- TikTok is considering letting users shop by voice, according to a September trademark filing.
- The company may one day compete with Apple’s Siri and Amazon’s Alexa in voice commerce.
- The trademark application also showcased other areas of e-commerce that TikTok may break into.
TikTok is considering releasing new technology that would enable users to shop by voice, according to a US trademark application filed in September by its parent company ByteDance.
The application, which is for the phrase “Fulfillment by TikTok Shop,” largely focuses on the company’s intent to introduce goods and services related to online-order fulfillment, including payment processing, packing items for transportation, warehousing services, and processing product returns.
But it also included an additional possible service whereby the company would enable users to use their voice to do online shopping and perform financial transactions. The language in ByteDance’s application is broad, also mentioning that the technology could be used to remotely control lamps, televisions, and air conditioners, and search for news, weather reports, and online encyclopedia information with their voice.
While many of these applications seem to have very little to do with shopping fulfillment, it’s standard for companies to use expansive language for goods and services when submitting a trademark application, a trademark attorney told Insider.
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