5 Lingering Questions About TikTok’s Future Impact on Ecommerce

Every so often, a technology comes along that becomes an instant cultural success. It’s as if the world was missing it all along. That is TikTok. And as we watch teens gravitate to this new platform like bees to fresh pollen, the rest of us are left to wonder, “How can TikTok’s unique video format help me sell my products?”

Video is no longer just entertainment with the commerce element as an inconvenient advertisement. Commerce IS entertainment. Especially on apps like TikTok.

Andreessen Horowitz looks at TikTok in this way: “Whether you’re buying instant noodles or high-end sweaters, it has become increasingly clear that short video clips are the future of e-commerce. Think of them as compulsively watchable commercials—with a direct link to buy.”

In a sense, TikTok is one big commercial feed. But there are still many questions I need to be answered before I can definitely bet on TikTok:

1. Where’s TikTok’s external linking structure?
2. What’s the entire shopping experience from front to back look like?
3. What popular payment processor (Venmo, Paypal, Stripe, etc.) will partner with this Chinese company known as ByteDance when China-US relations are so strained?
4. How will TikTok engage demographics over 30 years old?
5. How will TikTok handle an almost guaranteed copycat from Facebook?

If they can logically answer all of these questions, then I will cosign them as a contender in the future of e-commerce.

Until then, I think TikTok is nothing more than the latest attention land grab in a long line of “here today, gone tomorrow” platforms.

Do you think TikTok will stand the test of time?