There will be about 94 million users on TikTok by the end of this year. As the platform pushes further into commerce in the US, our Reimagining Retail podcast team weighed in on which communities are having the greatest impact.
1. Beauty. The hashtag, which has 107.8 billion views and counting, is one of the biggest product categories on TikTok, partly due to how TikTok brings the combination of entertainment and discovery to users in this category.
Beauty is a key part of TikTok’s commerce development. The platform partnered with Shopify to launch TikTok Shopping last year with Kylie Cosmetics as its first brand. Retail giant Walmart also got in on the TikTok beauty game with its first livestream event dedicated to the category.
2. RecipeTok. The hashtag, where users go to share recipes, meals, and cooking how-tos, has 182 million views. Last year, TikTok announced it would launch ghost kitchens that enabled restaurants to add famous TikTok recipes to their menus, but that doesn’t seem to have happened yet.
TikTok also partnered with Instacart to give its creators the ability to add shoppable recipes to their videos.
3. ThriftTok. “If Gen Z is passionate about something, there’s going to be a TikTok community for it,” said our analyst Sky Canaves. Secondhand fashion is big with Gen Z, who love scoring a great deal on trendy ’90s or Y2K fashion pieces.
Some popular ThriftTok creators have even opened physical shops, which feature a highly curated selection that reflect the creator’s style.
4. BookTok. “BookTok has gotten so big, it has been credited with reviving print book sales,” said our analyst Jasmine Enberg. With over 66 billion views, the hashtag features TikTok users, creators, and celebrities talking about the books they read.
To capitalize on BookTok’s impact, TikTok launched a #BookTokChallenge (114.6 million views) and a TikTok Book Club, where the first book will be Jane Austen’s “Persuasion,” timed perfectly to coincide with Netflix’s new adaptation.
This was originally featured in in the Retail By the Numbers newsletter. For more retail insights, statistics, and trends, subscribe here.