TikTok Eyes $20 Billion Commerce Business Despite US Setback
- ByteDance’s video app aims to mimic strategy of Chinese cousin
- TikTok Shop wants to take on Amazon in the US eventually
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ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok aims to more than quadruple the size of its global e-commerce business to as much as $20 billion in merchandise sales this year, banking on rapid growth in Southeast Asia, according to people familiar with the matter.
That would be a speedy increase from last year’s $4.4 billion in gross merchandise value, which represents the total worth of goods sold through its TikTok Shop offering, said the people, who asked not be identified discussing internal data. TikTok is betting on markets such as Indonesia, where influencers sell products from denim jeans to lipstick by showing them off in live-streamed videos.