This isn’t some chaotic flea market. It’s a gold rush for businesspeople looking to strike it rich on the most widely used short-video app in the world since TikTok has a live-streamed marketplace. The TikTok Shop is the firm’s fastest-growing feature, with a rising fan base in Southeast Asia. The company is primarily known for viral dance challenges and is owned by China’s ByteDance.
TikTok needs to be successful in the area if it wants to avoid being banned in the US due to national security concerns. Additionally, if the company is allowed to continue operating in the US, it offers a model for competing with Amazon.com in a way that no social media company has attempted before.
Indonesia was TikTok Shop’s first country and continues to be its largest, thanks in part to a young, tech-savvy populace that has welcomed the service’s 2021 introduction of short films and in-app purchasing. By the end of this year, TikTok Shop’s total merchandise value is anticipated to reach $20 billion (about Rs. 1,63,900 crore), quadrupling from the previous year.
There are still unknowns, despite the fact that TikTok’s success in Indonesia helps shield the company from the effects of a potential US ban.
Even while the middle class in Indonesia is rising, many of its users still earn far less than people in the US. According to research firm Cube Asia, TikTok users in Indonesia spend an average of $6 (approximately Rs. 493) to $7 (about Rs. 575) per month. Because of this, the US continues to be crucial for TikTok’s e-commerce industry even though the app is facing numerous measures in Congress that may make it illegal.
TikTok has also profited from knowledge garnered from its sister app Douyin, a China-only video platform owned by ByteDance that has grown to be a $200 billion (approximately Rs. 82,21,700 crore) online shopping destination after adding food delivery to its list of services.
