🗞️ Links & Thinks from 2023.02.16

17 Feb, 2023

Shop Within The Clock

First launched in select geos back in June (after rolling out an eBay integration in May), the TikTok Shop is coming stateside.

As Avinash says:

TikTok is most likely in the current social crop to try and pull off a WeChat or a Kakao everything app strategy, if that happens companies will have to foundationally rethink their digital everything strategies (and advertising) – I mean that in a good way.

It's been clear for a while that TikTok's ambitions lie in shopping. Those dreams are about to be tested. Will TikTok make people buy it...in TikTok?

Consumers Confident

Spending is staying about the same year-over-year despite inflation. “Super core” inflation was up 4%, while spending was up 4.7% in January. E-commerce hit 5.7% growth. For the time being, inflation seems to be more annoyance than deterrent, and the animal spirits are staying quiet.

Those Other Earnings

Roblox is still on a roll. Revenue bookings up 17%, daily active users 19%, and time spent 18% year-over-year for the 4th quarter.

Shopify’s revenue grew 26% for the same time period. This beat expectations but the company is forecasting less impressive growth this quarter thanks to inflation and cautious consumer spending.