Gen Z’s comfort level with shopping on TikTok is nearly on par with Instagram, according to a report from Insider Intelligence. The study shows that among Gen Z adults, Instagram is the preferred platform for making purchases (71%), closely followed by YouTube and TikTok (both at 68%), Facebook (62%), and Snapchat (55%). Notably, TikTok is surpassing traditional search engines like Google and Bing as a product discovery tool, with 43% of respondents favouring TikTok over search engines (38%). As TikTok strives to establish itself as a shopping destination, it has faced hurdles. While the platform rolled out its e-commerce feature called Shop, plans to expand live-commerce initiatives in Europe and the US were abandoned due to limited user interest. This contrasts with China, where live shopping is expected to make up 45% of social commerce sales, amounting to a $235 billion market in 2023. Consequently, the report suggests that while TikTok remains important for brands targeting Gen Z, investing in TikTok Shop may not be a priority for most merchants, given the limited adoption of live shopping in the US. In an unrelated development, TikTok Shop is testing a visual search function outside the US, allowing users to take photos and search for products within the platform’s shopping inventory.

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