TikTok Shop says sales from U.S. small businesses climbed 66% in 2025

The findings arrive as TikTok Shop pushes deeper into mainstream retail and works to attract more established brands and retailers to the platform. In recent months, larger companies and multi-brand retailers including Ulta Beauty, Sally Beauty and Disney have launched storefronts on the platform. Earlier this year, Modern Retail reported that sales from major brands on TikTok Shop nearly doubled in 2025. But TikTok executives say the influx of larger brands has not slowed growth for smaller sellers, many of whom credit TikTok Shop with helping them acquire new customers and enter major retailers.

“Through the video and live streaming and community elements, there’s really a lot for brands of any size to be able to connect with the target audience,” said Patrick Nommensen, head of strategic initiatives at TikTok Shop. “We really see it as an ecosystem and a platform where brands of all sizes can be successful.”

TikTok Shop’s new report argues that discovery remains one of the platform’s biggest advantages. The study found that 67% of consumers go to TikTok Shop when they want to discover new products and brands, ahead of Amazon at 57%. It also found that 66% of TikTok Shop users discovered a new brand on the platform during the past year.

Small businesses accounted for most of those discoveries. The report found that 72% of brands discovered by TikTok Shop users over the past 12 months were businesses with less than $15 million in annual revenue.

The report also found that discovery often leads directly to purchases. About 58% of consumers who discovered a small brand on TikTok Shop later bought from that brand on the platform. More than half made a purchase within days, while roughly one-fifth bought something the same day they found the brand. More than half of shoppers who discovered a new beauty brand on TikTok Shop later purchased from that brand on the platform.

Creator recommendations continue to drive much of TikTok Shop’s shopping activity. The report found that 70% of TikTok Shop consumers have purchased a product recommended by a creator, while 88% of shoppers who buy through creator recommendations made those purchases within the past year. Another 73% said they go to TikTok Shop for inspiration when considering creator-backed products.

Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData, said TikTok Shop still operates differently from traditional online marketplaces because shopping is built directly into the app’s endless stream of short videos and livestreams. A user may open TikTok to watch outfit hauls, makeup tutorials or comedy clips, then suddenly find themselves buying a product featured in the video without ever leaving the feed. Tapping on a product link inside a creator’s post or livestream can take shoppers straight to checkout in just a few clicks.

“The platform is sticky because I think it fuses retail with entertainment,” Saunders said.

Saunders said smaller brands often perform well because founders appear in their own videos and speak directly to customers.

“One of the things that really helps the smaller brands on TikTok Shop is authenticity,” Saunders said. “What a lot of the users want and what better algorithms surface is great storytelling, great narratives, really authentic content that resonates.”

That has pushed many small brands to get more creative with livestreams. Megan Reep, founder of Mavwicks Fragrances, said TikTok Shop “took her small business to the moon” during a holiday event TikTok hosted in New York in November. Before joining the platform, the fragrance company generated roughly $300,000-$400,000 in annual sales. “The first year we were on TikTok Shop, we jumped to $32 million in sales,” Reep said.

Mavwicks increasingly treats its livestreams like entertainment events. During a recent live session, “we had a dunk tank, and every time someone bought a bundle from us, we would get to dump my husband in the dunk tank,” Reep said. She added that “keeping exciting things happening on screen” during live selling helps drive engagement and keep people watching.

Improving the marketplace experience

TikTok Shop executives said the company is focused on improving the customer experience as the marketplace grows. Nommensen said TikTok Shop continues to invest in logistics, returns, refunds and customer support tools.

“Making it very seamless for users to return their products and receive refunds very quickly and easily, being able to reach out for support, and having a great experience — all those components are areas that we’re very focused on,” he said.

TikTok Shop is also rolling out more seller tools and shopping formats. Nommensen pointed to newer features like countdown bidding and shoppable photos. He said the company recently expanded countdown bidding — a feature that lets sellers auction products during livestreams using a countdown timer — into more categories. Previously, the feature was limited to collectibles and pre-owned luxury goods. The move puts TikTok Shop in more direct competition with live-shopping platforms like Whatnot, where auction-style livestreams drive much of the activity. Meanwhile, shoppable photos let users purchase products directly from image posts instead of videos.

“Both of those are examples of areas where we’re continuing to innovate and create powerful formats, products and tools for sellers to more effectively reach their target audiences,” Nommensen said.

Some brands are already driving significant sales through these features. Dani Morgan’s Boutique, a Western-inspired brand specializing in handcrafted cowhide handbags and accessories, generated $100,000 in sales from a single 15-hour live session by using countdown bidding.

TikTok itself has worked hard to grow its e-commerce marketplace since its September 2023 launch. It has lured merchants with lower fees compared to more established selling platforms. The company has also subsidized coupons and shipping for customers. Those efforts appear to be paying off. TikTok Shop generated roughly $6.75 billion in U.S. sales from January through April, nearly doubling its sales during the same period a year ago, according to Charm.io, an e-commerce analytics company. (TikTok itself does not publicly disclose sales figures.) TikTok Shop exceeded $14 billion in sales in 2025, by Charm.io’s estimates, making it bigger than Wayfair, Etsy and eBay.

Beauty remains TikTok Shop’s biggest category. Data from Charm.io shows that beauty and personal care accounted for roughly 19% of TikTok Shop’s U.S. sales in 2025, or about $2.7 billion. Womenswear ranked second at roughly 12.5%, or about $1.8 billion. Still, TikTok Shop has made a concerted effort to expand its reach into more categories, such as food and beverage. Major food companies, including Frito-Lay, Mars and Coca-Cola, are increasingly selling directly to consumers on TikTok Shop.

The platform has also produced a growing number of breakout sellers outside of beauty and apparel, including among small hobby and home goods brands that found audiences through viral videos and livestreams.

Connecticut-based BumpaBuilt started selling 3D-printed toys on TikTok Shop in 2023. Founder Adam Rivard said the business grew from one printer to 70 printers within months after several videos took off on TikTok. Last year, TikTok Shop accounted for about half of the company’s revenue, and the business has since expanded into wholesale and physical retail. The company now sells products through more than 250 independent retailers, as well as its own brick-and-mortar storefront.

Mississippi Candle Company saw similar momentum after joining TikTok Shop in 2023. Founder Jessica Simon told Modern Retail the company has grown more than 600% year over year after one of its candle videos went viral. The business now employs more than 20 people and is building a 20,000-square-foot warehouse.

Saunders said TikTok Shop’s next challenge will be maintaining the quality of the platform as it gets larger. As he put it, “I think they’ve got to now — they’re a bigger business — retain existing customers, and that means ensuring that the content remains entertaining, the quality remains quite high.”