According to Business Insider, TikTok is testing an e-commerce membership program called "TikTok Shop Plus" with some consumers in the U.S. market. The service is directly embedded in the TikTok Shop e-commerce platform, and its core selling points are very similar to Amazon Prime — free shipping, product discounts, and exclusive coupons.

Currently, TikTok is testing three different subscription prices: $6, $10, and $15 per month. Although the final pricing has not been determined, compared with Amazon Prime's pricing of $14.99 per month (or $139 per year), the lower tiers are still competitive.

In the test cases, some specific discounts can be seen. A hair care product that usually sells for around $57 can be bought by Plus users for $47, and they can also enjoy free three-day delivery; another beauty product close to $50 gives Plus users a $5 discount. For users who frequently shop on TikTok, these discounts plus free shipping may save enough to cover the membership fee.

Source: Business Insider

Why a membership model? To turn "planting grass" into "placing orders".

TikTok's move to paid membership is not an impulsive decision.

A former TikTok Shop employee revealed the real consideration behind it to the media: launching the membership program is to help TikTok retain users who have already reached the final stage of the purchase decision. He said bluntly: "For a long time, TikTok has seen a large number of consumers at the final stage of purchase decisions switch to Amazon. Users see a product on TikTok, then go to Amazon to buy it."

Source: Business Insider

Simply put, TikTok is essentially a place for "planting grass" — users scroll to see good products recommended by bloggers, feel tempted, then open Amazon to compare prices and place orders. In the whole process, TikTok only earns traffic and attention, while orders and profits flow to competitors. What TikTok Shop Plus aims to do is to complete the closed loop from "planting grass" to "placing orders" within its own platform.

This is actually a path that domestic Douyin e-commerce has long proven. Content attracts attention, algorithmic recommendations spark interest, and one-click ordering completes conversion. Now TikTok wants to bring this logic to the U.S. market, and the membership system is a key part of it.

Source: Internet

There is still a large gap in scale, but the growth momentum cannot be ignored.

Of course, TikTok's e-commerce business is not in the same league as Amazon at present.

Market research firm eMarketer expects that TikTok Shop's U.S. business may exceed $23 billion in sales in 2026. In comparison, Amazon's U.S. market sales are expected to surpass $500 billion in the same period. One is $23 billion, the other is $500 billion, a gap of more than 20 times.

From another perspective, TikTok Shop was only officially launched in the U.S. in September 2023, and it has achieved a scale of more than $20 billion in less than three years. That speed is not slow. Moreover, according to eMarketer, the overall U.S. social commerce market will exceed $100 billion for the first time in 2026, and TikTok Shop alone contributes over $23 billion, accounting for more than 20%.

Source: Internet

Whether the membership system will work remains to be seen.

At present, TikTok officials have not commented on the Shop Plus plan, nor have they announced an official launch date. The service is still in a small-scale gray testing phase, and the final pricing, specific benefits, and launch rhythm are all still unknown.

But one thing is certain: TikTok is going deeper and deeper on the e-commerce path. From initially embedding shopping links in videos, to launching the full TikTok Shop, and now testing paid membership, every step is tying "scrolling videos" and "buying things" more closely together.

For consumers, if spending $6 to $15 per month can get free shipping and exclusive discounts on TikTok, whether the math works out depends on how much you buy on the platform. For TikTok, the real test is whether the membership system can retain those users who "go to Amazon to place orders after watching."