The rule is part of newly tightened trade regulations that will kick in immediately. Indonesia is the first and largest market for TikTok Shop, and online shopping has become the app’s fastest-growing feature with a burgeoning fan base in the country. TikTok started the shopping feature in Indonesia in 2021 and its instant success has encouraged it to expand into online retailing in other markets, including the US.
TikTok suffered a major setback to its online shopping ambitions after Indonesia introduced regulations that will curb its operations in its biggest e-commerce market.
Indonesia is prohibiting social commerce companies from facilitating direct e-commerce payments on their platforms, Ministry of Trade officials said on Wednesday. That means ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok, the only social media company that sells goods directly on its app, will need to separate the shopping feature from its popular video-scrolling service.
