TikTok pays users to shop, recruit other users as US ban nears

The news: TikTok is paying users to shop and invite friends to join the app, per Bloomberg—its latest attempt to boost downloads and engagement as it inches closer to a US ban.

• Users can earn $50 in TikTok Shop credits for every first-time user they get to register—up to $350.
• Other ways to earn credits include checking the app every day for a week, scrolling through 10 TikTok Shop items five times per week, and making a TikTok Shop purchase—the last of which can net users $80 in coupons.

Why it matters: TikTok is ramping up signups and Shop sales after a blockbuster Black Friday performance, which underscored the app’s influence among US consumers and its growing importance as an ecommerce destination.

• TikTok Shop generated $100 million in sales on Black Friday alone, three times what it saw in 2023.
• The number of shoppers jumped by 165% YoY during the period between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, bolstered by livestreams from the likes of Nicki Minaj and Canvas Beauty founder Stormi Steele.

TikTok Shop is also set to play a bigger role in holiday sales this year: 31% of users have already bought a gift from the marketplace or plan to, per CivicScience. That proportion is higher for Gen Z users: 51% plan to get some holiday shopping done on the platform.

Our take: TikTok’s future in the US is uncertain, but that hasn’t kept sellers from flocking to the platform—or stopped shoppers from snapping up trending beauty products on TikTok Shop.

So long as it remains operational, brands like Yay’s Snacks will continue to pour money and effort into reaching users and driving sales on the marketplace—although many have backup plans to direct sales to Amazon storefronts or their own websites should TikTok be forced to go dark next year.

Go further: Check out our US Social Commerce Forecast 2024.

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