Despite having the most downloads and consumer expenditure in 2023, TikTok did not have the most use. The top three monthly active users in 2017 were Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger, with TikTok coming in fifth. New data suggests that TikTok’s growth has slowed, raising the issue of whether TikTok Shop’s e-commerce launch is to blame.
Sensor Tower data shows TikTok’s positive growth is slowing. TikTok’s monthly active users rose 12% each quarter in 2022, but just 3% in 2023.
After TikTok Shop launched in the U.S., the shift occurred.
The video app started testing Shop in the U.S. in November 2022 and added PacSun, Revolve, Willow Boutique, and KimChi Chic at the start of last year. The Shop wasn’t “officially” launched in the U.S. until September 2023, but it was one of numerous attempts to turn TikTok videos and the “TikTok made me buy it” meme into real-world sales.
Last summer in the U.K., TikTok tested an in-app shopping area dubbed “Trendy Beat” that sold ByteDance merchandise. According to the AP and others, TikTok’s affiliate network lets producers earn commissions from purchases.
A November Business Insider report stated that vendors’ use of TikTok Shop was turning the app into an “ad-filled wasteland” and a “dystopian” area. Redditors have debated whether TikTok Shop has “ruined” the app by filling it with “people dropshipping or selling cheap products,” as one user put it.
“Personally, I’m starting to get really annoyed by how almost every other video on my [For You Page] is someone overhyping a Shop product to try to get it to go viral and make a lot of commissions,” commented Redditor u/megg-salad-sammich in September. “It’s great that creators can make money through it, but I find myself scrolling less and less because I know pretty much every video is trying to sell me something random,” they stated.
Over the last year, numerous Reddit threads complained that TikTok Shop has made it “annoying” and that seeing advertisements every few videos is unpleasant.
TikTok’s Shop Seller app, which drives its e-commerce push, has flourished while consumers adjust to their favorite social network becoming an online shop.
Sensor Tower reports “robust” growth for the Shop Seller since the fourth quarter of 2022, growing 230% year-over-year in 2023. Only a portion of TikTok’s 1.4 billion active users as of the first quarter of this year use the app. The company reported about 6 million monthly active users for Shop Seller.
Due to TikTok Shop’s January tab removal and March live shopping ban, Instagram may gain from customer discontent. This may make in-app shopping more appealing to individuals who prefer indirect calls to action.
Industry developments that don’t bode well for TikTok Shop were what prompted Meta’s action. The epidemic boosted live shopping and e-commerce revenues. After things returned to normal, social commerce (including live shopping) accounted for just 5% of U.S. e-commerce revenues in 2022. Internet trends do have an impact on U.S. customers, even though they may not have been as willing to make direct purchases from videos.
Users aren’t yet so dissatisfied with TikTok Shop that they’re switching to Instagram Reels.
After the TikTok Shop Seller app launched, Sensor Tower reported that Instagram’s monthly active user growth has remained in the “mid-single digits” without substantial changes.
Appfigures data confirms this conclusion but adds that TikTok’s income has been rising while its downloads have been static or declining for over a year, both worldwide and in the U.S.
