TikTok Shop triples U.S. Black Friday sales
TL;DR
- TikTok Shop reported over $100 million in sales on Black Friday, tripling last year’s figure.
- TikTok saw a 165% increase in shoppers compared to Black Friday 2023.
- The platform hosted 30,000 live shopping sessions with one-third of sales coming from small and medium-sized businesses.
Get smarter at marketing in just 5 minutes:
TikTok’s e-commerce feature, TikTok Shop, drove more than $100 million in the U.S. Black Friday sales, the company said. TikTok claims this figure is three times higher than its sales on Black Friday last year, making it the platform's most successful shopping day in the U.S. since TikTok Shop launched in September 2023.
TikTok’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend also saw a significant boost for TikTok Shop, reporting a 165% year-over-year increase in shoppers.
Live shopping drove sales and engagement
TikTok highlighted the role of live shopping in TikTok Shop’s performance. The platform said creators and sellers hosted over 30,000 livestream sessions on Black Friday alone.
TikTok has been promoting live shopping, a format already driving sales in China via TikTok’s sister app, Douyin. Douyin reportedly generated over $500 billion in product sales last year. “We want people to discover new products,” Nico Le Bourgeois, TikTok Shop’s head of U.S. operations told Business Insider in October.
Boost for small businesses
The platform also reported that a third of all purchases (one-third) went to small and medium-sized businesses.
TikTok’s e-commerce competition
TikTok’s expansion into U.S. e-commerce comes amid efforts to compete with retailers like Amazon and Walmart by blending social media and shopping. The platform has invested heavily in its shopping capabilities over the past two years.
With over 170 million US users, TikTok seems to be gaining traction, especially among younger shoppers. This comes despite ongoing scrutiny and a potential ban in the U.S., with lawmakers expressing concerns about its ties to Chinese parent company ByteDance and potential national security risks.