TikTok has reported a major boost in its in-app shopping activity, with U.S. sales on TikTok Shop up 120% compared to the same period in 2024. The company shared new figures suggesting that its efforts to grow in-stream commerce are gaining momentum – particularly in categories like beauty, electronics, and activewear.
In total, over 70 million products are now listed on TikTok Shop across more than 750 categories, and users in the U.S. have engaged in over 8 million hours of live shopping sessions so far in 2025. TikTok also claims that 76% of users who engage with Shop features have made a purchase through livestreams in the past year.
Small businesses appear to be a key part of the platform’s commerce strategy. According to TikTok, 171,000 local and small U.S. businesses are currently active sellers, with sales to these merchants growing 70% year-over-year.
The platform is investing in new seller tools and plans a major promotional push during “Deals for You Days” from July 7–19, including a price-match guarantee for featured livestream products. Still, Western audiences remain slower to adopt in-app shopping compared to China, where TikTok’s sister app Douyin generated $490 billion in gross merchandise value in 2024. TikTok’s global in-app revenue by comparison totaled just $6 billion last year – still a 15% increase but a fraction of Douyin’s total.
Adding to the uncertainty is TikTok’s legal situation in the U.S. and a recent restructuring of its commerce team following missed 2024 targets. While signs of growth are evident, TikTok’s goal of replicating Douyin’s ecommerce dominance in Western markets is still very much a work in progress – but something that could very well happen if the platform takes the right steps at the right times.
