TikTok announced plans to cooperate with the e-commerce platform Shopify, enabling users to purchase products while using the video-sharing app.

Details: The ubiquitous social media said it would begin pilot-testing with a group of Shopify merchants in the US, the UK and Canada in the coming weeks.

Shopify merchants with a TikTok For Business account will be able to add a new “Shopping” tab to their TikTok profiles and sync their product catalogs to create mini-storefronts on their profile. 

The e-commerce provider first established a partnership with TikTok in October last year, allowing merchants to create and deploy shoppable, in-feed TikTok video ads from their Shopify dashboards.

Blake Chandlee, head of global business solutions at TikTok, said the app "is uniquely placed at the center of content and commerce, and these new solutions make it even easier for businesses of all sizes to create engaging content that drives consumers directly to the digital point of purchase."

“By enabling new in-app shopping experiences and product discovery on TikTok for the first time, Shopify is powering the creator economy on one of the fastest-growing social and entertainment platforms in the world,” said Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify, in a statement. 

Shopify also said there’s a growing demand among merchants for working with TikTok, noting installs across Shopify’s social commerce channels increased by 76% from February 2020 to February 2021.

Context: TikTok has been advancing commercialization, especially in e-commerce, for a while. Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that TikTok was preparing a larger expansion into e-commerce in the US in 2021, which included the ability for users to share links to products, a commission program, and live-streamed shopping.