Walmart Teams up with TikTok to Sell Products via Livestreaming

Walmart and TikTok announced this morning that they will co-host the first “shoppable” live-stream event on TikTok on Dec. 18, at 8 p.m (EST). 

During the hour-long “Holiday Shop-Along Spectacular” livestream, users can purchase any of the items by simply tapping products on the screen. Users will also be navigated to Walmart’s TikTok page after the event. Customers can add the product to their cart and purchase it without leaving the app. This livestream will feature products from popular fashion brands like Kendall + Kylie, Jordache, and Champion, as well as Walmart owned brands like Free Assembly, Scoop, and Sofia Jeans.

The “Holiday Shop-Along Spectacular” will be the pilot test for TikTok and Walmart’s partnership. The livestream will be moderated by popular dancer Michael Le, who has over 43 million fans, and other trending influencers, like Devan Anderson, Taylor Hage, and Zahra Hashimee.

This is not Walmart’s first time showing interest in TikTok. When President Donald Trump’s executive order threatened to ban the app, Walmart had planned to invest in TikTok. 

The historical retailer aims to attract a younger audience on social media. “If you’re watching a TikTok video and somebody’s got a piece of apparel or an item that you really like, what if you could just quickly purchase that item?” Walmart CEO Doug McMillon said on CNBC’s Squawk Box in October. “That’s what we’re seeing happen in countries around the world. And it’s intriguing to us, and we would like to be part of it.”

Selling products via livestreaming is not new in the global market. Livestreaming is taking off in China with e-commerce giant Alibaba’s growth. Alibaba-backed e-commerce platform Taobao said the number of new merchants using the site’s livestreaming platform surged by more than eight times in one month — from January to February, while transactions grew more than 160% year-over-year in March.

TikTok saw opportunities overseas too. This year, brands like Levi’s leveraged TikTok’s “Shop Now” buttons that allow consumers to make purchases through links posted on TikTok. 

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“We’re excited that we have the opportunity to be at the forefront of this innovation in a shoppable livestream – a first on TikTok in the US,” said William White, the chief marketing officer at Walmart, in an interview with Business Insider. “It gives us a new way to engage with users and reach potential new customers while bringing our own brand of fun – with the help of fashion-loving TikTok creators – to the platform.”