TikTok leans into e-commerce with Shopify deal

The popular short-form video app TikTok, still under US government scrutiny for its Chinese ownership, is moving closer to becoming a marketplace for buying stuff.

Canadian e-commerce platform Shopify said on Tuesday it’s made a deal with TikTok enabling merchants to create “shoppable” video ads that drive customers to online stores.

The partnership was announced Tuesday amid stalled negotiations for Walmart to buy a 7.5% stake in the video app. Walmart’s planned investment is part of a government-forced deal that would rescue TikTok from a threatened ban by President Donald Trump and advance Walmart’s ambitions for the world of “social commerce.”