The most amount of experience anyone has in TikTok Shop is 3 years. I had the pr
By Chereneetemadi · October 30, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
The most amount of experience anyone has in TikTok Shop is 3 years.
I had the privilege of launching on TikTok Shop 2 months after it officially launched in the U.S. during their 2023 Black Friday Cyber Monday campaign.
The platform is so new and rapidly evolving.
I’ll share the top 3 trends and shifts I’m seeing.
The strategies that worked 6 months ago aren’t the same strategies that work today.
Brands’ sample volumes are increasing faster than affiliates are joining the platform.
With samples increasing exponentially and brands demanding more content, there is a lot more affiliate content flooding the platform. And it’s not necessarily good content.
TikTok’s insanely powerful algorithm continues to favor engaging and high converting content from proven affiliates and brands. (Most heavily weighted by GMV performance).
Creator and content quality matter more than ever.
Top content from top affiliates wins all day, but is harder to secure than it used to be.
This is tipping the supply and demand balance. Economics 101. When the supply of top tier affiliates becomes more scarce, they start commanding an upfront fee in addition to a commission.
Here are the biggest shifts I’m seeing:
1.
OUT: Mass sampling affiliates.
IN: Intentionally sourcing top tier creators and putting them on a retainer. The best creators need to be incentivized to join your community. Get their attention with an upfront fee.
2.
OUT: Expecting TikTok Shop to be a highly profitable sales channel.
IN: Understanding that TikTok Shop is one of the best brand awareness and omnichannel growth engines, and serves as a more efficient way to source ad and influencer content at scale. Brands need at least 6 months of investment and consistent execution to meaningfully grow on the platform. (Highly dependent on how much awareness they already have on and off platform).
3.
OUT: Relegating TikTok Shop content to GMV Max ad campaigns.
IN: Bringing top affiliate content into Meta and rewarding affiliates a commission if their ads perform. Some of the top performing Meta content I’ve seen has come from TikTok shop. Platforms like Cruva or Trybe make this seamless.
TikTok Shop affiliates have been a great equalizer for influencer marketing. It’s democratized influencer content, which was once reserved for lifestyle creators who charged a premium with no guarantee for performance. It’s made sourcing content more efficient.
Just like DTC, Meta ads, and Amazon, there’s an early arbitrage opportunity. It’s already getting harder, but we’re still very early and there’s still so much whitespace on the platform.
What trends are you seeing?
WARNING: this was 100% written by me based on my experiences and insights, without AI intervention.