E-commerce has been on the rise since the early 2000s. Websites such as eBay made it convenient for basic necessities and clothes to be within reach with a click of a button. However, with the boost of the pandemic, online shopping has taken a huge rise in sales which has led to many companies creating algorithms to promote their products. As a result, social media platforms have adapted to the trends and have created their own marketplaces or ad promotions. Instagram created their @shop page which promotes emerging brands. Reseller websites such as StockX, Depop, and Grailed, have also gained notable popularity among fashion lovers seeking to purchase clothes online. Eventually, TikTok, the social media platform, adapted their own e-commerce platform called TikTok Shop in September 2023. TikTok has been one of the most popular social media platforms in the last ten years. Many people have found themselves hooked on the app due to its trends, creator reliability and sports/television edits that people post on the platform. TikTok has also faced much criticism and controversy regarding safety and whether or not the app should be banned, though that ban only lasted a day.
TikTok Shop sells a large variety of products ranging from clothing, fragrances, skin care and jewelry. In order to sell on TikTok, companies and individual sellers need to establish a TikTok business account which can be done for free when you sign up for TikTok. Sellers must be eighteen and over while also verifying residency in allowed countries. As of 2025, TikTok Shop has companies and individual sellers in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vietnam, Spain, Thailand, and Ireland. According to Marketplace Pulse, a research data article post, TikTok Shop generated over a billion dollars after only one year of individual companies and sellers marketing their products. Goli Nutrition, a nutrition company, was one of TikTok Shops highest earners, receiving over 4 million dollars in just 30 days.
With the rise of TikTok Shop and proof of a profitable margin, many other companies have been taking advantage of the opportunities to sell. Personally, I’m not against businesses who want to make sales and I understand to do so, they need to put themselves out there. However, the issue for me regards the excess marketing many of these companies are doing. It’s nearly impossible to watch a few videos on the platform without some company on a live stream ad pitching to sell you something. Also, when the companies aren’t doing their own direct marketing, there are individual TikTok creators who do the marketing for them through the affiliate program. In order to be a part of the affiliate program, you’re required to be 18 and over while also having over five thousand followers. While this is common among merchant websites, some of these individual creators attempt to flood their page with video ads in hopes of generating commission through them. Affiliates will frequently hit you with the repetitive tactic of promoting deals in which some cases they do, though other times they barely lower the price and you’re then hit with the shipping fees. The issue with the Affiliate program is the amount of oversaturation it has. TikTok as a social platform already has a lot of active social engagement, and if one of your videos hits the targeted for you page (FYP) you’re granted the potential to easily get followers which could possibly get you into the program. Not to appear inconsiderate, but some members of affiliate programs tend to have accounts that had a few famous videos, gained plenty of followers, though have fallen short of an active community among their content which as a result, has led to the excessive amount of promotions through their newer content.
In order to prevent oversaturation among TikTok Shop, the TikTok affiliate program should increase its requirements on who can become eligible to join. I strongly believe that they should change the following requirement to at least 10,000 followers while also ensuring that the affiliate has an active follower engagement. By doing this, much of the FYP can be cleared up from excess marketing that some of these affiliates make. While it may seem harsh, it’s hard to justify the purpose of promoting products when the creator’s page isn’t racking up views.
