Brands test TikTok’s live shopping feature

Brands on TikTok are starting to test the app’s live shopping feature. Over the last week, Ulta, American Eagle and Dr. Squatch have all hosted live shopping events on TikTok that featured products just in time for the holidays. TikTok, which has grown to over 1 billion global users over the past year, has been leaning into its social commerce abilities recently. Walmart was the first brand to host a live shopping event in December 2020, but the platform has been working to make the feature more widely available. Dr. Squatch was the most recent brand to test out the feature. On Monday, the soap retailer’s hour-long live event was hosted by Madiha Dhanani, a lifestyle creator and blogger, and her husband. Dr. Squatch wanted to target female buyers with the live shopping event, since their traditional ads resonate better with men, according to Josh Friedman, the brand’s chief marketing officer. See Ad Age's 2021 Social Commerce Guide here. How NFTs and the Metaverse could solve supply chain issues All the social commerce capabilities introduced in 2021 How retail chains are using social commerce this holiday Influencers impacted by supply chain shortages “We know women have the potential to be strong buyers as gift givers or even customers themselves,” Friedman said via email. “We wanted to test a female creator who could best showcase Dr. Squatch from a woman’s perspective. After vetting many candidates, Madiha proved to be the perfect fit because of her passion for personal care and entertaining charisma on camera.” Realizing that customers don’t mind switching from scrolling to shopping, all social media platforms have been working to make the checkout experience shorter and easier. This form of mobile shopping is already the norm for apps like TikTok’s Chinese counterpart, Douyin. In addition to sparking cultural trends and giving rise to new influencers, TikTok has become a new way to find products—the hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt now has 7 billion views. See Ad Age’s 2021 Year in Review here. @madzdhanani Join me for a live shopping event with @Dr. Squatch on Dec. 6th at 5pm PT! Tune in to get exclusive discounts 🙌🏼 ##drsquatch ♬ original sound - Madiha Dhanani American Eagle tapped its TikTok influencers to host its live shopping event on Dec. 3. The brand partnered with mega-star Addison Rae (who has 86 million TikTok followers), Madison Bailey (5 million), and Outer Banks actor Chase Stokes (4.3 million), all of whom already are brand ambassadors. The three reviewed products from American Eagle’s holiday collection. Average watch time for the live stream was almost 11 minutes, according to company CMO, Craig Brommers. “Being a leader in social commerce requires us to constantly introduce innovative ways for Gen Z to interact and shop our brand,” Brommers said in an email. “Entertainment while shopping is key for this demographic, so we continue to be first to partner with TikTok to roll out interactive shopping.” For its live shopping event, the “Hauliday Hot List,” Ulta Beauty tapped David Lopez (103,000 followers), a celebrity hair stylist and beauty expert, who shared giftable products as well as limited time discounts. Ulta is already planning another TikTok live shopping event, #BuyBlack, on Dec. 15. @davidlopezzz Ahhh! I’m going to be hosting a LIVE shopping livestream over on @ultabeauty with all my fave beauty brands 🥺😍 see you there! ##ultabeauty ♬ original sound - davidlopezzz

Brands test TikTok’s live shopping feature

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