TikTok announced Monday that it is rolling out an AI shopping assistant and a new in-app checkout feature that lets users buy directly from brands, according to TechCrunch. The move pushes the app's algorithm-driven For You feed further into e-commerce territory.
TikTok describes the Shopping Assistant as a conversational AI agent built to help users discover and purchase products. The company says it understands context and remembers user preferences and needs throughout the conversation, offering real-time guidance on product details, shipping, sizing and availability, and even helping complete a purchase.
How the TikTok AI shopping assistant works
The assistant is designed to keep shopping conversations inside TikTok. Instead of leaving the app to ask an outside AI tool such as OpenAI's ChatGPT about a product, users can ask questions and get answers without breaking the browsing flow.
The one-click checkout feature works directly from the For You feed, the app's main video feed. TikTok says users can buy from a brand in a single click, pairing product discovery with payment on the spot.
TikTok checkout partners and TikTok Shop context
TikTok says the new features are being built in partnership with commerce platforms and payment providers, including Salesforce, Shopify, Shoplazza and Stripe, among others.
Until now, TikTok Shop has been the platform's main engine for e-commerce ambitions. These new tools broaden that approach beyond the existing shopping hub, integrating shopping more directly into the wider app, including the For You feed.
Why TikTok is betting on in-app shopping
TikTok's influence on shopping keeps growing. According to the company's Economic Impact Report released last week, activity on the platform helped generate $81 billion in GDP for U.S. businesses, while 54 million Americans said they had purchased a product after watching a TikTok video.
