Walmart and TikTok are partnering up to host the social media platform’s first-ever shoppable live-stream event.
On Friday, December 18, at 8 p.m., the hour-long Holiday Shop-Along Spectacular will begin on TikTok, during which creators will feature fashion items sold at Walmart—whether including them in a closet tour or strutting them down a makeshift runway. Users will be able to purchase any of the items through the app while they’re shown on-screen or by navigating to Walmart’s TikTok page after the event.
With the partnership, TikTok is wading further into the potentially lucrative waters of e-commerce, a pool in which many media groups are already swimming. In recent years, Facebook has invested heavily in shopping capabilities on its eponymous social network as well as Instagram and WhatsApp; Google launched its own video shopping project ShopLoop; and YouTube introduced a new shoppable advertising format, which placed product links underneath videos.
Walmart, for its part, has been eyeing TikTok since the retailer joined a bid to buy the platform when it was under threat of a ban earlier this year.
“If you’re watching a TikTok video and somebody’s got a piece of apparel or an item on it that you really like, what if you could just quickly purchase that item?” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said on CNBC’s Squawk Box in October. “That’s what we’re seeing happen in countries around the world. And it’s intriguing to us, and we would like to be part of it.”
According to TechCrunch, Walmart is considering the event a test-drive for its new concept, and will not share revenue with TikTok.
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the early-rate deadline, May 3.
