[Retail Insight] TikTok Shop’s disruptive impact on e-commerce starts to take shape

[papy]

Signal: TikTok Shop’s disruptive impact on e-commerce starts to take shape

Meanwhile, other e-commerce platforms are struggling to keep up. [Amazon] has been trying to grow its own take on live and social shopping with its Inspire feature and Amazon Live without much success. Some commentators suggest that, unlike TikTok, Amazon’s social commerce content is neither well-made nor entertaining and that Amazon’s failure in the realm of social commerce is due to the priority of its core feature – the search bar. That is, Amazon primarily caters to those who know what they are searching for, whereas TikTok uses a highly attuned recommendation algorithm to push the boundaries of users’ interests.

In the approach to Black Friday and Christmas, Amazon may well lose out to TikTok, as the latter seeks to drive sales exclusively on its own platform for the first time.

Signal: TikTok Shop’s disruptive impact on e-commerce starts to take shape

[joebcrafts]

So the social media generation is easily manipulated by the media they consume.

I can’t remember a time where i said to myself that i needed something because advertising said i did. It was probably when i was a little kid watching cartoons. That was a lot of Christmases ago.

[lake]

Is it disruptive or is it a sign that e-commerce as it has existed is no longer novel or likely to grow.

Is it a growth area in a mature and aging piece of the economy.

Ebay has 76bn in GMV and is viewed as a has been. Has TikTok demonstrated it is a threat to anyone with 4.4bn?

[papy]

@joebcrafts

So the social media generation is easily manipulated by the media they consume.

Or do they trust people they “know” (friends, influencers, niche experts) more than traditional advertising and marketing from companies using dark patterns, or unreliable (possibly/likely fraudulent) reviews from strangers on Amazon listings?

I personally don’t know the answer, but I’m not sure that the younger generations are wrong to be suspicious of traditional advertising media and techniques.

They like to have someone they can personally reach out to, to vouch for products.

Social selling, relational marketing also aren’t new concepts (e.g., Tupperware parties).

And I get that (GenX/Xennial here, not Millenial, GenZ, or GenAlpha).

[joebcrafts]

I don’t think it is “trust”.
It is their way to be relevant/trendy.

Keeping up with the Jones’ for their age group is currently keeping up with tic-tok and influencers.

[papy]

@joebcrafts

Keeping up with the Jones’ for their age group is currently keeping up with tic-tok

Well, my personal GenZ sample of one-in-my-house and friends all hate TT, so I’m not so sure. It might be a more Millenial thing, like WhatsApp. But the GenZers I know all use Instagram, Pinterest, Twitch, and YouTube.

[lake]

It still does not demonstrate any reason to believe Gen Z has any economic power.

It is like whether the Vegan community has any economic power. They appear to lack the numbers but influence at the margins.

The displays of vegetable burgers in supermarkets in my area are no longer in featured positions, but have returned to the areas where vegan/vegetarian foods were previously displayed.

[papy]

42 Statistics on Gen Z Spending Habits in 2023

How much spending power does Gen Z have?

Although Gen X and older still hold most of the spending power (around 68% according to Afterpay), Gen Z spending is on the rise. As more people belonging to Gen Z enter the workforce year after year, this number will only increase.

Gen Z’s spending power is on the rise

The older Gen Z gets, the greater their spending power. Perhaps due to the fact that they’ve seen multiple recessions in their young lives, they tend to embrace gig culture and take on side hustles. Because of this, their spending power is growing quickly.

[joebcrafts]

As each generation comes of age their priorties always change. GenX isnt buying the same thing today that we were as teenagers, or in our twenties, or even thirties. Now in our mid 40s or 50s things will again shift as our boomer parents pass away and we become the “old farts”.

[ModernSwitch]

The next generation can’t afford buying a home, so what is the point of saving up for a down payment? No need to save for a roof or major appliance. They have more “play” money to spend because there is no “future” for them, there is only now. So I think it’s super easy with the mentality of never owning anything to blow all your money on shiny new trinkets all over Tik tok.

Trying to teach my own kids money management and it’s not going well lol. My son insisted on spending his $50 on a video game even though I told him it’s 90 percent likely to go on sale in two weeks for $25. He would rather have the game now and play with his friends instead of saving money. But at the end of the day…it’s his money and you can only lead a horse to water and can’t make them drink lol.

[papy]

@ModernSwitch

My son insisted on spending his $50 on a video game even though I told him it’s 90 percent likely to go on sale in two weeks for $25. He would rather have the game now and play with his friends instead of saving money.

Maybe that social experience (and not having to avoid game spoilers for two weeks) is worth the $25, to him.

To be fair, my (also GenX/Xennial, like me) brother does that with certain brand new games. And I have GenX friends who are like that about certain brand new electronics or cars.