Social Commerce is a growing trend that is revolutionizing the way products and services are sold online. This new business model, originating in China and strongly accelerated by the pandemic, now has TikTok Shop at its center, a platform that has demonstrated great potential in several countries to boost sales through deep, native integration between content and online shopping, and which is finally arriving in Brazil this April.
TikTok Shop leverages the immediate gratification behavior of the new generation of digital consumers. According to research in various markets, such as the American, British, and Asian markets, TikTok users are highly likely to buy directly within the app due to the combination of entertainment, social interaction, and ease of purchase in one place, in a completely frictionless journey that allows them to fulfill their consumer desires without leaving the platform.
One of the great differentiators of this new business model brought by TikTok Shop is the short video format characteristic of the platform, integrated with the online store, which, in addition to quickly capturing attention, also drives impulse buying. The platform allows creators and brands to directly integrate links to products shown in the videos, quickly transforming interest into real conversions.
As I recently shared in interviews with some specialized television news outlets, TikTok Shop has seen a significant increase in sales conversions compared to other traditional forms of e-commerce, potentially reaching up to 10 times more results. This is especially due to the emotional connection users develop with influencers and organically generated content, which increases trust and credibility in the promoted products – not to mention the speed of purchase within the app, boosting impulse buying.
Another important factor in the success of TikTok Shop is the user experience, which is highly optimized for mobile. In a scenario where every second counts to capture the consumer's attention, the fluidity of navigation and the simplicity of the integrated checkout are crucial to reducing shopping cart abandonment rates.
TikTok is more than just a video platform.
TikTok has long since transcended its origins as a short video and dance platform. Today, it's a phenomenon that redefines the intersection between entertainment and commerce, driven by the attention economy—a scenario where time spent on social media directly translates into business opportunities. In markets like the United States and Indonesia, TikTok Shop generated US$33 billion in 2024, a figure that illustrates the power of this new frontier of social commerce. In Brazil, where users spend more than 30 hours a month on the app, its arrival promises to shake up the e-commerce market, which could generate almost R$39 billion in the country by 2028 (according to a study released by Santander bank).
The rise of TikTok Shop is intrinsically linked to the shift in consumer behavior. We live in an era where attention is the most valuable asset, and platforms that manage to capture it—like TikTok, with its precisely tuned algorithm—become natural sales drivers.
E-commerce represents 13% of global retail, and social commerce, driven by influencers and immersive content, is the next wave – which is enhanced by the effective application of artificial intelligence in hyper-personalization. Thus, when a user watches a live stream of a creator testing a beauty product, the purchase can be completed in seconds, without leaving the app. This eliminates friction and boosts impulse buying, which is the heart of retail.
The platform operates in countries such as the US, UK, China, Mexico, and Indonesia, where integrated features—such as shopping icons in videos, product showcases, and live streams—simplify the consumer journey. In Indonesia, for example, 9 out of the 10 largest TikTok Shop stores in 2024 were beauty and personal care stores, a segment that also dominated the highest-grossing live streams in the US. TikTok's strategy includes aggressive incentives to attract sellers, such as 90-day commission-free periods and free shipping, tactics that could be replicated in Brazil to accelerate adoption.
