TikTok dives into South-east Asia with e-commerce push

BYTEDANCE’S TikTok is cranking up its e-commerce foray into South-east Asia as the Chinese tech giant pushes to commercialise the popular short video app to create a new revenue stream.

During the first half, TikTok launched e-commerce businesses in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore, expanding its presence to all major markets in the region. TikTok has been operating online shopping services in Indonesia, South-east Asia’s largest economy, since early 2021.

Since August, TikTok kicked off several major shopping events in the region to attract shoppers to the TikTok Shop, its e-commerce marketplace. That included a week-long “8.8 Sale” campaign around Aug 8 in Singapore, a 12-day Sama sales promotion in Malaysia and its “9.9 Super Shopping Day” around Sep 9 in several countries.