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2025 marked a turning point in retail’s relationship with TikTok Shop globally, especially in the UK. This was the year in which we convincingly saw the platform shift from experimental to commercial reality, with shopper numbers on the platform up 131% year-on-year. It demonstrated that social commerce is no longer a peripheral to retail strategy, but a vital driver of demand.
And in the midst of this year’s Golden Quarter, while we are seeing bigger brands and retailers committing to the platform, there is still much for them to learn from the early platform-native businesses that built their models around social-first commerce from the outset.
Why high-street brands remain cautious
Shopping behaviour on TikTok Shop does not follow the traditional retail journey.
Take TikTok Shop Lives. It collapses the whole funnel from discovery to purchase in only minutes. The social audience enjoys getting instant gratification, and a lot of that is becoming product-led. It’s driven by creators, trends, brands and cultural relevance as well as by the algorithm.
While we are seeing some legacy high street brands, such as Sainsbury’s and M&S, beginning to dip their toes into the platform, a significant number are yet to get the memo, still viewing TikTok Shop as a risk, a space reserved for discounters and smaller brands.
However, TikTok Shop is here to stay. And the shift in 2025 exposes a growing disconnect within many established retail organisations.
Brand, communications and commerce teams often operate separately, campaign planning remains fixed months in advance, and operational decisions are still disconnected from live cultural signals and trends. These structures were built for an older era of retail, and the pressure to seize the TikTok Shop opportunity puts their limitations under the spotlight.
Meanwhile, influencer-founded brands such as P Louise and Made by Mitchell along with digital-first brands Medicube, Colour Wow and The Beauty Crop, were born platform native. Their social, creator and e-commerce teams work with a unified taskforce, next to the supporting teams managing stock, legals and finance.
This proximity enables them to identify trends early, activate creators quickly and make products available while demand is at its peak. Traditional retailers, by comparison, frequently lose momentum while waiting for approvals or stock decisions long after a trend has passed.
For retailers preparing to launch into TikTok Shop in 2026, reconfiguring structures and rethinking processes should be the focus of their pre-planning.
What success looks like
The beauty industry holds some lessons for brands and retailers looking to make a success of TikTok Shop. It’s now the fourth biggest beauty retailer in its own right.
Before fully committing to TikTok Shop, L’Oréal Paris had already established itself as one of the most viral beauty brands on TikTok, driven by creator-generated videos discussing and reviewing its products.
That momentum translated into tangible commercial results once L’Oréal Paris formally launched on TikTok Shop. During peak moments such as a dedicated “TikTok Shop Super Brand Day”, the brand became one of the platform’s top-performing beauty players, generating more than $1 million in TikTok Shop sales and recording a purchase uplift of over 400% week-on-week compared to pre-event.
Meanwhile, online-native beauty retailers such as LookFantastic and Korean beauty brands like Medicube and Dr Melaxin know how to identify viral products and are already deeply embedded within the TikTok Shop ecosystem.
As a result, they can respond immediately during a demand surge, stealing a march on slower retailers, pushing bundles, activating affiliates and creators within hours, and making stock available directly on TikTok Shop. They meet consumers directly where they are scrolling and browsing, rather than expecting them to spend time searching for an e-commerce site.
What winning in 2026 will require
As we head into 2026, winning on TikTok Shop will depend less on experimentation and more on getting commerce fundamentals right.
Retailers need operating models that allow content, creators, commerce and supply chain decisions to work in harmony. They need confidence to test formats in real time and the ability to act on signals as they emerge, rather than adhering rigidly to pre-set plans. This is the right way and mentality to fully utilise the customer acquisition potential of TikTok Shop.
2025 was the proof of concept for retail and TikTok Shop. It has given us a preview of the new commerce landscape retailers are stepping into, a future where TikTok Shop will become a major player for retailers of all sizes.
