In which country did TikTok Shop first launch?

TikTok Shop first launched in Indonesia. ByteDance selected Indonesia as its first major overseas test market for in-app commerce, with the service rolling out there in 2021.

Indonesia was a natural choice because TikTok already had a large, highly engaged user base and a fast-growing mobile-commerce culture. The feature allowed users to discover products through videos and livestreams, then purchase without leaving TikTok. This helped establish the “social commerce” model that TikTok later expanded elsewhere.

The United Kingdom followed as an important early market, while the United States received TikTok Shop much later, with its full launch in September 2023. A common mix-up is treating TikTok Shop’s global or U.S. launch as its first launch. Indonesia came first outside China and served as the initial international pilot.

Indonesia temporarily halted TikTok Shop transactions in October 2023 after new regulations restricted e-commerce on social-media platforms. TikTok later partnered with GoTo’s Tokopedia to resume its shopping operations there.