📈 $934M on TikTok Shop—Even After the Slowdown?

TikTok Shop closed out January with $934 million in GMV, proving once again that the platform is a major force in e-commerce. And this happened despite the downtime—a sign that demand remains strong.

But what’s really interesting isn’t just the overall number—it’s how the platform is evolving.

How Does This Compare to December?

December saw a GMV of $1.2 billion, averaging $39.2 million per day, but that was during the holiday rush. A natural dip in January was expected, but the fact that nearly $1 billion still moved through the platform after peak shopping season is a strong signal for what’s ahead in Q1.

Category Expansion: TikTok Shop Is Becoming More Diverse

Historically, categories like beauty and household essentials have dominated TikTok Shop. But January’s top 10 sellers tell a different story:

🛍 Health & wellness continues to thrive (MaryRuth Organics did $12.62M).
🏋️ Sports & outdoors is growing, showing demand for fitness-related products.
📚 Books are breaking through—yes, really.

The biggest outlier? Forgotten Home Apothecary: 250 Powerful Remedies at Your Fingertips, a book that sold 256,000 copies and generated $3.28M in sales.

That’s a bookstore hitting top-seller status on TikTok Shop—something that would’ve been unthinkable a year ago.

This highlights a major opportunity: TikTok Shop isn’t just for beauty, skincare, and impulse buys anymore. 

The platform is maturing, and brands in traditionally underserved categories can take cues from top sellers and scale.

How Did MaryRuth Organics Hit $12.62M?

MaryRuth Organics didn’t become a $12M+ per month TikTok Shop brand by accident. A major part of their success comes down to content volume:

📌 83,000+ videos in the TikTok Shop ecosystem featuring their products.
📌 Leveraging affiliate creators at scale to flood the feed with UGC.
📌 Tapping into trusted influencer recommendations to build credibility.

This strategy—getting as much organic and affiliate-driven content as possible—is the single biggest play brands should focus on right now.

What Should Brands Do in February?

1️⃣ Continue scaling affiliate content output. The brands winning on TikTok Shop aren’t just listing products—they’re making sure hundreds (or thousands) of creators are talking about them daily. More content = more conversions.

2️⃣ Work with and brief as many creators as possible. The best-performing brands don’t just rely on random outreach. They proactively identify the right creators, send structured briefs, and optimize messaging to drive conversions.

If January’s numbers are any indication, TikTok Shop is far from slowing down. Brands that focus on high-volume content creation and strategic creator partnerships will be the ones that scale in 2025.

Are you ready to make February your biggest month yet? 🚀

Let’s chat

Ashley Wright
Founder and CEO of Social Tale