
Gone are the days of receiving a mail-order catalog and circling the items you wished to buy with a bright red Sharpie. Even scrolling through a retailer's website to see what’s in stock seems outdated. After all, if you can purchase an item in two clicks through a video on TikTok, why would you go through all that work?
In September 2023, TikTok launched its e-commerce venture, TikTok Shop – reshaping online shopping as we know it. As users scroll through their For You Page, they may come across videos from a user or company promoting an item available through “TikTok Shop.” Often these videos are recorded as a review, showing how the item may look when worn, used or consumed.