TikTok’s e-commerce unit announced that it has reached an agreement on a partnership with the fintech platform Atome, which is part of the ownership structure of Advance Intelligence Group.
For the virtual platform, which is currently actively implementing efforts to trade goods in the digital dimension, this cooperation means an opportunity to expand the scope of activities related to e-commerce, in Malaysia.
As part of the partnership, Atome will offer the Buy Now, Pay Later service for making payments in the TikTok online store. The cooperation is aimed at meeting the needs of Malaysian consumers. The BNPL service in this case provides customers of the online store with a deferred payment for the purchase for a period of three to six months.
Advance Intelligence Group, whose ownership structure includes a new partner TikTok, is a Singapore-based company founded in 2016 and has gained tens of millions of users in Southeast Asian countries since then. As part of the financing rounds, the owner of Atome was able to receive investment funds worth more than $ 700 million. In 2021, the company’s value was fixed at more than $2 billion. In the same year, Standard Chartered Bank announced its intention to invest in Atome as part of a ten-year partnership program.
William Yang, head of Atome’s commercial department, says that by integrating its financial instrument into TikTok Shop, this firm contributes to the growth of e-commerce and provides support for brands, especially startups and small and medium-sized enterprises.
TikTok, which is part of the ownership structure of ByteDance, plans to allocate billions of dollars of investments for the development of activities in Southeast Asia. The investment program will be implemented over the next three to five years. The company, through actions to finance its business, intends to stimulate the growth of the unit operating in Southeast Asia and ensure a high level of competitiveness concerning online retailers, including Sea and Alibaba Group.
TikTok’s main competitors, mentioned in the previous paragraph, are the largest players in the e-commerce market in Malaysia. These companies offer BNPL payment options.
Experts predict that by 2025, the gross value of goods presented on the Malaysian e-commerce market will amount to $18 billion. By the end of 2022, this figure was equal to $14 billion.
In June, the media reported that TikTok aims to increase the volume of its global e-commerce business fourfold, to $20 billion by the end of this year. In the context of these efforts, the company expects rapid growth in Southeast Asia.
