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“Trendy Beat” is the name of the new eCommerce function that TikTok is testing and which attracts great attention in the sector, by virtue of the enormous potential in the hands of the Chinese social network. The platform is being tested in the UK, but it’s clear that ByteDance is only evaluating how it works before rolling it out globally. It is no coincidence that TikTok has already filed the “Trendy Beat” trademark in the United States last month, although ByteDance has specified that in the US it intends to strengthen the already existing TikTok Shop, a method that allows brands to sell items on the platform. The items that could soon be sold are listed in the “Trendy Beat” trademark filing, ranging from clothing, scarves, hats, footwear, swimsuits, sleep masks, sweaters, skirts, shirts, etc.) up to other products. And it would be, according to sources close to the Chinese company, objects for which ByteDance has already identified a network of suppliers.
It’s clearly very early to tell, but TikTok, with over one billion active users and still strong growth rates, could become a very formidable player in the world of eCommerce for better known competitors such as Amazon and Shein. ByteDance’s plan to start selling its products in the world‘s most popular short video app is internally referred to as “Project S”. A plan that takes advantage of TikTok’s immense knowledge (ie the data it collects, ed) to identify the products that are gaining the most popularity on the app, so that ByteDance can focus on buying (or producing) them.
The challenge to Amazon
With “Trendy Beat” the challenge of TikTok to the most well-known online retail companies (such as Amazon and Shein, we said) could begin, because this new feature indicates a transition from the current eCommerce strategy represented mainly by TikTok Shop, to a method of direct sale of products. In fact, with TikTok Shop, the company allows brands to sell their products directly within the app, while with this new feature, ByteDance would sell its own products.
V Pappas resigns
Meanwhile, still with regard to the Chinese social network, we must record the exit of the current operational director of TikTok US, V Pappas. She said in a note sent to employees and later shared on Twitter that now that the company has achieved great success, she felt it was the right time to move forward and focus on other “entrepreneurial passions.”