It looks like TikTok’s ongoing push to get people buying stuff in-stream is actually working, with the company sharing that TikTok Shop saw a 3x increase in sales on Black Friday this year.
TikTok has shared an overview of its “Shopping Season” push, which included a range of shopping live streams, celebrity appearances, and more. Coinciding with Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the initiative drew significant attention, and TikTok’s keen to highlight this, in order to attract more interest in its shop options.
As per TikTok:
“During Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend alone, TikTok Shop saw a 165% increase in shoppers year-over-year. Fueled by both familiar and new creators within TikTok’s extensive community, there were over 4 billion #tiktokshopblackfriday views and 3.5 billion #tiktokshopcybermonday across the platform to help inspire shoppers. On Black Friday alone, TikTok Shop hit over $100 million in single day sales – triple from Black Friday last year.”
And there’s good reason why TikTok is excited about this.
For years, TikTok has been trying to convert its audience into shoppers, by adding more and more shopping options in-stream. Its in-app shopping push follows the success that TikTok’s Chinese sister app, Douyin, has seen with in-stream sales, which are now its key source of revenue. Douyin generated over $500 billion in product sales last year alone.
In-stream spending on TikTok has also been rising steadily over time, but for comparison, it generated around $3.8 billion in total in-app sales in 2023.
So you can see why TikTok’s keen to capitalize on this opportunity, if possible. And to do that, it needs to get both users and retailers excited about the concept.
TikTok further notes that a third of all purchases made on TikTok Shop during the campaign went to small and medium businesses.
“Some of the most popular categories during the campaign included makeup, skincare, fragrances, bath and body care, personal care items, menswear, indoor furniture, kitchen appliances, fitness items, and sporting equipment.”
Unsurprisingly, a shopping live stream hosted by Nicki Minaj immediately became the highest-viewed TikTok Shop LIVE in the app’s history, with over 172 million viewers tuning in to get her insights into Pink Friday Nails, and other products.
There are some positive signs here, but it remains to be seen whether Western shoppers will ever be as interested in in-stream shopping as Chinese consumers, who have taken to live-stream shopping, in particular, at very high rates.
It seems unlikely that TikTok will ever see the same level of interest in such as Douyin. But given the potential, you can also see why TikTok’s keen to keep pushing on this front.
And as younger consumers become more accustomed to TikTok promotions and spending, it may well be on the right track.
