Social commerce that’s truly native to a platform felt for a long time like a bit of a pipedream in the west – you only have to go back to the beginning of last year to when Instagram removed the Shop tab from its app. In 2024, however the continued growth and maturation of TikTok Shop has changed the conversation amongst marketers, with livestreaming even part of the conversation for some bigger beauty brands.
TikTok Shop has clamped down on some quality issues, it provides end-to-end fulfilment services and even has a partnership with Amazon that enables in-app purchases via the ecommerce behemoth.
So, with the scene set, what do the social experts think will happen in this channel in 2025? We asked Päivi Korvela, ex-Unilever and TikTok Shop who now works as a social commerce consultant; Sarah Penny, Content and Research Director at The Influencer Group (which includes Infleuncer Intelligence and Fashion and Beauty Monitor, sister brands to Econsultancy); Jennifer Quigley-Jones, CEO at fast-growing influencer marketing agency Digital Voices; and Irving Shark, Head of Companion at another influencer agency, Billion Dollar Boy.
Here are the questions we asked our four esteemed pundits:
- What’s the elephant in the room at the moment in social commerce?
- Who is doing social commerce well that other brands should look to in 2025?
- How are budgets and ways of working changing?
- What should marketers stop, start and continue in 2025?
- What skills are coming to the fore, or are missing?
- What’s the trend you wish everyone would stop talking about?
- Do you have an outrageous prediction or a safe bet you want to share for 2025?
Happy reading!
Q1. What’s the elephant in the room at the moment in social commerce?
Big companies have moved too slowly, and now need to master content creation (5-7 videos per day)
Päivi Korvela, consultant (ex-Unilever and TikTok Shop):
Whether we are ready or not, social commerce is already here and growing double digit numbers every month – right in front of our eyes. In TikTok Shop UK there are more than 200,000 shops already opened on the platform, double the number vs 2023.
Currently, the landscape is heavily dominated by small and medium size businesses… Big companies have been in my opinion way too slow, but they are gradually waking up. L’Oreal is paving the way and others are following.
To master social commerce you need to master content creation, which never stops – it means heavy content creation is needed from brand teams or through agencies. The content needs to be authentic to your brand, to build your community, but also good enough to create the conversion. On platforms like TikTok Shop, for the bigger brands this means 5-7 videos per day and daily livestreaming on top of that. They also need to use creators to maximise visibility and sales, so another additional layer to master is finding the right collaborations that benefit both parties.
The biggest challenge is consumer trust
Irving Shark, Head of Companion, Billion Dollar Boy:
A significant majority of US consumers still view social commerce as a discovery tool rather than a reliable channel for transactions. Recent research found that three quarters of consumers browse products on social platforms but choose to complete their purchases on retailer websites.
Security concerns and a general distrust are holding social commerce back from realising its enormous potential – especially among Western consumers who are less accustomed to the QVC-style live shopping culture…
However, there are promising signs where platforms lean into native behaviors: TikTok’s #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt culture and creator-led promotions show how impulsive, community-driven purchases can thrive with better targeting and authentic storytelling.
…Social commerce can’t just be transactional – it needs to cultivate trust, excitement, and spontaneity.
Q2. Who is doing social commerce well that other brands should look to in 2025?
e.l.f.
Jennifer Quigley-Jones, CEO, Digital Voices:
Brands need to work with creators for every part of the marketing funnel, starting with authentic storytelling and embedding into culture. Consumers are looking for long-term connections to differentiate between brands. Brands like e.l.f. have successfully built trust and engagement online. Social media is their core marketing channel, and although they have a focus on affordability, they’ve created a strong identity – renowned for their unexpected campaigns and partnerships.
Candy Kittens, L’Oreal
Päivi Korvela, consultant:
On TikTok Shop, Candy Kittens just smashed all livestreaming records in the food category with their debut live – that is an exceptional result as usually brands need to build live momentum over time.
From bigger brands, L’Oreal really did amazing work with their Super Brand Day, doing livestreaming, including a 12-hour live event broadcast on Piccadilly Lights in London, connecting with creators and gathering massive following in only 6 days. They are the first really big brand embracing TikTok Shop.
Amongst TikTok Shop native brands who have later embarked on selling offline, Made by Mitchell is really iconic with an authentic community, as is BPerfect. Luna Daily is a smaller brand to watch, and Polished London is doing high quality work across social platforms and embracing livestreaming.
Charlotte Tilbury
Sarah Penny, Content and Research Director, The Influencer Group:
Charlotte Tilbury is definitely an obvious one that stands out! The brand was an early adopter of shoppable streaming, clearly recognising the value that this type of format can have for beauty. QVC is really lucrative for beauty brands so it made perfect sense to move this format to social. Charlotte herself is influential and fronts the brand, but they also utilise influencers to drive the community of customers and encourage them to buy.
Benefit Cosmetics, Tarte, PacSun
Irving Shark, Billion Dollar Boy:
Brands looking to excel in social commerce must prioritise the “social” element. Successful social commerce isn’t just about selling – it’s about embedding commerce within the cultural and social fabric of online communities. TikTok excels here, transforming product promotions into viral moments and consumer trends. Brands like Benefit Cosmetics, Tarte, and PacSun have harnessed this dynamic by leaning into creator collaborations and platform-native storytelling.
Beauty and fashion sectors tend to thrive on aspirational but accessible content, leveraging creators to blur the line between entertainment and commerce. Investments in creator-led campaigns, data-driven targeting, and seamless payment solutions are proving to be critical drivers of success. Limited drops, early access via creators, and community-driven designs can also amplify impact and drive conversions
Q3. How are budgets and ways of working changing?
Carefully monitor P&L and scale fast (content and creator costs can be high)
Päivi Korvela, consultant:
Content creation and its costs are the two key areas to solve for anyone entering social commerce, and to understand how that affects overall profitability, which is usually a pain point for brands.
The cost of content creation and creator commission on top can be heavy. On TikTok Shop, to catch the attention of creators you need to be prepared to pay commissions over 20%. Both content and creator connections can be managed through agencies, but that adds additional cost which will affect profitability.
In addition, as TikTok Shop is a very campaign-driven platform, shoppers are used to discounts. That is again draining profitability, so you need to be carefully monitoring P&L and scaling as fast as possible to improve profitability.
Budgets rise, creator fees stabilise or even dip
Sarah Penny, The Influencer Group:
Budgets are definitely increasing within the creator space as brands recognise how effective campaigns can be and have tried and tested methods. Our own research has also reflected that brand spend is on the rise, which is supported by valuations of the industry.
As social commerce continues to develop, the platforms support it more and brands see direct ROI, this is likely to continue to increase. However, as confidence grows, marketers are more experienced in understanding the cost of influencer marketing and so we have seen the fees that creators are being offered not only stabilise, but also decrease in some circumstances as pricing becomes less about guess work.
Q4. What should marketers stop, start and continue in 2025?
Stop: Overloading users with transactional content
Irving Shark, Billion Dollar Boy:
Stop overloading users with transactional content. The start of the year saw a consumer backlash to the over-promotion of social commerce content on TikTok, a warning shot to other platforms considering integrating social commerce formats. Platforms and brands risk alienating users by prioritising sales over engagement.
Stop: Putting so much emphasis on reach.
Sarah Penny, The Influencer Group:
Stop: Putting so much emphasis on reach. The early days of creator marketing were very much focused on awareness and getting your brand in front of as many people as possible. As organic reach becomes increasingly difficult, and social commerce becomes easier to execute, brands need to think much more about lower funnel activity and the metrics to support this. Targeting a smaller, yet very aligned audience is going to deliver better results for this activity.
Start: Thinking beyond Gen Z as the primary audience target
Sarah Penny, The Influencer Group:
Start: Thinking beyond Gen Z as the primary audience target because it is social. Audiences on social are continuing to diversify and there are increasing numbers of older consumers on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok.
Continue: Being consistent with your content
Päivi Korvela, consultant:
…that is the way to win on these platforms.
Continue: Building trust
Irving Shark, Billion Dollar Boy:
Continue building trust by improving security, transparency, and ease of use in transactions. Initiatives like TikTok’s prepayment tools and user reviews are steps in the right direction.
Continue: Blending data and human decision-making
Sarah Penny, The Influencer Group:
Continue: To blend data and human decision-making into the process. There’s a whole wealth of data available and we’ve seen the industry meander between relying on ‘gut-feeling’ to then focusing too much on data. Success comes from recommendation from a person the audience can identify with. It feels as if we have now generally found the happy medium, blending both to find the optimum creator to drive recommendation and sales via social commerce.
Q5. What skills are coming to the fore, or are missing?
Brand marketing
Jennifer Quigley-Jones, Digital Voices:
Brands are putting too much emphasis on bottom-of-funnel tactics, without considering the new purchase journey that social media has created. They are using UGC creators and discount price-based messaging to drive urgency and product sales. However, this approach does not build brand loyalty or top of the funnel awareness.
Presenting skills
Päivi Korvela, consultant:
Currently there is a big demand for good livestreaming presenters, so that is definitely a skill that you can monetize in 2025.
Data analysis, storytelling and cultural fluency
Irving Shark, Billion Dollar Boy:
One emerging skill set is understanding and interpreting… data-driven insights to craft campaigns that are not only impactful but also adaptable. This includes running A/B tests, measuring sales lift, and using insights to inform product launches or limited-edition campaigns.
On the qualitative side, brands need storytellers and creative strategists who can integrate commerce seamlessly into engaging content. Additionally, brands must develop cultural fluency to resonate with younger audiences.
Q6. What’s the trend you wish everyone would stop talking about?
Click-bait promotional content
Jennifer Quigley-Jones, Digital Voices:
Users are becoming overwhelmed by constant promotional content and are getting fatigued when shown similar products from multiple companies in their feeds. TikTok has particularly seen a surge in UGC creators, putting out click-bait style content on the price of various products being “less than a pizza”. And while there has been success, the videos and creators don’t drive loyalty and brand advocacy.
‘Authenticity’
Sarah Penny, The Influencer Group:
Authenticity. Within the influencer space, this is definitely the most overused word of the decade and it seems we are still so focused on it. When creator marketing is third party recommendations, primarily on social, of course those individuals that a brand chooses to work with should be authentic and have a genuine affinity to your brand.
As companies expand their influencer/advocacy strategy to include increasingly niche talent, along with employees and customers, we shouldn’t even have to be consciously considering whether a partnership is authentic, it should be common sense.
Q7. Do you have an outrageous prediction or a safe bet you want to share for 2025?
AI will continue to improve performance
Jennifer Quigley-Jones, Digital Voices:
The safe bet? AI will continue to improve the performance of social marketing, particularly via ad placements, formats, ad content and algorithmic recommendations. But do not forget the importance of human interaction in driving social commerce, particularly in TikTok livestreams.
The bold prediction? VR-enhanced shopping will begin to gain significant traction.
Creators will routinely co-own product lines with brands
Irving Shark, Billion Dollar Boy:
By 2027, creators will routinely co-own product lines with brands, transforming social commerce into a hybrid of entertainment, marketing, and entrepreneurship.
In the race to innovate, platforms and brands must maintain a delicate balance. Lean too hard into commerce, and they risk alienating users; stay too focused on content, and they leave money on the table. The future belongs to those who master the art of blending both seamlessly.
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