Walmart store brands star in shoppable TikTok event

Walmart is making some of its own brand fashion items available to buy on TikTok during a first-of-its-kind live stream event. The retailer is having 10 TikTok creators showcase clothing during a one-hour variety show where the clothing will be shoppable through the app.

Walmart’s new Free Assembly clothes will be on display, as well as apparel from its Scoop and Sofia Jeans brands. Some national brands like Jordache, Kendall + Kylie and Champion will be featured, too.

The event is being held at 8 p.m. Eastern, Dec. 18, and is called the “Holiday Shop-Along Spectacular.” TikTok creators such as Michael Le, known for creative dances and who has 43 million followers, will show clothing he has in his own closet and that are available at Walmart. He’ll enter a dance-off with other creators and they’ll all engage with TikTok users.

William White, Walmart's chief marketing officer, announced the digital event in a blog, saying the holiday program is a way to shorten the distance between inspiration and making it shoppable. The TikTok viewers will be able to tap a product when they see it in the event and have it added to their Walmart cart.

“We’re constantly looking for ways to innovate the shopping experience for our customers,” he writes. “We’re moving faster than ever to find new and improved ways to better serve our customers and meet them where they are. We created this event for, about and by our community, reflecting the lives, passions and styles of a diverse set of creators, so everyone watching will feel represented, no matter who they are or how they outfit their closet.”

This marks the first major event Walmart will host since taking a 7.5% stake in the U.S. operations of the app. The retailer, even before that, had been one of the heavier retail users of the app when Store Brands talked private brand usage on TikTok last year.