After seeing a 3x increase in Black Friday sales in the app last year, TikTok is making a big push on its in-stream shopping options once again this year, in the hopes that it can spark more interest in its shopping options, and get more people searching or products in the app.
Because this is TikTok’s biggest potential revenue opportunity, based on the massive sales numbers that it now drives in the Chinese version of the app. TikTok’s been working to get more Western users more interested in its shopping offerings as well, though thus far, the response has been fairly tepid.
But in sales season, TikTok has an opportunity to showcase its commerce tools, and it’s taking the opportunity to do exactly that.
Indeed, TikTok says that it’s hosting its biggest holiday season promotion ever, with its “Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping event,” which will run in the app between November 12th and December 1st.
As per TikTok:
“TikTok Shop makes holiday shopping feel easy and genuinely fun: it’s where people discover products and brands they love, drawing inspiration from shoppable videos, exciting live-streams, and authentic recommendations from brands and creators. Brands of all sizes are winning on TikTok Shop, because our platform connects people in a way that feels natural and authentic.”
In order to drive more interest in TikTok shopping this year, TikTok will be offering deals and exclusive offers from a range of big-name brands, including GAP, JBL, Philips, Samsung, and more.
And also, interestingly, Meta, which will be promoting its Meta Quest VR units, as well as its AI smart glasses in the app.
I mean, it makes sense, given that Meta wants to shift more units, and TikTok is one of the most used apps in the world. But given their competition, it feels strange to see Meta included as a headline brand in TikTok’s sales event.
TikTok’s also running an exclusive promotion with Grammy Award–winning artist John Legend, and his personal care brand Loved°1, with Legend taking part in a shopping live-stream.
“John and a few special guests will go LIVE to share their holiday favorites, self-care picks, and exclusive deals, giving TikTok users a chance to shop Loved°1 just in time for the holidays.”
TikTok’s also selling TikTok Shop gift cards, as a Christmas gift consideration, while it’s also offering returns until February 10th on eligible purchases, with over 55k easy drop-off destinations.
So TikTok’s doing all that it can to showcase its shopping potential, and get more people more interested in its shop options. And given the steadily rising interest, I can imagine that a lot more people will be shopping in the app this year.
The challenge for TikTok lies in scale, and boosting its shopping take-up in a significant way. TikTok seems to think that it just needs to get over the acceptance threshold, and at some stage, once enough people are having a good shopping experience in the app, that will give it the momentum it needs to drive mass take-up of its in-stream shopping options.
But I’m not so sure.
As noted, TikTok’s Chinese sister app (Douyin) now drives hundreds of billions of dollars in sales volume, and has become one of the biggest online commerce providers in the nation, which has driven massive opportunities for TikTok owner ByteDance.
But Western users seem less inclined to merge all of their online behaviors into a single app, preferring instead to use dedicated, trusted eCommerce platforms, like Amazon, in isolation from their social media and entertainment activity.
That seems to be the opposite in Asian nations, where “mega apps” have become the leaders in the space, integrating various functions into a single platform.
That’s more efficient, for sure, but it still feels like broader distrust of social media providers, and concerns around data sharing, have soured Western shoppers on similar options.
Can that be overcome? I’m actually not sure that it can, because every social app has tried, at some stage, to integrate commerce elements, and all have failed. Pinterest is probably the closest in this respect, but it’s effectively had to abandon its social media elements in order to be taken seriously as a product discovery tool.
Western consumers, for a range of reasons, seem to prefer this separation. And I don’t see how TikTok is going to be able to counter this, at least not in any significant way.
But that’s also relative, because TikTok Shop drove over $100 million in sales on Black Friday alone last year, which is still a massive amount, even if it’s not hitting the hundreds of billions that Douyin sees.
So even at smaller scale, there’s still big opportunity, though the question then is whether that will end up being enough for TikTok’s Chinese owners, who have repeatedly expressed frustration at not being able to grow the eCommerce side of the business.
In addition to these new shopping promotions, TikTok has also shared some rising product trends in the app:
- Cozy Wear saw a 407% rise in search activity in September, with searches for “matching pajamas" and #christmaspajamas also spiking
- Over 2 million holiday-related searches mentioned “games” last holiday season, making it one of the most consistent seasonal themes on TikTok.
- Baking content grew 29% month-over-month from November to December 2024.
- K-Beauty has experienced 132% year-over-year growth.
- Western and #WesternStyle searches are up 17% month-over-month, with #WesternFashion up 15% month-over-month, and #CowboyBoots up 28% month-over-month.
Some additional pointers for your planning.
