Social commerce: The new storefront your brand can’t ignore

From casually scrolling to carting out, shopping habits have officially gone social. With platforms turning into full-blown marketplaces, fashion brands have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to meet their customers where they actually hang out most of the time: their socials.

In our latest episode of Business Casual, we sat down with Broghan Smith, Head of Fashion & Beauty New Business at TikTok Shop, to talk all things social commerce: from strategy and storytelling to why brands need to stop treating it like just another channel.

Social commerce is a form of e-commerce in which the entire buying journey – discovery, consideration, and checkout – takes place directly on social platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. TikTok Shop is currently leading the charge in this space, especially for fashion brands. It allows customers to discover, explore, and purchase products without leaving the app. For sellers, it’s an opportunity to plug into a high-intent, content-hungry audience, without high acquisition costs. As TikTok Shop expands into Germany, France, and Italy, ZEOS is supporting brands and retailers to seamlessly integrate, scale, and succeed in this fast-growing channel.

12 social commerce stats every brand should know

The growth of social commerce is happening fast and it’s backed by numbers that matter to your business. These six stats show just how big the opportunity is, and why fashion brands should be paying attention.

Global market growth

• $571 billion: The estimated value of the global social commerce market in 2023. It's expected to pass $1 trillion by 2028, driven by shifting consumer habits and content-led buying. (Source: Statista)

• 13.7%: Estimated annual growth rate of the social commerce sector between 2024–2028. (Source: Statista)

• 1.46 billion: The number of social commerce shoppers in 2024, up from 1.26 billion in 2022. That’s a 15% increase in just two years.

China: Leading the Way

• $483 billion: In 2024, Douyin (TikTok’s Chinese counterpart) hit this e-commerce milestone, making it China’s third-largest platform after Alibaba and Pinduoduo. (Source: Dao Insights)

• 32%: In China, livestream shopping now makes up nearly a third of total e-commerce sales – driven by creator-led, mobile-first formats. (Source: Dao Insights)

• 9 out of 10: In social commerce hotspots like Thailand, China, and Colombia, nearly 90% of internet users bought through social platforms in 2023. (Source: Statista)

Europe & the UK: Untapped Potential

• $33 billion: Estimated social commerce revenue in Europe for 2024, with forecasts projecting an increase to $48 billion by 2028. (Source: Statista)

• $271.7 billion: Projected peak of Europe’s total fashion e-commerce market by 2029, following a 57.27% increase — or $98.9 billion — over five years, highlighting just how much room there is for social commerce to scale.  (Source: Statista) 

• 40% of social commerce shoppers spend more than €50 per purchase (Source: KPMG)

TikTok Shop: Driving Engagement

• $33.2 billion: TikTok Shop’s global GMV in 2024, just three years after launch. Fashion-related categories alone generated at least $3.2 billion. (Source: Influencer Marketing Hub)

• 90% of users who’ve bought something through TikTok Shop say they would do it again. (Source: The Wall Street Journal)

• 67% of TikTok users in Europe save posts about fashion products on the app for future reference (Source: TikTok).

Social commerce vs traditional e-commerce: what’s the difference?

In traditional e-commerce, your customer comes to you. They visit your site, browse your catalogue, and convert – if you're lucky. The funnel can be long, expensive, and full of drop-off points. Social commerce doesn’t replace that model, but complements it. It delivers your product right into the hands (and heads) of your audience, through content they’re already engaging with. That means:

• No clunky redirects

• No multi-step checkouts

• No need for paid traffic that may never convert

Instead, you’re part of the scroll. Your products are discovered organically or via creator recommendations, then purchased on the spot. TikTok calls this discovery commerce, but for your business, it’s simply commerce that works.

A new storefront for a new kind of shopper

Social commerce is built on discovery. Your customer is not browsing a site, but catching a product mid-scroll during a morning routine video. One tap later, it’s in their cart.

Platforms like TikTok have mastered the art of surfacing the right product at the perfect moment. By reaching shoppers directly within their feeds, brands can offset slower overall market growth and reduce the costly guesswork of traditional promotions. It’s real people, real talk and real results. Fashion and beauty brands have seen massive success with this content-first, commerce-second model.

The market is tighter, the margins are thinner, and traditional growth levers aren’t hitting like they used to. That’s exactly why social commerce has emerged as a smarter, faster path forward. For fashion and lifestyle brands, it’s a way to rethink how products are introduced, sold, and scaled.

Combat market stagnation with new customer reach

Growth hasn’t disappeared, but many traditional e-commerce channels are reaching maturity. Social commerce offers a fresh path forward, helping brands connect with new audiences in moments of inspiration, not just intent. Platforms like TikTok Shop make it easier to reach highly engaged users through content they already enjoy, turning scrolls into sales and visibility into meaningful traction.

According to TikTok:

• 49% of users say TikTok helped them discover something new

• 35% of users say TikTok helped them learn something new

• 37% say they’ve discovered a product they immediately wanted to buy (1.5 more likely than the competitive average)

That’s not just discovery, that’s demand. For brands feeling stuck in a flat market, TikTok Shop opens the door to new segments and younger audiences with high buying intent.

Improve margins by selling direct-to-consumer

TikTok Shop is built for brands looking to cut costs, not corners. There are no setup fees, no listing costs, and commission is only charged when a sale is made.

That’s a refreshing shift from traditional marketplaces or wholesale models that take a chunk off the top, whether or not your product moves.

It also opens the door to:

• Testing new products without committing to big campaigns

• Offering time-sensitive deals or bundles to boost volume

• Owning the entire customer experience, from first touch to fulfilment

With smarter targeting and built-in creator partnerships, you spend less on acquiring customers and keep more of the sale.

Get smarter with stock using real-time data

TikTok Shop not only gives you reach, it also gives you insight. From content engagement to product performance, brands get real-time signals on what’s working and where demand is heading. While social commerce is still growing, smart stock management is becoming an essential part of the mix. Brands that sync inventory data with platform insights can:

• React faster to spikes in demand

• Avoid overstocking products that won’t move

• Keep top-performers in rotation without deep discounting

And when combined with the right fulfilment partner, that insight becomes even more powerful. It’s giving you end-to-end visibility, smarter forecasting, and smoother last-mile delivery.

Not all platforms are created equal, and neither are the brands that use them. While some still treat social media like a digital catalogue, others turn it into a checkout lane with a killer sense of timing. Here’s where the magic’s happening and how the clever brands are cashing in.

TikTok Shop: where inspiration meets conversion

If TikTok had a middle name, it’d be impulse. From creator hauls to livestreams with built-in discounts, TikTok Shop knows how to spark a “treat yourself” moment – and close the sale before the kettle’s boiled.

TikTok Shop is setting the standard for social commerce and quickly becoming the go-to platform for fashion and beauty brands looking to sell smarter. Here’s why it works:

• The entire shopping journey happens in-app: from discovery to checkout

• 200 million active users across Europe

• Users spend an average of 34 hours per month on the platform (Source: Statista)

The platform blends product content with personality: think creator hauls, livestreams, tutorials and reviews. Shoppers can explore your products via your storefront, browse the Shop tab, or be introduced through creator affiliate partnerships.

For brands like PUMA and Benefit Cosmetics, this model delivered results fast. PUMA saw a 737% revenue boost in one week, while Benefit pulled in 280,000+ livestream views and 2,500 new followers within days of launching on the platform.

Meta’s shopping ecosystem: Instagram and Facebook

Instagram might be the social commerce equivalent of a showroom – sleek, stylish, and made to impress. Shoppable Reels, product tags and influencer collabs still work hard behind the scenes, especially for fashion and beauty. Facebook is a different vibe altogether. Less glitz, more grit. It’s ideal for product drops, local sales and tapping into loyal communities. Meta’s advantage? It connects commerce with paid reach and retargeting, but it’s less frictionless than TikTok when it comes to discovery-to-purchase in a single scroll.

Pinterest, YouTube and beyond: niche but growing

Pinterest is for the planners. Shoppers land with a mission – whether that’s finding “linen trousers for summer city breaks” or “outfits that say ‘I have my life together’.” For brands with clean aesthetics and clever keywords, it’s an underrated hero.

YouTube plays the long game. It’s the spot for deep dives, hauls, and “what I wore this week” vlogs. If TikTok sells the sizzle, YouTube serves the slow-roasted version. It won’t deliver overnight conversions, but it builds real trust over time.

What smart fashion brands are doing differently

The best-performing brands are focused on storytelling – not just on sales. And no, that doesn’t mean turning every sock into a saga. It means understanding the scroll of your customers.

• Partnering with creators who connect: Less polished promos, more authentic content that drives real action.

• Staying relevant, not reactive: Show up at the right moment, without chasing every trend.

• Speaking each platform’s language: High energy on TikTok, high polish on Instagram

• Delivering fast, without fuss: Because nothing kills a vibe like a 10-day wait

Getting started with social commerce isn’t complicated, but it does require a smart setup.

Step 1: Register your shop and unlock access

Start where your audience is already active. TikTok Shop now has over 200 million active users in Europe, with fashion and beauty among its top-performing categories. Setting up a shop is quick, with no listing fees and low entry barriers. You only need:

• A TikTok account with at least 1,500 followers

• A profile owner aged 18 or older

• One public post in the last 28 days

Step 2: Build a storefront made for the scroll

TikTok is a mobile-first and content-led platform, so keep your product pages short, visual and conversion-friendly. Highlight:

• Bestsellers and high-impulse items

• Colour and style variety (TikTok recommends wide assortments to give creators more to work with)

• Realistic expectations around sizing and fit, which helps lower return rates

Step 3: Lead with content, not campaigns

TikTok isn’t about polished brand videos. It's about quick, honest, lo-fi content.

Creators and brands win by showing behind-the-scenes moments, packaging demos, styling tips, and product explainers. TikTok recommends:

• Picking up your phone and filming raw, real footage

• Partnering with creators who already know how to go live

• Starting with 1–2 live streams a week, ideally during evenings or weekends

Live streams are growing fast, with 6,000+ happening daily in the UK, and they’re one of the best ways to interact directly with your audience and drive immediate sales.

Step 4: Localise for real impact

TikTok Shop works best when you match local content with local fulfilment. That means:

• Working with creators in key markets

• Offering language-specific product details

• Leveraging local warehouses and last-mile partners to meet customer expectations

Fast delivery builds trust and gives buyers more reasons to post their own follow-up content, driving a new cycle of engagement.

Step 5: Optimise by using real-time data

Every post, product and partnership gives you insight. Use it. Track:

• Which creators actually convert

• What times does your audience engage

• Which SKUs move fastest and which don’t

This allows you to fine-tune your strategy, reduce overstocks, and feed your top performers back into TikTok’s ad ecosystem. If you want to go further, TikTok’s GMV Max tool can even automate creator content into performance ads based on your ROI goals.

The future of commerce is fast, personal, immersive and social to its core. Brands that embrace the shift today won’t just catch the wave. They’ll lead. Here’s what’s shaping the future:

Mass personalisation at scale

Shoppers expect experiences that feel tailor-made. Platforms like TikTok are doubling down on AI-powered recommendations, serving up products based on past behaviour, preferences, and even real-time trends. In fact, 73% of customers expect brands to understand their needs, and over 50% expect proactive suggestions. (Source: Salesforce)

Shoppertainment is the new selling standard

Blending shopping and entertainment will only get bigger. Livestream selling, influencer-led giveaways, AR try-ons, and gamified experiences are fast becoming baseline expectations. Brands like Gucci (via Snapchat AR try-ons) and Zalando (immersive shopping experiences) are already setting the tone.

Unified commerce is essential, but social will dominate discovery

Social commerce won't, and shouldn’t, replace your own webshop. Your site remains the heart of your brand: it’s where your customer relationships, data, and long-term value live. It’s the only channel where you fully own the experience, the insights, and the margin. 

But social commerce is becoming the first place customers discover you. The key is integration: linking product feeds, inventory and fulfilment in the background so shoppers get a seamless experience, no matter where they convert. TikTok, Instagram or Pinterest might start the journey, but your webshop should still steer it.

Social commerce connects brands with buyers in the moment, turns content into conversion, and creates new space for margin, reach, and relevance in an increasingly crowded market. Whether you’re navigating slower growth, rising costs, or just looking for your next performance channel, platforms like TikTok Shop offer a fresh, low-barrier way to scale – on your terms.

But this space is evolving fast. In China, we’re already seeing a shift away from influencer-driven sales to merchant-led livestreams, which now account for over 30% of Douyin’s e-commerce GMV. TikTok is testing similar formats in the US and Europe. Could this model gain ground here too?

At the same time, content localisation across fragmented markets in Europe poses new challenges. TikTok’s own tools, like AI-powered lip-syncing and translation, offer a glimpse into what’s possible, but whether a Spanish haul video resonates in Germany remains to be seen.

What’s clear is this: content and commerce are colliding, and the brands that win will be the ones that stay agile, local, and plugged into the cultural nuances of each scroll.

The scroll has officially become the storefront. And now’s the time to make it work for you.