Walmart Leans Into TikTok Instead Of Buying It 

As the old saying goes, “why buy the cow, if you can get the milk for free?” In Bentonville, Arkansas, it’s applicable to Walmart these days.

On Tuesday (March 9), the world’s biggest retailer announced that it was “doubling down” on its embrace of TikTok, the super trendy, short video social media platform that it almost bought last summer with Oracle in an unusual, arranged deal that involved national security and the former president (but we won’t get into that).

After dipping its toe in the water of what it calls “the fastest-growing digital community” three months ago, Walmart found that its use of streaming retail was not only a hip move for the 60-year-old owner of nearly 11,000 SuperCenter stores, but a lucrative one, too.

“In December, we brought a shoppable livestream experience to U.S. TikTok users for the very first time,” Walmart CMO William White wrote in a blog post. “The TikTok community enjoyed shopping while engaging with their favorite creators,” White added, noting that the company netted seven times more views than anticipated and grew its base of TikTok followers by 25 percent. “With that kind of demand and positive response, we’re going to give TikTok users more of what they want,” he added.

Attention Walmart Tok’ers

Officially, White and Walmart’s second big soirée on TikTok will happen this Thursday evening (March 11) when it unveils the “Spring Shop-Along: Beauty Edition” co-hosted by social media lifestyle stars Nabela Noor and Gabby Morrison, who together have close to nine million followers on that one platform alone.

But what has Walmart and the broader retailing world more excited is the fact that these burgeoning, livestreamed events not only create a buzzy gathering of consumers, but also enable viewers to watch the show, interact with the hosts and, most importantly, make purchases on the fly, without being redirected and having to leave the event.

“OMG … I love Gabby’s new sneakers!” Click. They’re in your cart.

“Nabela’s makeup technique is so me.” Click. It’s yours.

In short, streaming retail on TikTok is extreme seamless shopping, presented as a live party that fans and followers won’t want to miss.

Beauty Is the Tip of the Iceberg

While the upcoming event will be an hour-long parade of beauty tips and fashion ideas, the possibilities for other curated content and themed events are truly limitless, given that the typical Walmart SuperCenter stocks over 150,000 products, while Walmart.com and its marketplace sellers offer hundreds of millions of different items.

“This won’t be the last event, either. We’ll keep trying new things, see what works and how we can continue to make these events better and relevant for our customers,” White said on his LinkedIn profile. In the coming months, Walmart says it will roll out more shopping experiences, with more creators and more products in different formats.

Amazon Live

While Amazon only has about one-fourth the number of TikTok followers that Walmart does, it has been hosting its own streaming commerce shows on its Amazon Live platform for the past two years. Touted as “the third way to shop” (behind brick and mortar and eCommerce), livestreamed retail events are being actively promoted by Amazon to its existing base of sellers, as well as to the world of up-and-coming influencers who are looking to make a name for themselves — and to make a living, too.

“[Amazon] Live video gives you a way to bring your product picks to life and engage with shoppers,” the e-tailing leader’s website says. “Through the Amazon Influencer Program, you earn commissions from all qualifying purchases of products you feature in your livestream.”

Whether Walmart ultimately brings streaming commerce in-house to its own site remains to be seen, but in the meantime, it is all in on the genre and is having fun with its hip new toy. “We are excited to test, learn and iterate on what’s best for users as we innovate and chart new territory in social commerce,” White concluded.