The growth of social commerce and rise of TikTok Shop were put under the spotlight at NRF 2025: Retail’s Big Show Europe by Guillaume Coudry, NielsenIQ, Western Europe e-commerce leader, and Alexandre Giraudeau, head of strategic accounts & agency partnerships at TikTok Shop.
Coudry shared how retail has transformed over the decades from in-store-only to in-store and online to omnichannel and today’s model where digital commerce now spans social commerce, quick commerce, D2C and Marketplaces.
“Disruption is accelerating. Previously digital commerce was something on the side,” he said.
According to NielsenIQ, e-commerce in Europe is growing by 5% in value, higher than other channels and growth is being driven by increased frequency and a higher number of items per basket although the average item price has declined.
By category, electronics and fashion are losing share of the digital wallet but food and health and beauty are making strong gains, Coudry said.
Generalist pure players such as Amazon command half of all e-commerce sales while marketplaces are gaining share versus retail players.
Coudry highlighted the rise of TikTok Shop, which launched in the UK in 2021 and now accounts for 4% of the e-commerce market by sales value. Health and beauty is the number one category on TikTok Shop but there is increased diversification and other categories are getting stronger.
Giraudeau said the UK and subsequent US launch have paved the way for the success of TikTok Shop in Europe, which launched in 2024-2025.
“Europe benefits from the UK and US launch,” he said.
Coudry warned delegates from supposing users were all Gen Z, although half of users were born in 1995 and after. However, the other half are 30 years + and Gen X accounts for one quarter of sales and they are the biggest spenders on TikTok Shop.
TikTok Shoppers are also big online shoppers, spending 20% more versus the average online shopper in Europe and they place 49 orders per year, nearly one per week, versus 31 orders for the average online shopper.
Giraudeau told delegates TikTok Shop was about discovering products and revealed there were 200m active users in Europe and they spend 100 minutes on the site daily. The platform is growing four times faster than traditional e-commerce, he said.
TikTok Shop benefits from the TikTok ecosystem and enables retailers/brands to connect to their customers and users. It is not just about entertainment, he said.
It’s a closed loop model – users open the app, find a product they like, select it and fulfil the order and then checkout.
Giraudeau shared TikTok Shop’s affiliate programme, where any customer can influence another customer, and how users can work with brands to influence other TikTok users and earn a commission.
TikTok Shop offers two brand plans – open and target.
Open plans enable creators to reach out for samples or buy them but then receive refunds from any sales. With target plans, retailers/brands invite creators to be part of the their program. Most GMV comes from affiliation, Giraudeau said.
He showcased two business cases. Carrefour has launched on TikTok Shop in France six months ago and partners with creators to create content and drive sales on unexpected products.
“We open stores where our customers are…and today, they’re on TikTok. There is no need for in-house content capability: Carrefour simply partners with TikTok creators to drive sales,” the retailer said. Today, 89% of Carrefour’s GMV is from the TikTok Shop affiliate program.
L’Oreal has also successfully tapped the TikTok Shop mine with a super brand event running over five days in the UK and featuring different activations with numerous creators plus live-streaming.
“It’s a new way to reach your audience and customers,” said Giraudeau. Similar shop and marketing activations are planned for Germany and France, he added.
