I imagine most readers haven't tried tiktok shop (or similar Chinese consumer shopping platforms).

ByteDance has reimplemented their now infamous video suggestion algorithm for shopping and it is _very_ effective.

Once the infrastructure and logistics of the Chinese eCommerce platforms improve in the US, it will be so much better that I imagine that Bezos only recourse will be to have congress ban them (a la the Chinese EV ban).

He will likely be successful in doing this and allow the US to slide further into modern technological irrelevancy at his own benefit.

▲ andrewla 3 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I have used this shop, but I do not agree that the experience is a good one. It is abysmal -- the standard for tiktok shop / aliexpress / temu is to offer you all sorts of "deals" that never actually apply. "Oh, you picked this item? Pick another four items and all of them are FREE!!! FREE!!! Also you have to buy a fifth one. Oh, and this only activates once you've spent more that $100. FREE!! FREE!!!"

Way worse than Amazon because at least Amazon is just showing you products and telling you how much they cost.

▲ Game_Ender 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Do you have some insight into in what areas it’s better and how that is?

▲ yuck39 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

Its hard to pin down specifically. As a general rule: When I land on the homepage of the TikTok shop, without touching my screen I _generally_ see something that I am interested in buying. Its like it predicts what I am there to search for, and its quite accurate.

On the Amazon homepage that has never happened. It usually just shows some banner ad for prime day, new amazon tv show/movie, then maybe 4 little thumbnails of the last product I searched for or whatever. I have to initiate the shopping experience, I have to pique my own purchasing interest.

▲ everforward 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I’ve bought some stuff off there and can tease out some aspects, though they may be after the fact rationalizations of subconscious effects.

The first is price. The stuff is cheap, as in so cheap I know it will be terrible and I still sort of don’t care. It’s $2, if I only use it twice I got my moneys worth.

That makes it super easy to hit Buy without thinking much.

The second is that they appear to target verticals that don’t have a natural ceiling to sales. I only need one microwave, so they won’t sell me that. They do sell a lot of apparel, decorations, toys for adults (crappy 3D displays, not dildos), stuff where you don’t think “eh, I already have one though”.

The third is the marriage of entertainment and shopping. I can be doomscrolling, see an ad and buy it without ever leaving the platform. If I remember right, it doesn’t even interrupt your doomscrolling really. Swipe to next video, see it’s an ad, hit buy, confirm Apple Pay pop up, scroll to next video. You can decide you want something, buy it, and be on your next video in 15 seconds. It’s so fast it almost blurs the line where I’m not sure if I’d call it shopping or entertainment.

The last is that they’re really good at luring consumers to start selling on there. The ads for stuff tend to be sort of home made and low quality, which makes it seem attainable for your average person. That tends to mean a huge selection. I had a buddy that randomly decided to sell stickers on there just based on watching other people do it (no idea how that went, I didn’t ask)

▲ throwaway2037 3 hours ago | parent [-]

    > The third is the marriage of entertainment and shopping. I can be doomscrolling, see an ad and buy it without ever leaving the platform. If I remember right, it doesn’t even interrupt your doomscrolling really.

No trolling: This prose is wonderful. It reads like something out of a sequel to the film "A Scanner Darkly".

▲ hamdingers 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

> Bezos only recourse will be to have congress ban them

No reason to get congress involved when you can have the president suspend duty-free de minimus with executive authority.

▲ kccqzy 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I hate videos when shopping. Videos are not skimmable. I don’t want to watch and listen to a salesperson sell the product to me. I want at least a modicum of individual agency and choice. I already skip all product videos on Amazon. I hate the product images too as they have become too salesy and they sometimes no longer even show important facts printed on the packaging itself (like the ingredient list or Nutrition Facts / Supplement Facts).

	▲	yuck39 5 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Fair; While I can only speak to TikTok shop (as its the only one I've interacted with), the videos typically take the place where product photos would be on the product page. A swipe dismisses it and its replaced with the product photos. The core browsing experience does not show videos in lieu of product photos from what I have seen.