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TikTok has spent nearly $1 billion cracking down on intellectual property violations in its marketplace. So why is TikTok Shop still flooded with knockoffs? From July to December 2024, the platform shut down 900 stores for IP infringements and brought on 400 additional IP protection specialists. Yet TikTok remains a hub for dupe culturepromoting and selling low-cost imitations of popular products. Even when sellers arent blatantly copying major brands, they often market untested look-alike items at a fraction of the price. Hiring more staff isnt enough to make TikTok Shop a safe, trustworthy brand. Whats needed is a full-scale culture shift. The TikTok Shop IP crackdown TikTok Shop is expanding fast. According to The New Consumer, by the end of 2024, it was already outpacing Shein, Sephora, and home shopping TV in quarterly spending. Of course, Trumps proposed tariffs could threaten that growth, though the data isnt in yet. Still, TikTok Shop remains crowded with cheap products, many of which mimic more established (and expensive) brands. TikTok wants those big-name brands on its platform. Cracking down on IP theft helps win them overlike with LVMH, which partnered with ByteDance last year to target copycats. Some brands, such as Nike and E.l.f., have joined the platform; others remain hesitant. In the second half of 2024 alone, TikTok blocked more than 7 million items from being listed. The company also expanded its global IP specialist team from 1,400 to 1,800. On the creator side, TikTok removed 675,000 videos and livestreams that promoted IP-infringing goods and revoked the selling privileges of 16,000 creators. While the vast majority of our sellers play by the rules, we are focused on keeping bad actors off our platform, reads a recent report published by the company. Thats why weve strengthened our reactive governance efforts to keep pace with the rising volume and complexity of activity on the platform. Dupe culture runs wild on TikTok Focusing solely on the rules wont fix TikTok Shops brand safety problem. While some sellers engage in outright IP theft, many more push look-alike productsslightly tweaked, drastically cheaper versions of established goods. A quick scroll through TikTok Shops homepage reveals dozens of knockoffs. Theres the $18 Miniso Crocs Design bag, which closely resembles a pricier tote from Crocs. (Miniso is based in Guangzhou.) Or the $4 star-shaped Qustere pimple patches, strikingly similar to Starface. (Qustere operates out of Shenzhen.) Youll also find budget Chelsea boots and shapewear from brands that overlap with Sheins catalog. Just one swipe away from TikTok Shop, the For You Page is flooded with more of the same. In response to Trumps proposed tariffs, some Chinese manufacturers recently went viral for urging Americans to buy directly from their factories to bypass fees. The catch? Many of the goods were counterfeit. TikTok Shops brand safety issues go far beyond IP enforcement. The platformfrom its marketplace to its short-form contentthrives on cheap imitations. Until that culture changes, brands will remain wary.
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E-Commerce
Remote work is going mobile. Starting today, the Florida-based high-speed rail service Brightline is launching a partnership with the shared workspace provider Industrious to turn parts of its stationsand even entire train carsinto coworking spaces. Industrious coworking spaces are now open in Brightline’s stations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Orlando, as well as a bookable train car for business meetings or private events on the move. “If people can work from anywhere, then anywhere can be a workplace,” says Jamie Hodari, cofounder and CEO of Industrious. “I think that’s something that’s been underdeveloped.” [Photo: courtesy Brightline] Brightline sees the addition of formal workspaces as a way to build on its high-speed connections between cities across Florida, giving riders more ability to use its network for both leisure and business travelsometimes simultaneously. “It’s a solution for modern professionals where we’re enhancing productivity through mobility,” says Megan Del Prior, Brightline’s vice president of corporate partnerships. “A lot of folks are riding for business. With our long-haul offering going from Miami to Orlando people are traveling during the workday and still need to work within the station spaces as well as on the trains,” she says. The coworking spaces are built in underutilized conference and meeting rooms inside Brightline’s stations, according to Del Prior. The bookable train cars available through the partnership have no special features, but do include Wi-Fi and charging ports like all Brightline train cars. [Photo: courtesy Brightline] Hodari says the idea for the partnership grew from Industrious’s previous experience building out workspaces in unconventional locations. In 2018, the company partnered with the outdoor apparel brand L.L. Bean to create a pop-up outdoor coworking space in New York City’s Madison Square Park. “The whole thing sold out within five minutes,” Hodari says. “It was such a sign that people are really curious about trying working and being productive in unfamiliar or new settings.” [Photo: courtesy Brightline] According to Hodari, the addition of coworking spaces to train stations is a recognition that people are already doing work in these spaces, either taking calls while waiting for their train or working on projects once their train is in motion. The experience of working like this, though, can be less than ideal. “Oftentimes it can be this really unpleasant, highly unproductive thing,” he says. “And it can be kind of painful for the people around you, where you’re talking loudly and you’re in your earphones and you’re unwittingly a nuisance.” Having dedicated spaces for meetings or focused work will enable people to make more of their travel time, Hodari says, noting, “You don’t stop being productive or engaging with your colleagues or other people because you’re in movement.
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E-Commerce
If youve gone shopping for a home appliance sometime in the last 30 years, youve probably noticed a blue Energy Star label on certain water heaters, stoves, light bulbs, and even windows. The program, launched by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1992, helps consumers identify energy-efficient products. But now the Trump administration is planning to shut it down. President Donald Trump has been attacking energy-efficiency measures since his return to office. In February, he said he would call on the EPA to revert to older efficiency standards for light bulbs, toilets, showers, and more. In his Unleashing American Energy order, Trump promised to safeguard the American peoples freedom to choose from a variety of goods and appliances, including but not limited to lightbulbs, dishwashers, washing machines, gas stoves, water heaters, toilets, and shower heads. Experts say the Energy Star standards are meant to help the environment by reducing water and energy consumption; they also lower U.S. households energy bills. And though Trump has framed standards as limiting to consumer choice, the Energy Star program itself is voluntary, and doesnt narrow what manufacturers can produce. To earn the Energy Star label, products do have to meet certain efficiency standardsbut the program doesnt stop manufacturers from making items that are not considered energy efficient, or Americans from purchasing them. (Energy Star stopped recommending any gas stoves in 2022, for example, but gas stoves are still available in America.) Energy Star also points consumers toward tax credits to bring down the cost of efficient appliances. Energy Star certifies all sorts of items, from heating and cooling (including heat pumps, ceiling fans, air conditioners, and thermostats) to appliances (like washers and dryers, dehumidifiers, dishwashers, refrigerators, and cooking products), plus water heaters, lighting, windows, and personal electronics like computers and TVs. By certifying efficient appliances, Energy Star has helped American households and businesses avoid more than $500 billion in energy costs since its founding, per a 2023 report. With an annual budget of around $50 millionless than 1% of the EPAs spending, the Alliance to Save Energy notesEnergy Star saves Americans $40 billion on energy bills each year. Energy Star has also prevented about 4 billion metric tons of emissions from entering the atmosphereequivalent to taking more than 933 million gas cars off the road for one year. Trump considered dismantling Energy Star in his first term. His move to eliminate it now comes alongside plans to shutter the EPAs climate change division and climate protection partnership division, sources told CNN. Historically, Energy Star has had bipartisan support, and more than 1,000 companies, cities, and organizations have signed a letter to the EPA urging continued support for the program. Republican senators have even praised the program, The Washington Post notes, saying it helped customers reduce their energy bills. Energy efficiency in general has strong public and bipartisan support. A March 2025 survey by Consumer Reports found that 87% of Americans agree that new U.S. home appliances should need to achieve a minimum level of efficiency (that included 94% of Democrats and 82% of Republicans). Supporters of Energy Star add that axing the program goes against the Trump administrations promises to lower energy costs for Americans, as well as efforts by the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to save taxpayer money. If you wanted to raise families energy bills, getting rid of the Energy Star label would be a pretty good way, Steven Nadel, executive director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, said in a statement. This would take away basic information from consumers who want to choose cost-saving products easily. Theres a reason this program has been so popular with consumers and manufacturers alike. The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, which represents a variety of appliance makers, said the industry is proud of its efficiency achievements, and that Energy Star is an example of a successful private-public partnership. “AHAM supports the continuation of a streamlined Energy Star program, which could be managed through the Department of Energy,” a spokesperson added. (Energy Star is currently a joint program of the EPA and DOE.) “Moving the program to DOE would meet the administrations goals of preserving a full selection of products from which consumers can choose, and also reducing unnecessary regulatory burden.”
Category:
E-Commerce
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