April 2023 marks the first anniversary of TikTok Shop's arrival in Malaysia and in celebration of its milestones over the past year, the e-commerce platform is charting out bigger plans to provide even more opportunities for both sellers and shoppers.

TikTok Shop was conceived as a part of TikTok's vision to support local businesses and this was done by providing an intuitive and comprehensive platform that brings together online sellers, buyers and creators in one place. To get small and medium enterprises (SMEs) on board, TikTok Shop reached out to these entrepreneurs through education and training programmes, and became instrumental to the resulting 78% SME seller growth in the local market over the last six months.

"When TikTok Shop was first introduced last year, we wanted to provide an improved, creative and entertaining buying and selling experience. It was our aim to empower communities, creators and small businesses to be in control and take charge of their business growth, as well as gain new customers and reach greater heights than they could ever imagine through our various initiatives and efforts," says TikTok Shop Malaysia FMCG category director, Wilson Leong. "One year on, it is exciting to see the organic and impressive growth that has resulted from the resilience and ingenuity of our sellers, and we hope to reach many more in the years to come."

TikTok Shop has been steadily making its mark in revolutionising the e-commerce sphere with "Shoppertainment" - a new interactive online shopping trend that is enjoying explosive popularity - and the platform has emerged as one of the fastest-growing players in the region. Shoppertainment is content-driven commerce that seeks to entertain and inform first while incorporating content and engaging the community, thereby creating rich, immersive, and seamless shopping experiences. Sellers can inject their own flair as they create authentic content that speaks to their audience, while shoppers are able to make informed purchase decisions through community-driven recommendations.

In March 2023, TikTok Shop introduced its new Shopping Center feature in Malaysia that serves as a central hub where users can find promotions (such as campaigns and flash sales) and a wide array of products from TikTok Shop sellers, while merchants are able to better manage orders in their shop. Easily accessible via the Shop tab, this feature aims to provides our community with an enhanced shopping experience.

TikTok Shop has established guidelinesthat all merchants must adhere to in order to build a positive and trusted shopping environment for the TikTok community.

Hafiz Onn, the 23-year-old owner of the "Mr Bentong" brand, was a college student when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. His father's snack shop business suffered greatly amid the economic downturn, leading to the closure of 15 outlets. With the family's income reduced, Hafiz had little choice but to drop out of college.

To make an income, Hafiz knew he had to adapt to the changing times. He ventured into selling ginger online, capitalising on market demand. Running the business was difficult in the beginning, and he fell ill due to an unhealthy lifestyle. Determined to turn things around, Hafiz had the idea of creating his own ginger-based products. He named his brand "Mr Bentong", after Bentong town in Pahang, the place of origin for his products. To build brand credibility, Hafiz consumed his own product, Enzyme Halia Mr Bentong, and his review of the beverage became the brand's very first "testimonial".

On September 22, 2022, Hafiz mustered the courage to create videos and shared them on his TikTok account. Before long, other users began to take notice of him and his product. Hafiz began reaching out to Mr. Bentong's customers who were happy with their purchase and sought testimonials about their experience consuming the beverage. Business gained significant traction within the first month of Hafiz posting his videos, attracting customers from across Malaysia to his shop. From there, he sold a whopping 500,000 bottles within his first six months, making Enzyme Halia Mr Bentong the top-selling product on TikTok Shop for six consecutive months.

Enzyme Halia Mr Bentong witnessed a consistent month-on-month growth in Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), averaging at 65% from September 2022 to March 2023. Over the period from January to April 2023, it generated an impressive GMV of more than RM1.3 million.

Find out more about growing your business with TikTok Shop and how Shoppertainment is revolutionising local enterprises.