TikTok Shop getting bigger slice of e-commerce sales

Filipinos are buying more items like clothes, makeup and mobile phones from the TikTok Shop, indicating that the social media giant has become a viable marketplace in the fast-growing e-commerce landscape.

Jonah Ople, TikTok Shop Philippines fashion category lead, said in an event in Taguig this week that the gross merchandise value recorded on the platform grew by 2.28 times in the first half.

Ople said this was “a clear indicator of TikTok’s growing clout as a major e-commerce hub in the region.”

READ: TikTok, Meta, Google state policies on paid political ads

When buyers visit TikTok Shop, Ople said they usually purchase items from fashion and accessories; beauty and personal care; and electronics and home appliances.

The TikTok official noted the platform had also been seeing more sellers promoting their products amid the growth in purchase orders.

In the first half, Ople said the number of affiliate creators grew by 87 percent.

“This surge in affiliate creators is significant because it highlights how more content creators are recognizing TikTok as a powerful platform not just for content creation but for driving revenue through product promotions,” he explained.

In a study last year, about 40 percent of Filipino content creators said they were earning money comparable to monthly salaries of traditional jobs via TikTok, where small and medium enterprises can market their products to a large consumer base.

Ople noted these entrepreneurs were gaining visibility as daily live streams on the platform grew by 21 percent in the first half.

The uptick in purchase orders is expected to continue during the holiday season when consumer spending usually increases. —Tyrone Jasper C. Piad