The fast-growing social media app said it would begin pilot-testing TikTok Shopping with a group of Shopify merchants in the United States, Britain and Canada in the coming weeks.

“TikTok Shopping will bring new features that help Shopify merchants create engaging, organic content that sends consumers directly to their online store for checkout, making it easy for people to explore and buy products they discover on TikTok,” it said.

TikTok further said it is “uniquely placed at the centre of content and commerce, and these new solutions make it even easier for businesses of all sizes to create engaging content that drives consumers directly to the digital point of purchase”.

Shopify president Harley Finkelstein added that the partnership will help boost platform “creators” who promote products online by “enabling new in-app shopping experiences and product discovery on TikTok for the first time”.

The news comes amid rising interest in “social commerce” that is expected to be worth some US$36 billion (RM152 billion) this year, according to the research firm eMarketer.