TikTok Shop is starting to show up in formal agency RFPs as a named channel with a committed budget alongside Amazon and Walmart, according to Digiday, a real status jump for a platform brands spent two years treating as a footnote while its US future was in doubt. Bigger brands are buying in, with TikTok Shop sales from companies doing $30M or more in annual revenue up 97% year over year and names like Ulta, Sally Beauty, and PepsiCo investing, though the agencies Digiday spoke with are candid that the platform’s direct sales often look loss-leading. The real draw is the halo effect, brands running creator content through TikTok’s GMV Max tool see measurable sales lifts on Amazon, Walmart, and in physical retail that dwarf the revenue TikTok claims directly, with its pay-only-on-completed-sales model making the millions of impressions effectively free.
