Jul 25, 2026
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Add us on GoogleAriana Grande might have been onto something when she sang, ”I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it.”
That lyric is essentially the business model behind TikTok Shop. Instead of sending shoppers to a separate website, the platform lets users buy products without ever leaving the app. Scroll past a tagged item, tap the shopping cart and check out in seconds — no browser, no searching, no typing in your payment details all over again.
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Daisy Kelly found that out after launching Glow For It, an eyelash serum she created after struggling with a habit of pulling out her eyelashes. She told the BBC that she started the business from her mother’s kitchen table in 2020 while she was still a student. Today, the company generates about £6 million (about $7.9 million USD) in annual sales.
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Why shoppers are buying on TikTok
Over 40% of Glow For It’s sales now come through TikTok Shop UK, much of it driven by livestreams where Kelly demonstrates products, answers customer questions and sells directly to viewers.
“I think live shopping gives people that connection and interaction that we’re all craving... We actually generated over £100,000 revenue in one 12 hour TikTok live,” Kelly told the BBC. “It’s categorically changed the trajectory of my business.”
Kelly’s success reflects a broader shift in how consumers are shopping online. Americans now spend roughly $32 million each day on TikTok Shop. In 2024, TikTok also became the second-most-popular social commerce platform in the U.S., with 26% of online shoppers purchasing products through the app.
Cristy Stewart-Harfmann, a professor of digital and influencer marketing at Florida Atlantic University, who also sells products through TikTok Shop, told Moneywise that TikTok removes much of the friction between discovering a product and buying it. Unlike Amazon, where shoppers typically search for something they already want, TikTok introduces products while users are casually scrolling.
“On TikTok, the product finds you — mid-scroll, demonstrated by someone who feels like a friend, with a checkout button two taps away,” she said. “It’s not shopping, it’s discovery you didn’t ask for, and that’s exactly why it converts.”
Stewart-Harfmann explained that TikTok shoppers often see products unboxed, worn or tested before deciding whether to buy them. That experience can feel closer to shopping in person than browsing a traditional online marketplace.
“For niche or small brands, it’s the most honest storefront on the internet,” she said.
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For entrepreneurs like Kelly, that visibility can replicate the experience of a crowded physical store.
“It’s like having 500 people in your shop,” Kelly said.
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When convenience fuels impulse spending
The same features that make TikTok Shop powerful for businesses — personalized recommendations, viral videos and near-instant checkout — can also make it harder for consumers to pause before buying.
Michael Stein, founder and CEO of Tarps Plus, said that TikTok Shop has made online shopping more impulse-driven.
“Users almost instantly see what may be their next favorite product in a short, engaging video” he told Moneywise.
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TikTok then uses the same recommendation technology that powers its “For You” feed to decide which products appear in front of each user. Rather than relying only on past purchases, the platform considers how long someone watches a video, what they pause on, which posts they interact with and what they quickly scroll past — transforming casual browsing into a highly personalized digital storefront.
That approach appears to be working. A Savvy survey found that 54% of TikTok users have purchased something through TikTok Shop, rising to 64% among users ages 18 to 34.
But the same convenience that makes TikTok Shop appealing can also encourage consumers to spend more on products they do not need or purchase items simply because they are trending.
“The new product purchase cycle is dangerous for consumers, and leads to buy now, regret later behavior,” Stein said.
To avoid impulse purchases, Stein recommends waiting before checking out and taking time to verify both the product and seller. Consumers should also look for independent reviews, read the return policy and examine the seller’s history before buying.
TikTok Shop’s greatest advantage is how little time it gives shoppers to move from discovery to purchase. For consumers, adding some of that friction back — by pausing, researching and comparing prices — may be the best defence against buying something they only wanted for the length of a video.
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Victoria Vesovski is a Toronto-based staff reporter at Moneywise covering personal finance, lifestyle and trending news. She holds degrees from the University of Toronto and New York University, and her work has appeared on platforms including Yahoo Finance, MSN Money and Apple News.
