Scroll, discover, buy: The TikTok Shop playbook for retailers

TikTok is taking over. It’s no secret that the social media platform has made waves over the last few years, drawing in billions of views across the world.

And now it’s making waves in the retail world.

What was once looked at as a Temu or Shein-like shopping platform, TikTok Shop has evolved into a curated marketplace with more than 70 million products. In the U.S. alone, there were 475,000 TikTok Shops active in 2025, serving the more than 170 million U.S. TikTok users.

Yet branching into the platform isn’t necessarily easy. It doesn’t follow the traditional retail e-commerce rules and that can often leave businesses stuck. Jack Ahmadi, director of multi-channel retail and logistics company Prestige Brands, spoke at the recent Inspired Home Show about how brands can – and should – take advantage of the wonder that is the TikTok Shop.

“There’s been a massive fundamental shift in how people buy online,” Ahmadi said. Consumers used to think of a product need, search it on Google or Amazon and then make a purchase. With TikTok, the process is more organic. Users connect with products through their For You Page (FYP) instead of specifically seeking it out and then often impulse buy based on the video content they watched.

Who’s buying on TikTok?

TikTok as a social media platform boasts more than 1.6 billion monthly active users worldwide. Those users spend an average of two hours on TikTok daily – much more than the average session on Amazon (10 minutes).

Seventy-one percent of users discover new brands while they’re scrolling and 37 percent have purchased products directly from the FYP. Oftentimes, a user can complete a purchase in as few as three clicks, something that leads to impulse transactions. “You’re really trying to make this as frictionless as possible to encourage customers to buy,” Ahmadi said.

Generationally, Gen Z frequents the TikTok Shop the most, with 25 percent using it daily and 50 percent using it weekly. Nearly 60 percent of all TikTok users have made at least one purchase from the TikTok Shop.

What are they buying?

Not every product is made to be a TikTok Shop success. According to Ahmadi, there are four key components in picking the right product: it easily shows visual transformations; it solves a clear and recognizable problem; it can be demonstrated in 10 seconds; and it has a price point under $50.

It’s important to keep in mind that the average order value is $20-$50, with impulse-friendly purchases being the most successful. Category-wise, beauty and personal care is largely the top seller, accounting for nearly $2.5 billion in U.S. gross merchandise value (GMV). Womenswear and fashion are the second-highest category, followed by health/supplements and home/kitchen gadgets.

The top categories lend themselves well to the key component of showing visual transformations paired with testimonials, which helps consumers see the products in action.

General commodity items – like hangers or basic office supplies – are not well-suited for this kind of platform. Neither are items with too high of a price point, Amadi said, as higher price points can put people into “consideration mode” where they often leave the Shop to do further research. Oftentimes, that ends with losing a sale to a competitor off the platform.

Tips for pushing products

Knowing how successful the platform has become, you may be asking yourself how you can get on the TikTok Shop train. According to Ahmadi, it’s important to remember that with a video-based platform like TikTok, every video matters.

“Content is king on TikTok,” he said. “Every video is a chance to make a customer. But you shouldn’t see your content as ads.”

Each TikTok video is a chance to reach new users. Videos need to be visually appealing and be able to quickly draw the viewer in. “Building hooks is essential,” Ahmadi said. “A lot of the time, you only have one or two seconds to hook someone before they scroll past your video.”

Ahmadi highlighted four important things to remember if you’re planning to branch into TikTok:

• You create the intent to purchase through your videos.
• Every video you make acts as your storefront.
• Content and creators drive the discovery of your products instead of traditional keywords.
• This isn’t Amazon – users don’t “search, find and buy.” Instead, they “scroll, discover, then buy impulsively.”

Start your TikTok Shop with one or two of your most easily demonstrated products that are well-priced. Create videos on your own or pair up with content creators to help spread the word and show off the product. After you build some momentum and gain some interest or following, then you can expand your offerings.