TikTok Shop: Suspicious or Superb?

The TikTok Shop is a digital store which Gen Z is much more likely to purchase from than any other generation. Photo by Solen Feyissa from Pexels

TikTok has certainly had a bumpy ride recently here in the U.S.

There’s no doubt — suspicions over TikTok are commonplace in the U.S. and other countries. Despite this, TikTok is still here in America and is one of the most popular social media platforms on the market.

In September 2023, TikTok released its very own shopping section of the app in the U.S., expanding beyond its famous short-form content and into the exciting world of online shopping. This launch came after the ban on TikTok for all U.S. government devices, and months later, the bill requiring TikTok to sell to an American company or be banned nationwide was signed by President Joe Biden.

TikTok Shop has worked its way into the lives of people whose country is looking to outright ban it. While TikTok’s short-form content is easy to consume, some find the TikTok Shop to be rather suspicious. So, let’s dive into what makes this shop “tik.”

TikTok Shop, as stated by the TikTok Business Help Center, is “a program of solutions, features and advertising tools that brands can use to engage with their customers. TikTok Shop allows sellers to sell products directly on TikTok through in-feed videos, LIVE videos and the Showcase tab.” TikTok Shop is not simply another eBay or e-commerce site, but a program built with advertising in mind — and they sure do advertise.

Since September 2023, when the shop initially launched, TikTok has integrated advertisements for their shop into the “For You” pages of viewers. Using commissioned content creators, advertisements for various products flood the app. 

Some are subtle; for example, a regular video of a guy wearing a sweater with the product listed in the caption. Others are more heavy-handed, claiming that the price of the sweater is an “absolute steal” and giving a glowing review.

This sweater example is not made up, either. Out of my own curiosity, about a week and a half ago, I added the aforementioned sweater to my cart, but decided not to buy it, to see what would happen if I let it sit there for a while. I have seen 5-10 videos daily on my “For You” page like the ones described earlier, several of which claim the price of the sweater has dropped significantly. The price has not changed at all.

It is not far-fetched to conclude that TikTok Shop’s advertising and supposed deals are both pushy and often inaccurate. However, the actual shopping experience seems to be a different story, as 81.3% of TikTok Shop customers are returning buyers, having been satisfied enough with their first purchases to come back for seconds.

Tyler Catalano ‘28 says that he has purchased from the TikTok Shop “multiple times” and has been “happy with it every time.” It would appear that the TikTok Shop, although plagued with misleading advertising, has proven itself to be a satisfactory experience for its largely Gen-Z market, the generation that has been reported to be 3.2 times more likely to purchase from the shop.

The TikTok Shop makes numerous efforts to bring in new customers, providing first-time shoppers with hefty discounts of up to 45% off on select items. In an economy where everything seems too expensive, good deals can be extremely attractive, no matter how shady they may seem.

TikTok Shop is inherently manipulative and uses advertising and flashy sales to take your money. This, however, is also the case for even bigger online shopping websites like Amazon. Big sales, big advertising. 

The “aggressive and misleading” advertisements do work. No matter what country of origin, online shops such as these want your business and will do whatever it takes for you to press the purchase button. While TikTok Shop might seem new, it's just the same old playbook for a newer, younger audience, riding off the success of its already massive audience in the short-form content scene. 

Sketchy? Well, they do want your money… but so does everybody. It falls on the individual whether to trust TikTok as a brand with your data, but anyone with an account on the app is already doing so partially. As for me? I’m going to keep waiting on that sweater… at least until the price actually drops.