TikTok Shop enters Europe

 

TikTok Shop, the social commerce venture of the popular video-sharing platform, has entered key EU markets, Germany, Spain, France, Ireland, and Italy. This is not the first time such an entry was the talk of the town; the company has already announced and ultimately backtracked from such plans back in 2022. However, in the spring of 2025, these plans finally came to fruition.

 

Find out all about TikTok and its sister app Douyin’s e-Commerce ventures!

 

 

TikTok Shop in a nutshell

TikTok Shop is currently available in sixteen countries: the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Mexico, Vietnam, Japan, Brazil, and the Philippines. Over 15 million sellers are active on the platform globally, and the company has reached a GMV of $32.6 billion by the end of 2024. That figure is set to be surpassed, as the GMV of the first half of 2025 has already soared to $26.2 billion.  

 

In the US, 33 million shoppers spend around $7 million per day on the platform. The number of consumers buying products on TikTok Shop is estimated to reach 39.5 million by 2026.

 

 

Still image from a video promoting a kitchen organiser on tiktok.com

 

 

However, TikTok’s US journey is not without its challenges. The previous US government has passed a law that forces TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, to sell the company to a government-approved buyer or face a complete ban in the US. ByteDance has filed a lawsuit against the US government over this piece of legislation.

 

As the court upheld the law, TikTok was indeed forced to shut down for a few days in January 2025. However, incoming US President Donald Trump postponed the enforcement of the ban, suggesting that they find a compromise that allows the app to continue operating in the US. In September 2025, Donald Trump announced that a deal had been reached and the app had found its new US-based owner, approved by both ByteDance and the Chinese President. At the time of writing this article, the new owner’s identity was not yet revealed.

 

The whole issue is generated by fears in the US (and Europe) that the Chinese government could access sensitive user data of Western TikTok account holders. This data includes the exact location of users, as well as their personal preferences, etc. Moreover, the Chinese government could also use TikTok’s content recommendation features to spread misinformation among users.

 

 

Related Topics

TikTok’s sister company, Douyin makes it big in China

 

TikTok’s e-Commerce push in Indonesia

 

The end of external e-Commerce links on TikTok?

 

 

TikTok Shop arrives in Europe

The long-awaited arrival of TikTok Shop in Europe occurred in two waves. By the end of 2024, TikTok Shop launched in Ireland and Spain, marking the social commerce company’s entrance to the continent. Job adverts for TikTok Shop officials based in Germany began appearing online, hinting at an imminent launch.

Finally, on 31 March 2025, TikTok Shop began its operations in Germany, Italy, and France. As analysts expected, beauty products are amongst those most popular with consumers on the platform, along with fashion products, accessories, and perfumes.

A third wave of expansion is set to occur later in 2025 or possibly 2026, with Hungary, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden on the list.

 

Learn all about the challenges of the beauty sector in e-Commerce!

Besides the launch of the platform, TikTok Shop also established a fulfillment center in Germany.

 

 

Fulfilled by TikTok

Fulfilled by TikTok (FBT) was first launched in the UK for sellers based in the country. The service manages warehousing, picking, packing, and shipping for participating sellers. 

The FBT center in Germany provides similar services to EU-based sellers. Due to its central location, Germany is an excellent starting point for sellers aiming to serve customers within the EU.

And after launching a successful cooperation with Zalando in the UK market, TikTok Shop is no stranger to working with high-profile German companies.

 

 

From content creation to selling

Regarding content, TikTok reportedly aims to become the chosen selling platform for brands. TikTok’s sister app Douyin does that in China with enormous success: the company reports a GMV of 3.5 trillion yuan ($491.6 billion).

 

 

Still image from a video promoting a hair styling tool on tiktok.com

 

 

In the UK, TikTok has already attracted brands like Coca-Cola, Maybelline, and Garnier to its selling platform. In addition to regular features of social commerce like interactive, instant connection to your target market, TikTok also offers additional perks like fulfilment and next-day deliveries to help its UK sellers, as well as low commission fees.

 

Find out all about fulfilment here!

 

As for consumers, the platform is believed to consider the tried-and-tested method of offering big discounts to encourage shopping. Other incentives may include payments to TikTok users for promoting products to their followers.

 

 

TikTok Shop and the existing European e-Commerce industry

Based on its success, the expansion of TikTok Shop in Europe certainly made an impact on the current e-Commerce landscape, especially in the fashion and beauty sectors. Since many brands, sellers, and influencers are already active on the platform with ads and other content, it was a logical step for them to actually start selling there as well. Among its new countries, France presented the fastest growth for TikTok Shop.

 

However, TikTok is ultimately known and loved by its users for engaging, short, and entertaining videos and not for its amazing shopping opportunities. In fact, a 2024 study indicates that young people would prefer to turn off TikTok Shop altogether to better focus on actual content.

 

Find out all about the preferences of Gen Z consumers.

 

 

TikTok Shop in the US

With the future of TikTok seemingly secure in the US, it’s no wonder that the platform introduces new features to please sellers and consumers based in its most important market. These include improved locally targeted ads for small businesses and displaying reviews in the comments sections.

 

As one of TikTok’s most sought-after product categories, beauty and wellness products can expect a major boost from these new features. A recently published report by Dash Hudson and NielsenIQ shows that TikTok is now the ninth largest online dealer of beauty products in the US, and the second largest in the UK.

 

 

Online brand protection on TikTok Shop

Whether in Europe, the US, or Asia, TikTok Shop can’t be ignored by brands - especially if you want to protect your IP rights. Indeed, social commerce provides extra opportunities for fraudsters who try to make a quick buck by infringing on your IP rights.

 

Find out all about influencers promoting fake products!

 

Luckily, globaleyez’s services and solutions can look after your IP rights while you’re busy executing your marketing strategy for TikTok Shop. Our social media monitoring service detects potentially infringing content like ads, posts, and product listings on major social media platforms.

 

To get a more comprehensive picture, we’d also recommend a round of image monitoring to discover your copyrighted images, stolen or copied by fraudsters, to convince consumers they’re offering the real thing.

 

A product listing or an ad can tell us only so much about a product or a seller. If we need more information, we suggest a test purchase to learn all the necessary information about the origins of a product and more comprehensive data about the seller.

 

Finally, we’re offering to enforce your rights and request the removal of the infringing content from TikTok Shop, or any other corner of the internet.

 

Our overall aim is to create a clean marketplace free from counterfeits, lookalikes, grey market products, and any other infringing listings that may tarnish the seamless online presentation of your products.

 

 

Conclusion

TikTok Shop is available in Europe, allowing your brand to make the most of the social media giant’s new e-Commerce ventures.

 

However, don’t let fraudsters make the most of it, too! Contact us and let’s devise an online brand protection strategy, tailor-made for your brand.