TikTok has added “Countdown Bidding” as a brand new possibility for product listings in chosen vendor live-streams, which is actually a digital public sale that’s run inside TikTok Reside.

As you’ll be able to see on this instance, Countdown Bidding prompts an eBay-style public sale to your listed merchandise inside the livestream, in order that viewers can bid on a selected highlighted merchandise. That may assist to extend curiosity in your stream, and enhance sale costs, by involving customers in a reside push to get the merchandise

As defined by TikTok:

“Utilizing Countdown Bidding is simple. First, sellers should create an inventory for the merchandise of their store. To forestall shopper confusion, we label the itemizing clearly as “public sale solely”, which disables the choice so as to add the merchandise to their cart. Sellers should present all the standard particulars required for collectibles or pre-owned luxurious listings, so consumers have all the small print they should inform their bidding. Sellers can then pull that itemizing right into a LIVE when utilizing the Countdown Bidding function, and set a beginning bid value and timeframe.”

From there, your reside viewers can submit bids, that are seen to the viewers and the vendor. The winner pays on the conclusion of the stream, and the sale is finalized. So all-in-all, a fairly easy course of.

Although it’s not obtainable for all product sorts as but.

“For now, Countdown Bidding is simply obtainable within the collectibles and pre-owned luxurious classes.”

As well as, TikTok’s additionally elevating the worth cap on in-app gross sales from $7,600 to $13,000, in an effort to higher cater to gross sales in these classes.

TikTok continues to push its in-stream purchasing choices, because it appears to be like to transform its large viewers attain into a much bigger enterprise. Reside gross sales, particularly, have been a giant winner for the app in different markets, and it’s hoping that, ultimately, Western customers will heat to its in-stream gross sales choices, which is able to then facilitate considerably extra income alternatives.

Certainly, the Chinese language model of TikTok, known as “Douyin,” generated $US490 billion in gross merchandise gross sales (GMV) in 2024, a 30% improve year-over-year. TikTok reportedly generated round $US30 billion in GMV in 2024, so you’ll be able to see why the TikTok group is more and more eager to give attention to this ingredient.

And whereas it hasn’t caught on as but, there are indicators that TikTok customers are rising extra curious about its purchasing choices.

Along with Countdown Bidding, TikTok can also be now itemizing eye and ear care merchandise on the market within the app, whereas it’s additionally working a significant promotion within the U.Ok. to spice up in-stream gross sales this Summer season.

Perhaps, as youthful TikTok-aligned audiences develop up, this can turn out to be the brand new norm, in looking for and shopping for objects in–stream. And with a whole bunch of billions in progress potential, you’ll be able to anticipate to see TikTok proceed to push the choice.