TIKTOK Shop, the Bytedance-owned social media giant’s e-commerce feature, saw its sales outdo competition in the US just before President Donald Trump’s disruptive trade actions.
The popular video app, which brought in-app shopping to its millions of American users in 2023, continued to surpass Shein and PDD Holdings’ Temu in January, according to Bloomberg Second Measure, which analyses credit and debit card data. That builds on its 2024 performance, when it saw faster sales growth throughout.
Observed sales grew 153 per cent for TikTok Shop during the month, compared with 26 per cent for Shein and 28 per cent for Temu, BSM’s Joe Hung said in a research note.
Data also showed the TikTok shopping feature has been snagging greater market share from Shein than it did from Temu. TikTok Shop’s share of transactions valued at over US$25, considered more of Shein’s market, grew 16 percentage point in January from a year ago compared with an increase of seven percentage point in the less-than US$25 segment, which is Temu’s sweet spot, according to Hung’s research.
A strong shift from Shein customers towards TikTok Shop was also observed over the past year.
Despite TikTok Shop’s breakneck growth, the video app’s future in the US is at doubt, given the continued threat of a ban should it fail to sell the US portion of its business. TikTok, which has 170 million active monthly users, also faces uncertainty amid Trump’s 10 per cent tariffs on Chinese exports and a potential move to tax parcels of small value.
Parcels from China valued under US$800 were so far exempt from customs duties under the so-called ‘de minimis’ rule, a category that covers the bulk of Shein, Temu and TikTok Shop’s deliveries to US consumers. That’s prompted Shein and Temu to accelerate efforts to mitigate the effect of Trump’s order to scrap the small-parcel duty waiver.
Losing market share to rivals could deal another blow to Shein. The fast-fashion retailer is under pressure to cut its valuation in a potential London initial public offering to around US$30 billion, Bloomberg News reported citing people familiar with the matter. BLOOMBERG
