TikTok is testing an in-app shopping feature in the UK called Trendy Beat. The products offered for sale are primarily things that have appeared in trending videos, like tools to remove pet hair from clothing or ear wax extractors. The items are shipped from China by Seitu, a Singapore-based subsidiary of TikTok parent ByteDance, according to recent reports. Trendy Beat offers a range of items manufactured and promoted by TikTok for which ByteDance keeps all proceeds. Its preexisting e-commerce pipeline, TikTok Shop, allows third-party vendors to sell merchandise in exchange for a commission to ByteDance.

“ByteDance is seeking new revenues that can justify its $300 billion valuation, which makes it the world’s most highly valued private startup, ahead of an expected initial public offering in the next two years,” writes Financial Times.

Some information about the white label sales initiative, known internally as “Project S,” has been leaking to the media based on discussions among company executives. ByteDance is reportedly scaling its new online retail pipeline to compete with Amazon and Chinese e-retailers including Shein and Temu.

“Project S is led by Bob Kang, ByteDance’s e-commerce chief,” who reports to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, according to Financial Times, which says Kang “recently travelled from Shanghai to coordinate the efforts at TikTok’s offices in London.”

Kang is said to be “obsessed” with Temu, but ByteDance ultimately decided its e-commerce model should be a brand extension within the TikTok app rather than a stand-alone like Shein or Temu.

ByteDance has had e-retailing success in China with Douyin, TikTok’s indigenous counterpart, which racked up sales of more than $85 billion in 2022. Through a deal with Shopify, TikTok Shop began piloting in August 2021, rolling out in the UK, where it has had slow adoption, and Southeast Asia territories including Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, which have been quite successful.

In November 2022, TikTok Shop debuted in the U.S. Outside of Asia the feature has been struggling.

“Previous attempts to ape the model of Shein and Temu have failed,” Financial Times reports, noting “three ByteDance shopping apps — Dmonstudio, Fanno and If Yooou — have either been shut down or abandoned, two ByteDance employees said.”

TikTok told TechCrunch it is not testing Trendy Beat in the U.S., “where it says it’s currently focused on adding new merchants to its TikTok Shop offering,” adding that it might in the future. “TikTok filed a trademark application in the U.S. for Trendy Beat last month,” listing apparel items such as dresses, scarves, hats, footwear, suits and more.

Related:
TikTok Eyes $20 Billion Commerce Business Despite U.S. Setback, Bloomberg, 6/7/23
TikTok to Invest Billions of Dollars in Southeast Asia to Boost E-Commerce Business, Reuters, 6/15/23
YouTube to Launch Its First Official Shopping Channel in South Korea, Reuters, 6/21/23
TikTok Could Soon Bring Its New E-Commerce Store to the U.S., TechCrunch, 6/28/23