TikTok Says In-Stream Shopping Has Increased 120% This Year

Yahoo

8 hours ago

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TikTok has shared some new stats on in-stream shopping engagement in the app, which it says has seen a big rise over the past year.
According to TikTok, Americans, in particular, are warming to its TikTok Shop offerings, as it continues to promote its in-app buying options to its billion-plus users.
As per TikTok:
'Over the past year, our community of sellers has expanded into more than 750 categories, bringing shoppers an incredible selection of over 70 million products. So far in 2025, our growing community of shoppers, sellers, and creators has driven impressive momentum across the TikTok Shop platform. In the U.S., TikTok Shop sales have increased 120% compared to the same period last year.'
TikTok says that womenswear, beauty & personal care, health, sports & outdoors, and electronics are the top sales categories in the app, with TikTok shopping now available in even more regions.
'Today, millions of people are discovering products they love on TikTok through shoppable videos and livestreams from sellers and creators who demonstrate how the products actually work and answer all your questions in real time. In fact, according to a new research by GlobalData and TikTok Shop, 83% of all shoppers say they have discovered a new product on TikTok Shop, and 70% have discovered a new brand.'
Those are some impressive numbers, while TikTok also claims that:
Brands and creators have hosted over 8 million hours of LIVE shopping sessions in the U.S.
171,000 local and small businesses are now operating TikTok Shops
76% of consumers who've engaged with TikTok Shop bought something from a livestream in the past year.
Sales to small U.S. businesses in the app have grown by 70% year-over-year
So, livestreams are generating more interest in TikTok shopping, which is also where TikTok has seen significant in-stream sales success in China as well.
In order to further fuel this growth, TikTok says that it's adding a new set of 'assortment, content and empowerment tools' in its Seller Center, which are designed to provide tailored, actionable guidance to help sellers attract the right audience.
It's also gearing up with new offers for summer's 'Deals for You Days' July 7 – 19), including a 'LIVE Price Match Guaranteed' program, which will enable customers watching select 'Deals for You Days' livestreams to get cash back if they find a lower price off-platform on featured products.
Which all sounds positive, all sounds like TikTok's shopping push is headed in the right direction. But even so, the platform is still a long way off from where it envisioned that it would be at this stage.
As noted, TikTok's been pushing to get Western audiences excited about in-stream shopping for years, but thus far, TikTok users have been less enamored by the platform's expanded digital shopping mall vision, preferring instead to keep their shopping activities within dedicated shopping apps.
In China, however, it's been a much different story.
Shopping is now the top revenue stream for Douyin, the Chinese version of the app, with Douyin bringing in $US490 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2024 alone. Indeed, Douyin is now the third-largest ecommerce platform in China.
In comparison, TikTok generated around $US6 billion via in-app spending throughout 2024.
Yet even so, that smaller intake is still up 15% year-over-year, so TikTok shopping is catching on, while as TikTok notes, overall shopping engagement in the app is trending up, in various ways.
The next step, then, could see TikTok leaning into services, like meal ordering and ride-hailing, direct from the app. Douyin has seen big success with these options, which has helped to get even more money moving through the app's circuits.
If more people feel more comfortable spending in the app, that'll lead to more shopping activity, which could help to spark TikTok's in-stream shopping push, as it builds towards its broader revenue goals.
Though the signals do remain mixed.
TikTok's future in the U.S. is still under a cloud, as the White House works on a sell-off deal, while TikTok also recently restructured its entire U.S. commerce team, after it failed to meet its 2024 targets.
So while the data that TikTok's reporting suggests that things are all going well, that everything's all rosy for TikTok's in-app sales push, clearly, they're not exactly where it wants them to be just yet.
Can TikTok translate its broader success into becoming an online sales juggernaut in the West?
And more specifically, is it worth trying out TikTok Shop for your brand?
It is worth noting the broader push here, and considering what's resonating with the TikTok audience.