The TikTok Shop arrives in Brazil today with the potential to transform the national e-commerce, combining content and shopping in a fully integrated experience. According to Santander’s projections, the novelty promises to generate up to R$39 billion by 2028, representing 5% to 9% of Brazilian e-commerce and placing the platform among the top 5 players in the sector.
“It’s a much more fluid and impulsive experience, combining entertainment with conversion,” says Rafael Kiso, founder and CMO of mLabs, the largest social media management platform in Latin America. “The TikTok Shop eliminates friction in the purchasing journey. The user sees a video or a live stream, becomes interested in the product, and buys it right there, without leaving the app. Data from Santander and Itaú BBA show that this process can take less than 7 minutes—it’s the perfect combination of impulse and convenience,” explains Kiso.
Ecosystem undergoing transformation Kiso details the opportunities for different actors:
- Brands: “It’s a race to occupy this new territory and build authority as soon as possible. Those who arrive first can position themselves as a reference on the platform.”
- Agencies: “Agencies will also gain relevance, mainly by helping brands recruit charismatic sellers to do live streams and produce content adapted to the vertical, fast, direct format that works well on TikTok. In China, there are specialized agencies just for this.”
- Influencers: “For influencers, a new way of monetization opens up with real-time sales commissions. It’s not just about reach, it’s about direct impact on sales.”
A new logic: social + live retail In the end, TikTok is not just entering e-commerce, but rather merging social media with live retail. The founder of mLabs contrasts the model with competitors: “Mercado Livre and Shopee try live shopping, but they don’t have the organic fusion between social media and retail. Instagram, on the other hand, insists on taking the user out of the app — precisely when the rejection of ads in the feed only increases.”
“TikTok is not just entering e-commerce. It is rewriting the rules by combining discovery, entertainment, and transaction in one place. The question is: who will dominate this new logic first?”, Kiso provokes.
