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E-Commerce under Pressure: How to Escape the Technology Trap
An analysis by Actindo examines how brands and retailers are meeting the increasing demands for speed and customer satisfaction.
The commerce world in Germany is getting a new playing field: TikTok Shop is officially launching in Europe's biggest economy, and Actindo is on board with our customer Kapten & Son. The project is being implemented together with our technology partner Tradebyte, which acts as middleware for platform integration.
The TikTok Shop is creating a new sales channel that turns traditional customer journeys on their head – and places new demands on retailers, brands and technology providers.
How TikTok Shop is Changing E-Commerce
For years, traditional online shops were optimized for targeted searches and conversion. Customers came with a specific purchase intention, then browsed, compared and bought the items they were looking for.
TikTok turns this model on its head:
- Entertainment first: Attention is generated by content, not by product searches.
- Impulse instead of intention: Purchases are made spontaneously through inspiration, rather than through targeted research.
- Seamless in-app experiences: The purchase is made directly in the TikTok app – smoothly and seamlessly.
In Asia, this model has already generated billions in sales. Now this new dynamic is coming to Germany – with enormous potential, but also challenges, including trust, data protection, and acceptance of social commerce.
Expert Insight:
"TikTok is radically changing e-commerce"
“TikTok Shop is often mistakenly equated with Shein or Temu, but it is fundamentally different," says Wolfram Latschar, founder of the consultancy Beyond E-Commerce.”
"The platform has shaped the media usage behavior of an entire generation – with short, vertical videos that were previously hardly popular in this form and now represent the standard for mobile content.”
"TikTok requires retailers and brands to develop new skills: Success comes to those who not only offer products in a conversion-oriented way, but also present them in an entertaining way and master live shopping.”
"TikTok is radically changing e-commerce: away from classic product search and towards a feed-based experience in which reach is not bought at a high price but generated natively.”
"TikTok requires brands and retailers to develop new skills: success comes to those who not only offer products in a conversion-oriented way, but also present them in an entertaining way and master live shopping.”
"Companies should therefore see TikTok as an opportunity to further develop their e-commerce skills in a targeted way.”
What Does This Mean for German Retailers?
The TikTok shop brings many new opportunities for brands and retailers, including:
- Reach new target groups: Gen Z in particular can be reached better via TikTok
- Expand your sales channel portfolio: TikTok becomes part of your omnichannel strategy
- Rethink the brand experience: Content and commerce can be combined
But it also brings a variety of challenges, including:
- Building trust: Social commerce is not yet widely established in Germany
- Data protection & compliance: This is a known challenge in the European market (and especially in Germany)
- Technical complexity in the backend: If you want to sell on TikTok Shop, you need a powerful and highly flexible platform
Expert Insight: "This Naturally Presents Challenges for the Technical Components"
“TikTok is about to launch its in-house shop in Germany – and this could open up exciting new doors, especially for the fashion sector,” says Patric Bökemeyer, Vice President of eCommerce & Operations at Kapten & Son.
"What has been successfully tested in the UK and Asia is now taking social commerce to the next level in Germany."
"The advantages for consumers include the ability to buy products directly in their TikTok feed; live shopping with a direct purchase option; and in-app checkouts without switching platform.”
"For fashion brands like Kapten & Son, this means that we get visibility and sales on the same platform; authentic product placements via creators; fast testing options for collections and drops; and real-time insights and performance data into their campaigns.”
“Of course, this presents challenges for the technical components. As an all-in-one e-commerce solution, TikTok Shop not only needs options for connecting to existing ERP systems, but also high-performance and automated warehousing and shipping processes – including analysis tools for measuring performance.”
---> Read our success story with Kapten & Son.
Technological Implementation: Actindo x Tradebyte x TikTok Shop
For companies like Kapten & Son to be able to sell successfully on TikTok, they need a high-performance backend infrastructure. This is exactly where the combination of Actindo Core1 and Tradebyte comes into play:
- Product data maintenance is done in Tradebyte, which serves as an interface to TikTok.
- Platform management including listings, stock reconciliation, price control via Tradebyte.
- Order feedback to Actindo for further processing: fulfillment, accounting, reporting.
- Omnichannel synchronization with other sales channels such as Amazon, Zalando or brick-and-mortar stores.
The result: a seamless, scalable channel that's directly integrated into existing commerce operations.
From Social to Store – How TikTok & Influencer Marketing Can Revitalize Brick & Mortar
TikTok Shop isn't just a new sales channel – it's also a potential stepping stone back into the real world of POS experiences.
Influencer marketing combined with social commerce can be a central piece of the puzzle for a unified commerce approach, in which digital touchpoints are specifically extended into the brick-and-mortar world.
What does that mean in practice?
📍 Pop-up stores: Limited-edition offline events to accompany popular TikTok campaigns – directly where the target group is.
📸 Meet the influencers: Creators who generate reach online become real brands – and draw fans into the store.
🛍 Store-exclusive products: Products that are only available in brick-and-mortar stores create FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) – and increase footfall.
🎭 Entertainment First – offline, too: The emotional appeal that TikTok has perfected digitally can be brought into the analog world through creative store concepts.
TikTok paves the way for a new world of retail experiences – where the touchpoint doesn't matter as long as the experience is right.
Unified Commerce Flow:
From TikTok Influencer to Retail Store and Back
Here's what this circular flow from TikTok content to in-app purchases to real-world stores and back again might look like, as part of a Unified Commerce flow:
- TikTok Content: Influencer campaigns and product placements start the customer journey.
- TikTok Shop: Impulse purchase directly in the app – mobile, emotional and immediate.
- Store activation: Offline experiences extend the campaign – the digital hype becomes a physical experience.
- Loyalty loop: Re-engagement via app offers, CRM or social media closes the circle.
More Than a Trend – TikTok Shop is a Gamechanger for Brands & Retailers
TikTok Shop is not a secondary channel – it's a new platform logic. Those who understand how to combine commerce and content will be able to achieve real competitive advantages here:
- Frontends will lose some of their need for customization as more and more sales are processed via platforms.
- Complexity will shift to the backend – APIs, data flows, and process integration will become crucial.
- And with the right tech stack, social commerce can even become a bridge between the digital and physical world.
What TikTok is initiating with the launch of the shop is not hype, but a long-term shift in digital commerce. Together with Kapten & Son and Tradebyte, we're excited to actively shape this change – and to think of the TikTok Shop as part of a holistic commerce experience.
Want to learn more? Get in touch with us.