Gen Z grew up on social media — we’ve been building our list of friends and followers since we were young. So, for college students who want to try their hand at launching a business, they have a ready-made customer base and marketing platform at their fingertips.
Social media platforms recognize that potential and have been rolling out commerce tools. Pinterest and Facebook were among the earliest to launch shopping/marketplace features and Instagram followed a few years later, giving small businesses the opportunity to reach millions — and in some cases billions — of users. This has been a game-changer for start-ups.
In August, TikTok announced a partnership with Shopify, where Shopify merchants who have a TikTok for Business account are able to add a shopping tab to their profiles. Reality star Kylie Jenner was among the first users to try the new TikTok shopping feature, using it to market her Kylie Cosmetics beauty products to her 37 million followers.
