Sales are increasing via social media: Will the Tiktok store open in Switzerland soon?

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You’re seeing more and more ads on social media. No wonder: Social commerce (selling goods via social media) has now become a major pillar of online retail. When you click on a product on Instagram, you can immediately see how much it costs and what sizes are available. To complete the purchase, you need to go to the store’s website.

At least so far: In the US, Instagram’s parent company Meta already offers so-called in-app purchases on Instagram. This means that users no longer even need to leave the app and can purchase products directly from their favorite stores or influencers with just a few clicks. In the US, Meta charges a five percent transaction fee. It is unknown whether the function will also come to Switzerland.

TikTok is trying not to attract attention

TikTok doesn’t sleep either when it comes to social commerce. In Europe, there is only a Tiktok store in Great Britain. But the rumor is bubbling: the function could come to Switzerland as early as this year. This is indicated by the large number of Tiktok job postings in Europe.

The short video platform’s press department was coy when asked: “We’ve seen the positive impact of TikTok Shop and look forward to continuing to experiment with this new commerce option to support companies of all sizes and give back to our community.” Opportunity to discover and give away products.» A spokesperson did not want to reveal anything about the rumors of its launch in Switzerland.

One thing is clear: Social commerce is becoming increasingly important worldwide. Management consultancy Accenture assumes global sales will reach a market volume of $1.2 trillion by 2025. That’s about a fifth of the entire online market.

Also advantageous for Swiss traders

We are still at the beginning of social commerce in Switzerland: “If you define social commerce as ‘selling directly through social media platforms’, then we are nowhere in Switzerland yet,” says e-commerce expert Alexandra Scherrer (32), Managing Director at Carpathia. This could change quickly with the launch of Tiktok Shop. “My guess is that Tiktok Shop will open in Switzerland before Instagram’s Direct Checkout feature, but probably not this year.” Reuters news agency writes that Titok currently delivers 800 tons of goods to the United States every day.

A big advantage: With in-app purchases, providers no longer need their own online stores. “Social commerce could also be a big opportunity for Swiss retailers,” says Bernhard Egger (57), managing director of the trade association. The entire sales process (deliveries, invoicing, purchases and returns) is handled through social media.

«Tiktok has a clear advantage over Meta. On TikTok, sellers don’t need to search for their target audience first,” Egger says in an interview with Blick. Expert Scherrer also sees TikTok driving the topic more strongly than Meta.

TikTok attracts users more than other platforms, especially thanks to its smart algorithm. 2.2 million Swiss use the Chinese app. Instagram has approximately four million users in this country. Instagram has been around since 2010, TikTok only since late 2018.

Source :Blick