TikTok to Launch New Warehousing Plan for UK Market
LatePost reported on July 1st that TikTok is preparing to launch a warehousing plan called “Aquaman” for its e-commerce business in the UK market in the near future. TikTok will stock certain products that have a consistent sales record in local UK warehouses in an effort to shorten the length of time needed for cross-border logistics.
While promoting overseas warehouse inventory, TikTok has also set up warehousing centers in China with the view to save merchants time from shipment from their storage facilities to cross-border transshipment sites. TikTok officials suggest that merchants choose goods with an order volume of more than 200 pieces per month and that sell for more than $2 per piece while also offering strong seasonal demand and quick turnover.
TikTok’s UK e-commerce business has been in operation for more than a year already, and 50% of its GMV comes from its cross-border e-commerce business, requiring a large number of goods to be sent from China to the UK.
The e-commerce goods transportation of TikTok is made possible by the cooperation of several logistics companies. Domestic collection was handed over to Wise Express, and cross-border shipments are carried out by Yunexpress under Zongteng Group, which was invested by ByteDance. Goodcang provides warehousing services at home and abroad.
The logistics time for TikTok to deliver goods from China to the UK takes anywhere from 10-15 days to more than a month in some cases. According to internal estimates, the “Aquaman” plan can shorten the average delivery time to 3-5 days.
One person familiar with the matter said that the best-selling products on the TikTok are still low-priced daily necessities. Although there are many kinds of them, the demand for each kind is not large. Influencers also tend not to stock up, but to deliver as much as they can sell, thus reducing their risk of investment.
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Till now, TikTok’s e-commerce business has been launched in the UK and six Southeast Asian countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore). Its monthly sales in Indonesia have exceeded $100 million, while the average daily sales in the UK market in June was only about $300,000.
