For Tinuiti, other ecommerce channels have performed more robustly than TikTok Shop, but the feature showed promise as an upper-funnel play. Legere said brands have used TikTok Shop to promote influencer collaborations, new product launches and to showcase product demonstrations or tutorials.
A spokesperson for TikTok said merchants and creators have found success on TikTok Shop, citing research that 37% of TikTok users immediately purchased something they discovered through the platform, and users spend 14% more when TikTok is part of the retail journey.
Katya Constantine, CEO of ecommerce agency DigiShopGirl, said two of her clients have recently started testing TikTok Shop. In an uncertain economic climate, brands have been less eager to test new platform ad tools.
“There’s less comfort for failure,” Constantine said. “A lot of our brands have pushed for goals-oriented advertising programs because everyone is focused on profitability.”
Visual search as a new funnel?
Visual search could serve as an access point to funnel customers to brands’ social storefronts, but many users still aren’t taking photos to search. Constantine said that while visual search has existed on platforms like Google and Pinterest for years, clients have never expressed interest in experimenting with the channel.
“I truly think that [visual search] is at least five years away before having a meaningful impact on advertising,” she said.
Search advertising has become increasingly more visual, with the rise of Google Shopping, product listing ads and retail media bringing catalog-style photos to search results, even if consumers are more likely to see these ads by typing text than taking photos.
“Three years ago, product feeds were not part of the conversation,” said Calla Murphy, vp of digital strategy and integrated marketing at Belardi Wong. Now, Murphy said around 60% of Google advertising spend for the majority of her clients goes to shopping ads.
Given this pivot, advertisers have reason to start thinking about how to optimize for visual-first search.
