TikTok Shop UK has opened the doors to its first ever bricks and mortar pop up on London’s Oxford Street to showcase brands and creators selling on the platform in a real world context, the social media firm said.
Although not open to the public, the pop up was open to existing and prospective merchants and creators to visit from 30th June to 6th July with a particular focus on the tech, home & living and book product categories.
According to the firm, a number of LIVE streams were hosted by merchants and creators from the venue with previous studies showing that 50% of TikTok users have bought something after watching a TikTok LIVE. In addition, TikTok users are said to be 1.7x more likely to watch branded LIVES to buy products than non-users.
One of the aims of TikTok Shop is to make it easier for merchants to be discovered and sell their products to the TikTok community without having to leave the platform. The pop-up shop concept was also introduced to allow merchants and creators meet with TikTok experts to learn about the power of social selling and how businesses can tap into the online community and current online trends.
Patrick Nommensen, General Manager of eCommerce at TikTok, said: “TikTok’s community has created a brand new era of social commerce opportunities, where a single piece of content can quickly go viral and create both demand and opportunity. We’ve seen merchants and creators transform their businesses and their lives in a way that would be impossible on any other platform.”
He added, “Our community can now discover and buy everything from a new coffee machine to the latest drone, or their favourite #BookTok best seller, all without leaving the platform. Through this exciting pop up shop on the iconic Oxford Street, we hope to shine a light on the opportunities available for merchants and creators to be discovered and thrive on the platform.”
