Sunsella Reacts To E Commerce Initiative On Tik Tok Platform

Las Vegas, NV based Sunsella is reaching out to the public to share their perspective on the recent news that music video discovery platform TikTok has begun moving into the eCommerce market. Formerly known as musical.ly, TikTok is a massive video sharing network that allows users to express themselves through singing, dancing, comedy, and lip-syncing.

In short, TikTok has recently displayed a desire to move further into the eCommerce market by testing out a new feature that would allow users to shop within the app itself. While the platform had already featured shoppable ads, the test has given a certain number of select influencers based in the United States the ability to host shoppable videos. In effect, this means such accounts can now post clickable hyperlinks to online shops that will be nested within their bios (their channel description) or in individual posts. Should the feature be rolled out to the platform’s wider audience, it would give each and every influencer on TikTok considerably more room to market themselves and build an income based off their followers.

Sunsella representative Mike Law notes, “Till now, TikTok hasn’t tried to take on other social media giants in any way apart from the type of content they host—short music videos—and their sheer reach. Now, however, they’re competing directly with mainstays like Instagram, which has already had such marketing tools for some time now.”

A short while ago, TikTok exceeded 1.5 billion app downloads across the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, a number that is put into perspective by the fact that Instagram reportedly has over 1 billion active monthly users. Law clarifies that these two pieces of data are not directly comparable, since the number of downloads is not the same as the number of active users, but they do serve to emphasize TikTok’s popularity.

“We have noticed that TikTok is largely popular with younger audiences, from young teenagers to young adults,” says Law. “That may not sound like the most lucrative audience to market to, but these are still young people who may have parents with means or who are still growing into more comfortable incomes. Furthermore, Instagram shares a large user base in this demographic, and they evidently are doing well for themselves. If TikTok decides to move forward and roll out these new features to their entire audience, we may see influencers and other big movers and shakers either build an additional presence here or jump ship entirely.”

He continues, “At the moment, Sunsella is mainly active on two platforms: Amazon and our own website. These two online stores give our customers direct access to our products but they are not always the best places to market those products.” Sunsella is a kitchen products manufacturer that is best known for their Leakproof Bento Box Lunch Container, Silicone Popsicle Molds, and so on. Law states that, as is the case with any product, these items need to be advertised so interested audiences can learn they exist as well as where they may make their own purchases.

“On Instagram, such ads would probably be paired by the platform’s algorithms to run in front of viewers who regularly interact with similar posts, such as cooking,” explains Law. “While Instagram is not keen to share any details, this is likely how they match users with ads they are more likely to respond positively to. If another platform with Instagram’s scope were to do the same, that would immediately open up a whole new avenue of advertising opportunities for companies like ours.”

This stands true for TikTok’s current eCommerce test as well. Just as Instagram users are more likely to click on hyperlinks to online stores for kitchen supplies if they follow chefs and other food-industry channels, TikTok’s influencer’s may be able to leverage their own sizeable following to generate income for both themselves and the companies they partner with.

Interested parties may reach out to Mike Law of Sunsella to discuss the topic further or make inquiries about the company’s own kitchen products. Their catalog can be accessed on Amazon as well as their own website.