TikTok Shop was going to be the next big thing. A potential ban could change that

CNN
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Aakaanksh Autade was skeptical about TikTok Shop, TikTok’s in-app purchase feature, when it was launched last year. Then the content creator praised it Over $100,000 in sales when he hosted a live event on Black Friday and went from skeptic to believer.

Autade is known for sharing tech-related tips and tricks on his TikTok channel, “kaansanity.” It took to TikTok Live for the first time during the Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday weekend to promote gadgets like headphones and game consoles. “It was the first time live, and to win $102,000 in 10 hours was crazy. I didn’t expect it at all,” he said.

TikTok Store allows users to buy and sell products without leaving the app. The sales platform combines entertainment and retail, and is particularly popular with Gen Z shoppers and continues to grow. It has more than 500,000 retailers in the US, including brands such as L’Oréal, PacSun and Scrub Daddy.

The TikTok store raked in $100 million in one-day sales on Black Friday — that’s three times the number in 2023, according to to the company During the Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday weekend alone, stores saw a 165% year-over-year increase in shoppers, according to a statement from the company this month.

However, this month a US appeals court he upheld a law that requires TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app by January 19 or face a US ban.

That ban can grind progress on the sales platform has stalled, but creators who spoke to CNN say they’re sticking with the TikTok Shop because they don’t think a ban will happen.

“I don’t think TikTok is going anywhere. I think they will figure it out, and a lot of people are invested in TikTok,” Autade he said “It’s hard to ignore how much it means to its users.”

TikTok Shop provides a discovery-to-purchase pipeline by letting users buy products featured in live videos, anchored to brand and influencer profiles, or tagged in content featured on the algorithm-driven For You page.

Even before the launch of the shopping feature, TikTok established a reputation as a place for users to find items to add to their wish lists. A 2022 study by marketing consultancy Material Plus found that 61% of users bought an item after seeing content about it on TikTok, supported by hashtags like #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt, which has more than 12 million posts.

Keenya Kelly, content strategist and creator of TikTok, said combining passive entertainment with a shopping function can be tempting for users to open wallets.

“On (TikTok) you have all these people who are spending so much time consuming and creating content,” he said. “When you mix commerce with our favorite source of entertainment, then that’s where we’ll spend all our money.”

TikTok Shop’s reliance on user-generated content allows consumers to hear the voices they trust.

“If you see your favorite creator promoting a product in a live stream or video, they’re more likely to buy in that moment,” said Carrie Berk, lifestyle content creator. Thinking in the audience, he said, “if A makeup influencer is promoting a product on the TikTok store, if it says it’s good, it must be good.”

TikTok users like Autade also say the app’s focus on short-form videos gives it an edge over other social media platforms.

“When I click on a product and I see hundreds or thousands of people actually posting a video about that product, that really helps,” he said. “On another platform, you might see some words, some reviews, some stars here and there,” but seeing the product in action is different.

Another component of TikTok Store growth is its popularity among young users. some 62% of Gen Z consumers say TikTok is their platform of choice when they need to search for something, beating out search engines like Google, according to one. the report Marketing technology company SOCi published this year.

“Gen Z as a whole has really chosen TikTok as their primary destination for content,” said Jen Jones, chief marketing officer at e-commerce platform Commercetools. “The TikTok store seemed like a natural place to spend those dollars.”

It’s shopping on social media it is not a new phenomenon.

Ninety-two percent Marketers plan to invest more in social commerce this holiday season, according to a study published by Commercetools in October. The same study showed that Facebook Marketplace was the social commerce platform of choice for businesses, followed by YouTube, Instagram, TikTok Shop and X.

In particular, Jones sees an opportunity for YouTube to fill the space that TikTok could leave behind if the ban goes into effect.

He says YouTube can meet demand for the short-form video style popularized by TikTok through YouTube Shorts while capitalizing on its long-form content.

In the last year alone, people watched more than 30 billion hours of shopping-related content on YouTube, the company previously told CNN in an email In 2023, it was launched YouTube Shopping allows content creators to tag products from brands featured in their videos and earn commissions.

Experts say that if the TikTok ban happens, it will serve as a lesson for brands not to put all their eggs in one marketing basket.

“It’s really important for companies to have a very diversified strategy when it comes to social shopping,” Jones said. “We know that social shopping is here to stay. You can’t be locked into a single platform.”

Kelly says the same advice applies to content creators who monetize their posts and videos, and recommends cultivating a following through more direct forms of outreach like email lists.

“We use social media to reach a group of people,” he said. “You have to move those people from social media to email so that you have control of your business.”

Still, Kelly says he sees no reason for content creators to worry about the court’s ruling, which moves one step closer to a TikTok ban.

“I don’t think it’s going to be banned” because of the millions of small businesses in the U.S. that rely on the app, he said. “I think they’re going to force TikTok to do some things they don’t want to do, but I don’t think it’s going to be banned outright.”

Berk almost commands an audience He has 4 million followers on TikTok and describes the social media platform as a big part of his livelihood, but the prospect of a total ban next month doesn’t worry him.

“There’s been a lot of talk about banning TikTok since 2020 and nothing has happened yet, so I’m doubtful,” he said.

Autad still has accounts on Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, but he told CNN that TikTok has been his main marketing channel and the platform that has brought him the most success.

Although the threat of a ban is closer, he says it’s still the norm and plans to continue with an event similar to the one he organized on Black Friday in January.

“I’m still very much on TikTok. I continue to live my daily life, run my business, and everything is almost the same until I hear the opposite,” said Autad.