Dive Brief:
- Signaling customer overlap, 28% of Shein consumers also shopped at TikTok Shop within the past 12 months ending in February, one of the highest overlaps in apparel, analysis from Earnest Analytics shared with Retail Dive found. Temu has the second highest customer overlap with TikTok shoppers at 25%.
- Nineteen percent of Nike customers have made a purchase on TikTok Shop, making it the favorite athleisure and athletic brand for customers on the social media platform.
- In February, over 81% of TikTok Shop sales came from existing customers, up from 64% in November. The high percentage of sales from existing customers is linked to a relatively high retention rate, per the report.
Dive Insight:
Last September, TikTok Shop launched in the U.S., enabling the social media app’s U.S. users to buy products directly within the app. Within TikTok Shop, shoppers can browse various categories, including electronics, food, women’s apparel and beauty, per TikTok’s website.
Since its debut the platform has been dominating social shopping, according to Earnest. By February, TikTok Shop sold over 68% of social shopping gross merchandise value. By comparison, Instagram Checkout, Facebook Shop and Flip App’s combined gross merchandise value was less than 1% of the market, per the report.
Earnest’s report also sheds some light on where the majority of TikTok’s customers shop. In the past year, most (97%) TikTok shoppers also shopped at Amazon, the research firm found in its analysis. More than half of TikTok shoppers (55%) also made Etsy purchases during the same period, followed by Temu (39%), Old Navy (38%), Shein (37%) and eBay (32%).
“Despite high overlap with some low ticket apparel brands like Shein, TikTok Shop usage does not appear to negatively impact spending at the brand so far,” the report reads. “In the long term, certain brands may be able to reach a wider audience through this channel, while others may be at risk of losing consumer dollars altogether as more consumer attention/time shifts towards the platform.”
Though some brands might benefit from TikTok Shop’s presence, the app is facing a potential ban in the U.S. Last month, House Reps. Mike Gallagher and Raja Krishnamoorthi introduced the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which would compel parent company ByteDance to sell the platform or face being banned in the U.S. The bill has passed the House and has been sent to the Senate. In response to the possible ban, TikTok has created an ad campaign highlighting the benefits of the app for U.S. users.
