TikTok has a simple message for brands and shoppers. People do not only watch videos on the app. They also find products, hear trusted opinions, and buy without leaving the feed. The company introduced “Watch it. Love it. Want it.” at the OMR Festival in Hamburg. This initiative is part of TikTok’s effort to deepen its role in commerce and build on the success of its community-driven marketing, including the creator economy and initiatives like TikTok Shop.
It describes the user journey of being entertained (Watch), engaging with content (Love), and purchasing products (Want). TikTok showcased this new strategy at the event to demonstrate how creators and brands can leverage TikTok to drive tangible results.
Big platforms no longer chase attention alone. They now want discovery, creator influence, and checkout to happen in one place. TikTok has pushed that model hard, while rivals such as YouTube are also giving creators more shopping tools.
The app is closing the gap between interest and action
TikTok says daily users already treat the app like a research tool. In its latest Ipsos-backed study, 93 percent of daily users said they would use TikTok to research products before buying. TikTok also said 68 percent of users reported that advertising on the platform pushed them to buy right away. These numbers come from research commissioned by TikTok, so they support the company’s own case. Still, they match a real trend across the market. People now expect product discovery to feel fast, social, and easy to act on.
Shoppers face too many choices, and have more reasons to delay a decision. TikTok wants to reduce that friction. A creator shows how a product works, comments add social proof, and the app gives users a way to buy at once. That flow feels closer to how people already browse online than the old model of seeing an ad and opening several tabs before checkout.
Creators make the model work
TikTok’s commerce push works because it feels like content first. A product clip, a live demo, or a short review does more than show an item. It gives people context, trust, and a reason to act. Reuters reported that TikTok Shop’s monthly live sessions in the US nearly tripled over the past year. That is because live shopping gives sellers a direct way to answer questions and close sales in real time.
Other platforms see the same value. YouTube has expanded its shopping affiliate program to creators in the YouTube Partner Program with at least 500 subscribers. The company says eligible creators can tag products across Shorts, live streams, and long videos. That change shows how social commerce now sits at the center of the creator business, not at the edge of it.
Europe is the next big test
TikTok is also pushing deeper into Europe. Reuters reported in March 2025 that TikTok Shop would launch in France, Germany, and Italy, building on its earlier rollout in the UK and the US. TikTok told Reuters it expected to move faster in Europe than it did in Britain, where the model needed more education in its early days. Reuters also reported that Carrefour would join in France, while AboutYou and Cosnova would sell on the German platform. That signals a broader plan to add more local merchants and more product range to the app.
TikTok wants that expansion to prove one point. Social shopping does not only work for low-cost impulse buys. The company told Reuters it wants a wider mix of products and prices on the platform. The long-term growth depends on trust, repeat buying, and better merchant quality, not only viral demand.
Growth comes with pressure
TikTok’s model looks strong, but it also draws more scrutiny as it grows. Reuters reported that a US law forcing ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban created direct uncertainty for TikTok Shop as well. In Indonesia, TikTok had to stop e-commerce transactions on the app after the government banned social media platforms from handling direct sales, saying it wanted to protect offline merchants and curb predatory pricing. The closer a social app gets to retail and payments, the more regulation it attracts.
That pressure will shape the next stage of TikTok Shop. The company still needs to keep product quality high, improve trust in sellers, and show that fast growth does not hurt the shopping experience. Reuters has also noted that many TikTok Shop merchants sell discounted goods and that the company has worked to bring in more Europe-based sellers. That tells us TikTok understands the challenge. Scale alone will not hold user trust.
TikTok is selling a simple internet habit
TikTok’s strongest idea is also its easiest to understand. People see something they like, hear about it from someone they trust, and buy if the next step feels easy. TikTok has built its shopping push around that habit. That is why the new message lands well. It does not ask users to change how they behave online. It packages what they already do and turns it into a business model that brands, creators, and retailers can all use.
TikTok is not only adding shopping tools. It is proving that media, trust, and commerce now work best when they sit side by side. If the company manages regulation and keeps the experience reliable, TikTok Shop will stay one of the clearest examples of where consumer internet platforms are heading next.
