TikTok Shop's app store is live as the social platform dives deeper into e-commerce
By Madeline Stone

Rick Watson provides his expert perspective on TikTok Shop, the social media app's e-commerce platform that recently came out of beta:

The Bytedance-owned company's decision to build an e-commerce app store of its own signals that it "is looking to create an alternative way for entrepreneurs to go to market that is completely independent of Shopify," Rick Watson, the CEO and founder of RMW Commerce Consulting, told Insider.

TikTok sellers might also be using Shopify or another e-commerce platform to run their online business, but they won't necessarily need to use those platforms to succeed on TikTok Shop, he said.

"If TikTok thought that it was just a social media network, with a tiny bit of e-commerce attached to it, you would likely not do something like this," Watson said. "However, if you plan to create a new center of gravity for creators, influencers, and entrepreneurs to grow, perhaps one that does not even need Shopify for some time, then an App Store is one of the first things that I would do."

Read the full article at Business Insider.com.