TikTok to Fund Black Friday Deals to Take on Amazon

A recent report from Bloomberg stated that TikTok plans to provide significant discounts this holiday season. It will be a month-long campaign beginning on 27th October. The social media platform aims to subsidize up to 50% discounts to attract US holiday shoppers. With these discounts, TikTok wants to attract shoppers in holiday sales who go to retailers like Walmart and Amazon.

The confirmation comes directly from a TikTok spokesperson who stated that the discounts will start at 8 PM on November 23rd. Furthermore, the discounts for Cyber Monday will run from 28th to 30th November.

Owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., TikTok was initially known for shorts and viral videos. However, it has also established its store named TikTok Shop in the US last week. Through this marketplace, it is offering to hold and ship products from sellers using its own fulfillment centers. TikTok has also kept its target users in mind with an affiliate program. Through that program, content creators can promote products through their videos for a commission.

The company aims to ship products worth $20 billion worldwide this year, and the holiday sale will be a catalyst. As US citizens alone spent more than $20 billion online during Black Friday and Cyber Monday last year.

TikTok Shop is also making itself accessible to more people by selling cheaper products made in China. The company also provides free shipping and 20% off coupons to consumers ahead of the designated tab. TikTok Shop is also making an effort user-friendly with prices displayed front and center in large font with highlighted discounts. For the recommendations, the Shop tab opens with a section called ‘Today’s Deals.’ Few selected users can also tag these products in their posts to redirect users to that product’s page.

A TikTok spokesperson said last week, “There are over 200,000 verified US merchants on TikTok Shop selling legitimate products, including over 150,000 beauty products that have been validated through our process and represent some of the biggest names in the beauty business.”

TikTok is also holding a training session with dealers selling through their marketplace. It will be notable to see if these deals will give the consumers the shopping rush they enjoy from shopping on Black Fridays and Cyber Mondays through Amazon and Walmart. Also, in this competitive scenario, will Tiktok reach its $20 Billion US sales or will it just stay as an expectation? Let us know how you feel in the comments below.