Canada’s e-commerce giant Shopify Inc said on Tuesday (August 24) it was partnering with TikTok to work on a feature that would allow shoppers to buy directly from the social media app.

In a first-ever, the company communicated via blog post that the Shopify merchants who have a TikTok business account would soon be able to add a shopping tab to their profiles.

At present, the pilot version of the app update is available to users in the United States and the United Kingdom. However, the expanded availability of the app is expected in the coming months.

Social media giants including Facebook Inc, Alphabet’s YouTube and Twitter have recently been investing heavily in shopping features to drive sales growth.

The companies are vying for a piece of the so-called social commerce industry, which relies on users’ ability to discover and buy products through social media apps and is expected to balloon to US$50 billion from US$36 billion in annual sales by 2023 in the United States according to research firm eMarketer.

TikTok, the social media app which has largely become known as a video app that provides entertainment, did not previously allow users to buy products in the app despite the fact that the app features many influencers who often talk up clothing, makeup and household products.

With the new partnership, TikTok joins Instagram and Facebook in offering in-app shopping, fostering a new way for creators to make money from their audience.

According to Blake Chandle, TikTok’s president of global business solutions, the move into in-app shopping builds on how the app is already being used by consumers to find products.

A view that has been confirmed by two-thirds of TikTok users who have been inspired by the app to shop even when they weren’t planning to do so.