The news: TikTok Shop’s total transaction volume rose nearly 80% YoY in 2025, the company told Modern Retail, thanks to stronger user activity and large-brand participation.

• More than 103 billion US searches with ecommerce intent took place on TikTok’s platform last year.
• Brands with at least $30 million in annual revenues grew sales by 97% YoY.

How we got here: TikTok Shop is making a concerted effort to court bigger brands to reset consumers’ perception of the marketplace as a Temu-like destination for low-cost goods and capture a larger share of shoppers’ dollars.

• Earlier this year, it introduced Project Horizon, an initiative that incentivizes ecommerce agencies to recruit brands with at least $10 million in annual sales on competing platforms like Amazon and Shopify.
• It is also leaning on its creator community, which includes over 16,000 creators generating over six figures in sales, to spark interest among big brands, Patric Nommensen, the platform’s head of strategic initiatives, told Modern Retail.

So far, that pitch has picked up steam, particularly among beauty and food brands eager to tap into TikTok’s influence in those categories. Both Ulta Beauty and Sally Beauty recently launched TikTok Shop storefronts, while Frito-Lay, Mars Inc., and Coca-Cola are among the many foodmakers selling to consumers directly on the platform.

Bringing more recognizable brands onto TikTok Shop broadens product selection and builds trust among shoppers. That in turn has enabled TikTok to strengthen its influence in product research and discovery: 1 in 10 online shoppers now start their product searches on the platform, more than double compared with 2023, according to CivicScience.

Zoom out: TikTok’s ecommerce success is driving rivals—particularly Meta—to expand their social commerce capabilities.

Meta is renewing its push into social shopping with its new affiliate program, which allows creators to tag affiliate products directly in their posts and Reels, eliminating the need for links in bios and other workarounds. Users interested in the product can tap on the post, which will direct them either to the product page or the affiliate’s mobile website.

• Initial affiliate partners are Amazon in the US, and Shopee in Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, and several other Asian countries.
• Mercado Libre, Temu, and eBay will be added as partners in the coming months.
• Meta will also test affiliates in Instagram later this year, again with Amazon and Shopee as the inaugural retailers.

Reddit is also looking to monetize its influence over product discovery and inspiration with new ad tools and an AI-powered shopping search feature.

Implications for retailers: In a little over two years, TikTok Shop has evolved from a niche marketplace into a powerful ecommerce engine. We expect US sales on the platform to rise 48% YoY to $23.41 billion this year, giving it a larger online business than Target, Costco, Best Buy, and Kroger. As more large brands join, the company’s flywheel is likely to accelerate, as shoppers get access to a broader array of inventory and trusted merchants.