Short-form video company TikTok is making plans to deepen its foray into the e-commerce industry as it plans on building warehouses in the United States.
This move signifies TikTok’s commitment to e-commerce as its next major revenue stream, following the explosive growth of its ads business.
In the past two weeks, the social media company has posted several job listings on its LinkedIn page, where it stated that it was looking for candidates to help develop and grow its “Fulfillment by TikTok Shop” in the U.S, to accommodate sellers using the app. According to the listings, TikTok plans to provide warehousing, delivery, and item return options to sellers.
One of the job listings reads “By providing warehousing, delivery, and customer service returns, our mission is to help sellers improve their operational capability and efficiency, provide buyers a satisfying shopping experience and ensure fast and sustainable growth of TikTok Shop.
“The e-commerce industry has seen tremendous growth in recent years and has become a hotly contested space amongst leading Internet companies, and its future growth cannot be underestimated. With millions of loyal users globally, we believe TikTok is an ideal platform to deliver a brand new and better e-commerce experience to our users.”
Following its massive audience base, which has seen it gain dominance in the social media space, TikTok seeks to leverage on its growing customer base by adding an additional source of revenue with its recent plans to debut into the e-commerce sector.
TikTok would no doubt face strong competition from established competitors, the likes of Amazon and Walmart who are dominating the e-commerce sector. However, the social media company is optimistic about making a significant impact in the industry in the nearest future.
Meanwhile, analyst Michael Pachter an American video game, social media, digital media and electronics analyst at Wedbush Securities, is doubtful that TikTok will make any significant impact in the e-commerce industry, he said, “It’s idiotic. “They have no chance of competing and it is a complete waste of money and time.”