Jasmine Glasheen of The Robin Report discusses TikTok Shop’s rapid rise as a social commerce force driven by its discovery-based shopping experience that blends entertainment with e-commerce. Rather than offering traditional search-based retail like Amazon, TikTok Shop’s algorithm recommends products based on user engagement, helping shoppers discover new items and brands.
Despite U.S. regulatory and trade policy pressures, the platform’s sales have more than doubled, with American consumers driving significant revenue, and global quarterly sales reaching around $19 billion in 2025. The U.S. arm is being acquired by a consortium led by Oracle’s Larry Ellison, potentially strengthening its position and investment power.
TikTok Shop now commands a growing share of social commerce and aims to scale further, competing with giants like Instagram and Facebook while empowering small and local businesses with tools and growth frameworks. Glasheen writes:
The joy of discovery is TikTok’s competitive advantage, so it doesn’t have to have the perfect product for every consumer. It doesn’t try to be Amazon. Consumers don’t go to TikTok Shop to buy Clorox Wipe refills, but 83 percent of shoppers have discovered a new product on TikTok Shop, and 70 percent have discovered a new brand.
The growth of TikTok Shop in 2025 is a case study in consumer interest versus international trade policy. Despite tariffs having cut profits from Chinese companies by the Peterson Institute estimates averaging 47.5 percent on Chinese imports, American consumers still provided the largest chunk of TikTok Shop’s quarterly revenue, which more than doubled from the previous year to reach a projected $15 billion in U.S. sales for 2025. On a global scale, TikTok Shop moved $19 billion in the third quarter of 2025 alone.[…]
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