TikTok Shop a Hit with Online Shoppers: Report

Social media platform TikTok added an e-commerce extension called TikTok Shop in September 2023, allowing users to purchase products through the app. Major retailers, including Nike and Shein, share a significant overlap of their customers with TikTok Shop, according to a new report from Earnest Analytics. 

The retailer with the largest percentage of its customer base shared with TikTok Shop is online fast fashion retailer Shein; 28 percent of Shein’s customers have shopped using TikTok Shop within the past year, according to the report. Twenty-five percent of Temu’s customers, another online fast fashion retailer, have made a purchase through TikTok Shop. The largest athletics retailer for TikTok Shop is Nike, with 19 percent of Nike consumers also shopping on the social media platform. 

TikTok Shop looks to be a dominant player in the social media retail market—from its launch in September last year, TikTok Shop sold over 68 percent of social shopping gross merchandise value by February 2024, according to the report. Combined, Instagram Cart, Facebook Shop and Flip App’s gross merchandise value is less than 1 percent. 

Since its launch, the app has sold more than $1 billion dollars in merchandise, according to Forbes.

TikTok Shoppers are also making purchases on other e-commerce sites—97 percent of TikTok Shoppers have also made a purchase with Amazon within the last year, 55 percent have made a purchase with Etsy and 32 percent with eBay. TikTok Shoppers are making purchases at Old Navy—38 percent have also made a purchase from the retailer within the last year.

“Despite high overlap with some low ticket apparel brands like Shein, TikTok Shop usage does not appear to negatively impact spending at the brand so far,” the Earnest Analytics report says. “In the long term, certain brands may be able to reach a wider audience through this channel, while others may be at risk of losing consumer dollars altogether as more consumer attention/time shifts towards the platform.”