• TikTok may soon become a strong driver of retail spending in Australia, according to experts in fashion, ecommerce and influencer marketing.
• Globally diverse retailers from Walmart to Gucci are using the popular video sharing app to connect with consumers.
• “Brands have a real opportunity to reinvent themselves on TikTok and speak to the consumers of tomorrow,” said director of content at TikTok Australia Felicity McVay.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

TikTok will emerge as a strong platform for online shopping, according to the director of content for TikTok Australia and experts in the creator economy.

The video sharing platform already drives significant ecommerce sales in Europe, the US and China, with luxury brands like Gucci and Dior using pandemic lockdowns as an opportunity to reach shoppers directly on social apps.

Speaking at an online digital platforms panel as part of the Melbourne Fashion Festival’s 2021 Australian Fashion Summit, Felicity McVay, director of content at TikTok Australia said she thinks Australia is the next market for ecommerce growth.

The pandemic forced brands to try new things, McVay said, and “the net result for TikTok has been an increase in credibility inside the fashion world.”

Globally, Gucci has become one of the fastest growing and trending brands on TikTok as a result of its investment in the platform.

In August last year the brand embraced the viral “Gucci model” challenge where creators were encouraged to create videos that encapsulated the eclectic aesthetic of the brand.

The hashtag amassed more than 246 million views, McVay said, showing value to brands engaging with participants on interactive trend series, adding that businesses that are successful lean into trends like ASMR to create their own content.

“Brands have a real opportunity to reinvent themselves on TikTok and speak to the consumers of tomorrow.”

In September last year, TikTok partnered with European luxury brands on TikTok Fashion Month, where the platform livestreamed runway shows and fashion week events from brands like Louis Vuitton, Saint Laurent, and JW Anderson.

Claire Winterborn, founder of Born Bred Talent, an agency that develops partnerships between social media creators and brands, said she sees TikTok as a key driver of adver tising as short-form video content becomes “king.”

She said businesses she works with are also seeing surprising results from unexpected platforms not necessarily known as natural homes for fashion or retail, like Clubhouse; the audio conversation platform and OnlyFans, a content subscription service that promotes curated fan communities.

One of her clients recently hosted a talk on Clubhouse and said the event increased its website click-through by 18% within a 24 hour period.

“We are seeing that direct traction immediately,” she said.

She said Clubhouse and OnlyFans could also emerge as a platform for retailers to build relationships and make sales.

“Especially in the fashion space…it allows fashion labels to create unique, membership-only opportunities,” she said.

You’re seeing a huge influx of fitness, beauty, sports; I’ve just seen New York Fashion Week jump on it too.”

And while OnlyFans has largely become a platform for sharing adult content, Winterborn said “it also creates micro-communities.”

The insights track with the global rise of livestreaming events and video as a growing space for companies to sell products, often in real time as shoppers engage with various platforms.

TikTok livestreams drive sales in the US

In early August, TikTok trialled a livestream shopping event with the United State’s biggest retailer, Walmart.

It held its first ‘shop along’ event, focusing on beauty – a space that’s seen significant growth in the ecommerce space, on March 11 on the Walmart TikTok channel, where beauty influencers and TikTok creators joined the stream to talk about and demonstrate their favorite products.

Following the event, Walmart reported it garnered seven times more views than it anticipated and was able to grow its TikTok follower base by 25%.

The retailer’s approach — what Winterborn called “migration strategies”: using creators to move viewers from their platform to the brand’s platform, featured creators such as Michael Le, who has more than 46 million TikTok followers.

Live-streaming events have already caught on in China, where it generated $63 billion on major local platforms in 2019, according to Coresight Research, an analytics firm that focuses on the country.

TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, is exploring new livestream shopping features outside of China in 2021, according to reports.

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