TikTok Shop in the US is now mostly run by leaders from China

TikTok Shop's US business is now largely run by executives who worked, or still work, in China. That is the finding of a Business Insider report based on a leaked org chart, talks with company insiders and executives' LinkedIn profiles. TikTok Shop lets people buy products through influencer videos and livestreams. It has been gaining ground in American online shopping.

What changed

The operations team is overseen by Mu Qing, who goes by Mason. He is a former e-commerce executive at Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. He reports to Bob Kang, ByteDance's e-commerce lead. ByteDance is TikTok's parent company.

• Six of the seven US product category leaders under Mu previously worked in China.
• The head of the US creator team previously ran Douyin's creator team.
• Several American e-commerce leaders left through layoffs or voluntary exits.

The shipping rule that got pulled

Insiders point to one episode as a sign of the shift. Earlier this year, TikTok told all US merchants to move to its in-house shipping program by the end of March. They could no longer ship products on their own and would pay TikTok's service fee. Some sellers threatened to leave. The company dropped the plan in February.

Why it matters to the business

Shop has grown. Consumer Edge, a firm that studies card transactions, says it captured about 2% of US online retail spend in July, up from about 1.2% a year earlier. Amazon holds about 35%. Leaders with China ties have also brought in seller and agency relationships that helped lift US sales.

Still, more than a dozen current and former staffers said fewer leaders now have US e-commerce experience to flag problems. A former staffer on shipping strategy said US customers have alternatives and will not usually stick around after a bad experience.

What TikTok says

A TikTok spokesperson said the Shop US leadership team has remained largely unchanged for more than a year. The company pointed to a survey it commissioned. In it, 85% of businesses using Shop said it increased sales and revenue, and 81% said it helped them reach new customers.

What to watch

Sellers should expect that fee and shipping rules can change quickly, as the dropped March plan showed. Shoppers may notice the same in delivery and service. The report also notes that ByteDance sold a large part of TikTok US to investors in January but kept control of its US e-commerce and advertising businesses.