NEW YORK — TikTok has drawn droves of marketers for its ability to show products of all stripes, from Stanley tumblers to cranberry juice, into viral sensations. Since the social platform launched its Shop e-commerce marketplace within the U.S. slightly over two years ago, brands have gotten higher at quantifying just how much video crazes are translating into sales. TikTok Shop’s stature is growing enough to influence how retailers take into consideration product mix, demand forecasting and content strategy, in line with speakers on the National Retail Federation’s Big Show.
“It’s a spot for us to learn what’s working versus not,” said Richard Cox, chief merchandising officer of the Gen Z-focused retailer Pacsun, during a Monday panel on the trade conference.
At the identical time, Shop has gotten more crowded and competitive. It acts as a “bonafide retailer,” one NRF speaker said, hosting its own Prime Day-like deals bonanzas called Super Brand Days. Shop is strong enough at this point that TikTok now not offers brands among the incentives it once did to make use of the feature. A fresh level of maturity comes because the retail industry is beset by challenges related to tariffs and pullbacks in discretionary spending.
“Our essential operational challenge is around profitability,” said Jenna Manula Linares, vice chairman of digital marketing at Tarte Cosmetics, in the course of the panel. “As their platform has scaled, they began pulling back in what they’d been funding for us.
“We also know that the TikTok customer is value-driven,” added Linares. “So now we’re at this intersection where we’re trying to search out the balance between how much value [we can] offer a customer while still being conscious of our bottom line.”
Sales follow virality
TikTok Shop increasingly looks as if one among the primary major success stories for social commerce within the U.S. The marketplace accounted for about one-fifth of the social commerce segment in 2025 and is forecast by eMarketer to exceed $20 billion in sales this yr.
Pacsun’s first pop on TikTok Shop got here as something of a surprise. Around Black Friday in 2023, a smaller influencer posted a video in regards to the retailer’s Casey jeans, a low-rise, baggy cut of denim. The availability of the item on TikTok Shop dovetailing with a key holiday sales window resulted in 11,000 pairs sold on Black Friday alone, together with an extended tail of recognition.
“We’ve sold over 100,000 pairs of that jean. In terms of halo effect, it’s helped our entire denim business,” said Cox.
Other brands on the panel shared similar case studies that talk to how Shop can link buzzy content to business results, sometimes in a chaotic fashion. Last yr, Tarte — among the many early adopters of Shop — noticed that creators were participating in an odd trend: They would draw under their eyes with a everlasting black Sharpie and then cover up the markings with the brand’s CC under-eye color corrector, a testament to the concealer’s efficacy. Tarte has sold nearly 600,000 units of the product on TikTok Shop within the U.S., in line with Linares, while noticing stronger demand in international markets through direct-to-consumer channels.
That said, Shop requires a distinct approach than a standard DTC or e-commerce site. Tarte promotes a smaller assortment on Shop since the brand “can’t control the algorithm,” Linares explained. Speakers noted that TikTok’s unpredictable nature is disrupting among the fundamentals of retail, increasing a reliance on social listening, media mix modeling and “analytics horsepower.”
“It sort of turns every little thing all of us learn about demand planning on its head,” said Feliz Papich, senior vice chairman of digital technology, experience and insights at Crocs.
Go with the flow
By that very same token, marketers are adjusting a few of their brand content to feed the Shop pipeline.Tarte, as an example, has introduced a mascot named Shapey, based on its shape-tape concealer, to draw viewers organically to its profile.
“If you come to our page, you’re actually not going to see a ton of tutorials or before and afters,” said Linares. “We’re doing quite a bit around humor.”
The discussion also touched on co-creation, the thought of enlisting on a regular basis customers to create content on behalf of a brand. Some retailers may not like relinquishing that degree of control but ultra-polished ads don’t perform as well in TikTok environments, in line with Cox. Additionally, high-performing organic content is becoming beneficial fodder to convert into paid media or material for other social platforms.
A willingness to roll the dice on such marketing experiments is only one piece of the Wild West mindset needed to succeed on TikTok, an app that continues to be within the means of determining its future within the U.S. following a ban threat.
“TikTok desires to partner with brands which are willing to take smart risks and to maneuver fast. They’re not going to read your legal red lines,” said Linares. “Just say yes and flow.”
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