What’s Going On: TikTok Secretly Chums Up to Amazon, Willing to Sell Itself to the American Big Spender to Stay Afloat?

On April 23, the US Senate passed a bill that would force TikTok to sell its US assets or face a ban. Officials warned of the app’s popularity with young Americans, alleging that it allows China to illegally track and collect data on users.

In response, the Chinese-owned social media giant has been quietly strengthening its ties with a major company that plays a central role in the daily lives of Americans: Amazon. This strategic move is expected to make it more difficult to shut down TikTok in the US, according to Forbes.

Some believe this is a sign that Amazon is being considered as a potential buyer. Roee Zelcer, a former product and services director at TikTok, said, “It’s pretty clear.” Even if a sale doesn’t materialize, Amazon’s close relationship and TikTok’s growing dependence on it could fuel a stronger backlash against a ban.

“It’s not just small businesses and influencers who are angry; Amazon disagrees [with the ban] too. It’s a very strategic move to deepen their relationship in the US economy,” commented an expert.

Amid the ongoing legal battle, TikTok has made subtle moves to solidify its position, including heavily promoting its sister app, CapCut. Last month, TikTok also announced a major partnership with Amazon—allowing people to browse and buy Amazon products without leaving the TikTok app. Amazon has urged its influencers to amplify the Amazon shopping trend on TikTok.

“Amazon is making it easier for customers to shop on social media by expanding in-app shopping on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and TikTok,” said Roee Zelcer, TikTok’s former director of product and services sales.

At first glance, TikTok’s collaboration with Amazon seems unusual, as the two companies are the biggest competitors in e-commerce. However, there are clear benefits to their partnership.

“Amazon comes from a large e-commerce foundation; how do they tap into social? Meanwhile, TikTok comes from social; how do they tap into e-commerce?” Zelcer, TikTok’s recent sales director, said when asked about the two giants’ battle for e-commerce territory.

Amazon’s social commerce efforts include Amazon Inspire, a personalized, TikTok-style in-app feed launched in late 2022. Amazon also introduced Amazon Live, although it pales in comparison to TikTok Live. Both saw an opportunity in each other.

“For TikTok, I’m now tapping into all the e-commerce shoppers that Amazon has. For Amazon, it’s a way for them to leverage the virality and Gen Z shoppers on the TikTok platform—a demographic they very much want to tap into,” Zelcer said.

Amazon has become TikTok’s third-largest advertiser in the US, only behind Google and Walmart, according to market research firm Sentor Tower. Internal TikTok documents obtained by Forbes show that Amazon had more than half a dozen advertising accounts with TikTok in 2023, including Amazon Fashion, Amazon Style, Amazon Books, Amazon Health, and Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator. There were also advertising accounts for Amazon’s public policy and public relations group and its marketing group focused on Rufus, the new AI-assisted shopping assistant. Boschetti, an Amazon spokesperson, said Amazon advertises on TikTok just like any other company or retailer.

All of this has led many to believe that Amazon would have a strong motive to acquire TikTok. If ByteDance agrees to separate TikTok from its Chinese operations, the recently announced partnership could lay the groundwork for a potential acquisition. “If you look at Amazon buying the social platform TikTok, swallowing Gen Z, the engagement, and integrating everything into Amazon through TikTok, that could be a potential merger between the two,” commented an expert.

According to Backlinko, TikTok is available in 158 countries and has been translated into 57 languages. Of the 5.3 billion internet users worldwide, 23% are TikTok users. Among the current 4.95 billion social media users, the TikTok community accounts for 24.65%.

Data released by the social media platform shows that the US has the highest number of monthly TikTok accounts, with over 170 million. A report from eMarketer shows that American adults spend a total of over 4.43 billion minutes on the app every day. However, it is this very popularity that has landed TikTok in hot water.

Previously, TikTok displayed a notice to many US users, urging them to call their senators to vote against the bill banning TikTok if its parent company ByteDance did not divest from the platform. In the notice, TikTok advocated for users to tell senators about the importance of TikTok to the future of creativity.

Sources:

Forbes, The New York Times