Copying Domestic Livestream E-commerce Playbook? TikTok Shop US Tests Group Buying and Interactive Price Cut Features in Livestream Beta

[Ebrun Original] September 9 news, according to foreign media reports, TikTok Shop US will launch a closed beta test for two livestream interactive features, "Price Cut" and "Group Buying", on September 10, with initial access limited to a select group of invited top merchants.

Specifically, the core of the Price Cut feature is dynamic pricing tied to user engagement. Users drive prices down through interactions such as liking, commenting, and sharing livestreams. The more participants and higher the engagement volume, the further the price is likely to drop. Merchants can set a minimum price floor in advance, while users complete pre-authorization before participating, with automatic deduction at the final transaction price once the event concludes.

The Group Buying feature, by contrast, centers on participant headcount as the determinant of transaction success. Merchants pre-set a group deal price and the minimum number of users required to form a valid group. Users invite others to join within a limited time window, and the deal is activated at the pre-set group price once the headcount threshold is met. Notably, the group purchase price is fixed and will not decrease further even if additional users join after the threshold is reached.

In terms of mechanism design, Price Cut and Group Buying are tailored for different product categories. The dynamic pricing model of Price Cut — which rewards higher engagement with lower prices — amplifies user participation sense and livestream dwell time, making it more suitable for high-margin categories that can accommodate tiered price reductions, such as apparel, beauty, and home goods, as well as excess inventory requiring rapid clearance. Group Buying, which turns individual purchases into social dissemination nodes through the "invite others to form a group" mechanism, is better suited for standardized, high-repurchase best-selling SKUs including fast-moving consumer goods, small home appliances, and personal care products.

These two beta features are not the first time TikTok Shop US has introduced price game mechanisms into livestreams.

In July 2025, TikTok Shop officially launched its "Countdown Bidding" livestream auction function, where hosts set a starting bid and countdown timer, viewers submit real-time bids during the countdown window, and the highest bidder wins the product when the timer expires. The feature was initially only available to sellers in a small number of categories such as collectibles and pre-owned luxury goods.

In March 2026, access to the feature was expanded from U.S. local merchants to cross-border POP (Platform Open Plan) merchants operating in the U.S. market. The bidding mechanism was launched in the Japanese market in April, and in May, TikTok Shop further opened the bidding function to merchants across multiple categories, covering fashion apparel, consumer electronics, home daily necessities and other segments.

While the bidding mechanism attracted a cohort of cross-border merchants to enter the livestream e-commerce space, it also spawned irregularities such as low-price traffic baiting followed by delivery of products that do not match descriptions. At the end of August, TikTok Shop launched a rectification campaign targeting the livestream bidding model, with 100% direct mail fulfillment stores restricted from using livestream auction permissions. Some merchants noted that they are still communicating with account managers to restore access.

The currently tested Price Cut and Group Buying features add new tools for U.S. livestream e-commerce with stronger "user participation" and "social viral growth" attributes. Similar price cut and group buying functions already exist on domestic Chinese livestream platforms including Pinduoduo and Douyin, so this move is also seen as an attempt to introduce mechanisms proven in the more mature Chinese livestream e-commerce market to the North American market. It is evident that the platform is exploring a livestream monetization path more aligned with North American user habits through continuous iteration of features including bidding, interactive price cuts, and group buying.

This article was first published on the official Ebrun website.