JAKARTA, INDONESIA — At the recent Shoppertainment Summit in Jakarta Indonesia, TikTok, the leading destination for short-form mobile video, reiterated its focus on being the platform where content and commerce converge. TikTok showcased the tools and experiences available on the platform to deliver a commerce experience that is led by entertainment, providing users who use the platform a portal to their next purchase decision.
With TikTok Shop’s seamless integration, consumers do not have to leave the platform to complete their purchase. This is a clear and easier alternative for 85% of consumers who switch apps during a purchase journey online, according to the 2022 “Future of Commerce study” by TikTok and Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
“Consumers today are more open to participating in and reviewing brands and products because of the democratization of creativity on online platforms like TikTok. 81% of TikTok users say they will shop online during this year’s shopping season (TikTok commissioned study on consumer’s behavior during Mega Sales conducted by Toluna in SEA, 2023). Users are looking for authentic content, inspirational videos, and a seamless shopping experience during the Mega Sales season that lasts from September to the end of the year in Southeast Asia, encompassing several local and regional holidays and celebrations,” said Shant Oknayan, Head of Global Business Solution for TikTok Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa & Central Asia. “With a monthly user base of over 325 million on TikTok in Southeast Asia, and with more than 15 million businesses on the platform, TikTok is the home of ‘shoppertainment’ and for consumers and brands to enjoy a truly unique shopping experience.”
As a platform that celebrates everyday creativity, TikTok’s impact extends beyond viral trends and entertainment value. According to the “TikTok Marketing Science Global Retail Path to Purchase” study conducted by Material, TikTok users are 1.5-times more likely to go out and buy something they discovered on the platform compared to other platforms’ users. TikTok is 1.7-times more likely than other platforms to be the source for product discovery.
Entertaining content that leads commerce
Entertainment on TikTok fuels product discovery. A new word-of-mouth discovery culture that blends community, entertainment, and shopping to create a seamless journey from product discovery to purchase and beyond, where a single piece of content can quickly go viral and create demand globally.
According to the BCG study, 81% of APAC TikTok users say video content influenced their recent purchase. For instance, #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, a powerful and well-documented cultural phenomenon which found its place online during the pandemic, has introduced to users new ways to discover new products on the platform. With over 60 billion views, #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt showcases tremendous potential on consumers’ experiential needs that brands can tap into. By utilizing #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, Maybelline Vietnam drove a 790% increase in sales of their Superstay products.
In the recently released whitepaper from WARC and TikTok, entitled “When entertainment meets effectiveness: A guide to maximizing impact,” Sapna Nemani, Chief Product and Solutions Officer of Publicis Groupe restated buying habits were evolving with “shoppertainment.” “‘Shoppertainment’ is at the forefront of the way people are discovering brands but also buying at the same time. There is no real funnel as such.”
TikTok’s commerce solutions
Empowering businesses of all sizes to generate greater return on ad spend (ROAS) through Creative Solutions: TikTok has tools that democratize creativity at every stage, from Ideation (with Creative Center), to Production (with CapCut, TikTok Creator Marketplace, and TikTok Creative Exchange), to Optimization (with Smart Fix, and Smart Creative via TikTok Ads Manager) and Evaluation (with Creative Diagnosis via TikTok Ads Manager). With TikTok, any business, of any size, with any limitation, can be truly creative with holistic, easy-to-use Creative Solutions.
These tools help brands to drive higher brand affinity, higher purchasing intent, and higher likelihood of recommending purchases. On TikTok, we see a 2.0-times return-on-ad-spend against other media on average, and $1.7 total return-on-ad-spend for paid only (TikTok Marketing Science, Nielsen Marketing Mix Modeling SEA (TH & ID), May 2023).
TikTok has a range of tools to help brands connect with creators and the wider TikTok community to drive purchasing, including TikTok Creator Marketplace, TikTok Creative Exchange, Video Shopping Ads, and Live Shopping Ads.
TikTok Shop is a key element of TikTok’s commerce offering and enables brands of all sizes, no matter how big or small, to get discovered and sell their products to the TikTok community without leaving the platform. By reducing the number of clicks needed in the purchase journey, TikTok can help brands convert interest into sales.
How businesses of all sizes across SEA has utilized TikTok for success
In Vietnam, to promote the launch of its new serum skincare product, Garnier created a full-funnel strategy that leveraged content creators and a branded hashtag challenge. The re-targetted ads that drove more qualified traffic for higher sales conversion also resulted in a 6.6% lift in brand recommendation. Their sales saw 30% uplift during the 12.12 shopping festival.
In Indonesia, in order to retarget high purchase intent and high value customers, Philips (@philipshomeliving_id) used a mix of optimization goals from TikTok Ads solutions, including Broad Audience Targeting and Complete Payment Optimization, in addition to Custom and Lookalike Audience targeting from their TikTok Shop activity. The Ad creative highlighted key product features with a clear call-to-action to drive purchase. As a result, Philips saw a 476% ROAS improvement, 80% lower CPAs, 113% higher Conversion Rate, and 15% higher AOV in comparison to their Video Shopping Ad campaigns before using just Broad audience targeting.
PRISM+, the local consumer electronics brand in Singapore, took its audience engagement to the next level by hosting daily livestreams to educate customers. This was amplified by LIVE shopping ads, where they continued to experiment with new solutions to optimize their results. On 12.12, PRISM+ saw record sales on TikTok, growing steadily, generating over 10-times its monthly GMV (gross merchandise value) since they started.
For more information on the Shoppertainment Summit, click here.
