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How the time flies \u2014 today TikTok Shop<\/strong> celebrates two<\/strong> years since its formal U.S. launch, and for many brands and creators it\u2019s already hard to imagine a time before this supercharged commerce vehicle existed.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTikTok Shop has really set a new standard for what social commerce can mean by providing the entire ecosystem \u2014 creators, brands and consumers \u2014 with this incredible experience of consuming the same content but now having the ability to sell\/buy products within that existing content consumption flow<\/strong>,\u201d said Alex Nisenzon CEO of ecommerce intelligence platform Charm.io in an interview with Retail TouchPoints<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cTikTok has already established dominance as a social commerce giant \u2014 our data shows they\u2019ve crossed $70 billion<\/strong> in global GMV [gross merchandise value] since launching in Southeast Asia in Q4 2022, and I expect we\u2019ll see them continue to conquer this arena,\u201d Nisenzon added.<\/p>\n Setting aside the ongoing threat of a U.S. ban, the numbers seem to support Nisenzon\u2019s prediction: In the U.S. alone, the number of shops on TikTok Shop has increased 5,000%<\/strong> from July 2023 (when Shop soft-launched in the U.S. with\u00a04,450 shops) to July 2025 (231,334), according to Charm.io\u2019s data, which is based on publicly available information fed through machine learning models.<\/p>\n Of course, having a shop doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019ll make a sale, but the number of TikTok shops that actually sold products in those same time frames also increased 3,212%<\/strong> with 2,732 shops making sales in July 2023 and 90,495 bringing in the green in July 2025.<\/p>\n All told, Charm.io\u2019s datasets show that U.S. GMV on TikTok Shop has grown from $15.1 million<\/strong> in July of 2023 to $1.1 billion<\/strong> in July 2025, and separate analysis from WorldEF News<\/em> put global GMV for the platform in just the first half of 2025 at a whopping $26 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Those are staggering numbers that TikTok has, not surprisingly, been pretty vocal about itself: \u201cOver the past year, our community of sellers has expanded into more than 750<\/strong> categories, bringing shoppers an incredible selection of over 70 million<\/strong> products,\u201d said the company in a June announcement touting its commercial influence. \u201cSo 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\u00a0sales have increased 120%<\/strong>\u00a0compared to the same period last year\u201d with womenswear<\/strong>, beauty and personal care<\/strong>, health<\/strong>, sports and outdoors<\/strong> and electronics<\/strong>\u00a0reported as the top-selling categories.<\/p>\n TikTok\u2019s cultural impact has long been undeniable, and over the past two years the platform has more than proven its ability to make a commercial impact as well. And these sales aren\u2019t just coming from kids. Users 45 and older are outpacing the growth of younger demographics<\/strong> on TikTok, according to Emarketer<\/em>, with 39%<\/strong> of U.S. adults saying they use TikTok multiple times a week.<\/p>\n Retail TouchPoints<\/em> dug deeper into the data with Charm.io\u2019s Nisenzon to understand what\u2019s driving TikTok Shop\u2019s explosive growth and look at where it might be headed.<\/p>\n The ultimate power of TikTok is its creator content, and that is also what has made the platform stand out from its peers when it comes to social commerce.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat makes TikTok Shop different is how natively embedded the commerce experience is<\/strong>,\u201d explained Nisenzon. \u201c[TikTok has] successfully managed to build an incredible social platform, first and foremost, and then layered in the shopping component in a way that is incredibly organic. This not only encourages consumers to purchase without feeling like they are really \u2018shopping\u2019 but also drives brands to want to be on the platform as a way to reach consumers in a seemingly \u2018new\u2019 format.<\/p>\n \u201cThis organic feeling and dynamic have created a new cohort of creators<\/strong> \u2014 not real \u2018influencers\u2019 but everyday individuals \u2014 who feel both comfortable and excited by the opportunity to monetize their community with affiliate sales for brands,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n In fact, over the course of the last two years the number of creators making sales on TikTok Shop has skyrocketed from\u00a011,800 in September 2023 to 184,000<\/strong>, a 1400% <\/strong>increase, according to Charm.io data.<\/p>\n While the broader economy grapples with ongoing inflation and tariff-induced price increases, Charm.io found that TikTok Shop prices\u00a0are moving in the opposite direction. Average unit prices on the platform have dropped\u00a010%<\/strong>\u00a0since Shop\u2019s debut two years ago, from\u00a0$21.45 <\/strong>in September 2023 to $19.11 <\/strong>in July 2025.<\/p>\n Several factors are driving this, including an increase in the number of lower-cost products being sold on TikTok Shop, according to Nisenzon, but that\u2019s not the only element propelling these price drops. Increased competition within TikTok Shop is also prompting brands to reduce prices and \u201cunlike other retail platforms, TikTok Shop has been proven as a top-of-funnel awareness driver,\u201d Nisenzon said. \u201cThat has a halo effect of sales on a brand\u2019s other channels, so many brands choose to discount on TikTok Shop to just break even since they use it as a marketing tool.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n The result is that TikTok Shop\u2019s low prices fuel massive impulse buying, creating a flywheel effect that is helping to drive those impressive GMV numbers and offering a low-barrier entry point for consumers to trial new brands.<\/p>\n Despite significant investment from the still Chinese-owned platform,\u00a0livestreaming\u00a0has never accounted for even 30% of revenue on TikTok Shop;\u00a0in fact, as of July 2025 livestreaming accounted for just 18%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Revenue generated from pre-recorded creator videos on the other hand has risen over the years, accounting for 66%<\/strong> of total sales in that same time period, proving that even TikTok is not immune to American\u2019s livestreaming resistance.\u00a0<\/strong>While livestream shopping dominates in Asian markets, U.S. consumers still prefer creator recommendations that they can view on demand in feed-style videos.<\/p>\n \u201cThe limited adoption [of livestreaming] simply highlights the cultural differences in Western markets,\u201d said Nisenzon. \u201cIt\u2019s possible that over time we\u2019ll see the U.S. and other countries start to shift in the direction [of Asia], but for now livestreaming success seems to be limited to more specific types of goods \u2014 think, collectibles where there are limited edition \u2018drops\u2019 or celebrity influencer events.<\/p>\n \u201cThe other important nuance here is that a big driver of TikTok Shop\u2019s success has been the authenticity of the content and creators,\u201d added Nisenzon. \u201cUnlike other social media platforms, you don\u2019t see TikTok content dominated by these massive influencers. Instead, TikTok is made up of what I consider many \u2018micro-communities,\u2019 and the content that creators put out is fun and authentic to their specific audience. It becomes very natural for those creators to offer specific products that they believe would resonate with their audience. Promoting those products in a video format like their other content comes across in an organic way, while livestreaming would seem very forced in most cases.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, all of this will come to a crashing halt if TikTok is banned, a threat that has loomed for more than a year now, although Nisenzon said he doesn\u2019t believe that will happen.<\/p>\n To recap \u2014 in June, President Trump delayed for a third<\/strong> time the federal order requiring TikTok to sell to a U.S. entity or be banned. The new deadline for the ban to take effect is coming up fast \u2014 Sept. 17 \u2014 but after so many delays (the law was originally supposed to take effect in January) and rumors of high-profile deals in the works, these deadlines have lost some of their sting. Indeed, even the urgency surrounding the security risk posed by China controlling such an important U.S. communications hub seemed to have faded \u2014 the world and its leaders have bigger fish to fry right now, and as evidenced by the numbers shared here, the experience is not one brands or users want to give up.<\/p>\n In fact, Nisenzon said that if a ban was instituted \u201cthe consequences would be severely negative to both creators \u2014 tens of thousands of which have restructured their lives to depend on the affiliate revenue as a source of income for themselves and their families \u2014 and the small businesses, many of which leverage TikTok Shop as their only sales channel for promoting and commercializing their products.\u201d His concerns echo that of many others who have pushed back on the ban since it was first announced.<\/p>\n And even with TikTok Shop\u2019s staggering growth over the past two years, Nisenzon said he thinks \u201cwe are only seeing the beginning of TikTok Shop\u2019s force in the global ecommerce market.<\/strong> Just this year, TikTok launched Shop in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Brazil and Japan \u2014 [TikTok Shop] will continue to enter new markets, and more established brands will join in (with) existing ones as the platform matures.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nTikTok\u2019s U.S. Influence Moves Beyond Culture to Commerce<\/strong><\/h2>\n
TikTok Shop has Proven the Power of the Creator<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Even Amid Inflation and Tariffs, Prices are Declining on TikTok Shop<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Livestreaming Isn\u2019t Taking Off, but That\u2019s Not Necessarily a Bad Thing<\/strong><\/h2>\n
TikTok Ban Would be a Blow to Creators, Small Businesses<\/strong><\/h2>\n