TikTok released a new report on the evolving shopping marketplace and how it's expanding efforts in making the app safe for secure shopping.

Which remains a work in progress. In-app shopping push has not caught on yet among Western users, though in China, in-stream commerce has now become the main moneymaker for the local version of the app, and TikTok looks to be using that template to spread its reach globally.

And as the report reveals, it is starting to get some success even though its progress is growing at a much slower place than it saw back home.

As according to TikTok:
"The TikTok Shop is shaping a new shopping culture one that's based on discovery and connects sellers, creators and the TikTok community". Since 2021, TikTok Shop has grown from Southeast Asia to the United Kingdom and is now growing to the United States in 2023 by having a community of over 15 million sellers. This new shopping experience allows people to find and buy their favorite creators' and brands' products, while allowing brands, sellers, and creators the means to sell directly through the TikTok app.
The report not only focuses on the growth of TikTok Shops but also includes evolving safety measures and the tools it has developed in protecting intellectual property rights.
On that front, TikTok says that it has implemented a range of steps to improve its systems.

We require each seller to document for identity purposes, the kind of business, and that they can conduct the type of business they're signing up for. We do a tough check on the applications because we must ensure that we obey all regulations which apply to our service.
After that, once we approve them, they will be probationary for a certain time. Probationary implies there's some time which merchants have in order to learn the rules and just ease their experience on this platform.
Policies on TikTok Shop are strictly enforced and are followed by both sellers and creators; however, the community may file complaints if they believe any particular content violates our rules to be reviewed.
TikTok states that it stopped 37 million products from listing as they breached the company's policies, although after listing, it deleted an additional 133,000 individual products.
Tics states that it has also permanently deleted over a million seller accounts for policy violations and eCommerce capabilities from more than 500,000 creators who violated its policies.

All these actions should help boost confidence in the shopping functionalities within the app and will consequently encourage more in-stream purchases over time.

That at least is not going to be the primary reason why brands might be hesitant to come out and set up shop within the app, even though that is true for now.

Having this U.S. TikTok sell-off bill now be approved, most wait for what follows the app indeed to be sold off to some U.S. company, or removed from the American market, as Chinese Governments currently suggest. As such, I would hazard a guess that most brands are probably not looking to put more reliance on the app, and even those outside the U.S. likely have some concerns about what a U.S. ban might mean for them, and whether similar restrictions could be implemented in other regions as well.
In essence, the sell-off bill is probably going to do far more to slow the push for in-stream shopping TikTok is advocating, whether on behalf of brands and consumers who are probably a whole lot less likely to input their credit card information into an app the U.S. government says they cannot trust.

So while this report does give some good signs into what is looking to present about TikTok's push to shop, I don't know that it will fare too well at this juncture, but yet, TikTok is continuing to see growth in terms of shopping through Asian markets as well, and those also fit within this report.