Trends in TikTok Shop Products
Since its entry into the US market in 2018, TikTok has been on a rapid rise. As of April 2024, TikTok has over 4.92 billion global downloads and more than 1.582 billion monthly active users.
As a content-driven social platform, TikTok has inherent advantages in driving product popularity due to its short-form video content, highly visual and easy-to-consume format, community interactivity, and rich marketing activities. The emergence of TikTok Shop has created a closed loop from brand awareness to purchase conversion, allowing users to complete purchases directly within the platform.
As TikTok grows into a trendsetter and consumer barometer, what products has it made popular? What are the characteristics and patterns of these viral products?
Types of Viral Products on TikTok
Moments: Viral Hits
- Characteristics: Quickly capture attention and bring short-term traffic.
- Examples: Popular TikTok songs, hashtags, and viral videos. These may explode overnight but often fade away over time (e.g., “Jiggle Jiggle” song and dance).
- Lifecycle: Days to weeks.
Signals: Emerging Trends
- Characteristics: New user interests and behaviour shifts within specific niches, gaining traction among TikTok users (e.g., #GetReadyWithMe in the e-commerce sector).
- Lifecycle: Months to years.
Forces: Long-lasting Trends
- Characteristics: Broader social and cultural changes, frequent traditional content creation, information dissemination, and cultural narrative perspectives (e.g., how communities form, new era values, influencer impact).
- Lifecycle: Several years.
Short-term Viral Products
Food Chopper
In TikTok’s 2022 annual report, food choppers were listed as the top product under the #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt tag. These choppers are mainly multifunctional vegetable choppers. In Western countries, the proportion of vegetarians is steadily increasing, with vegetarians making up about 12% of the UK population. Westerners also have a particular fondness for vegetables like potatoes and carrots, often consuming over 100 kg of potatoes annually. Processing these vegetables can be time-consuming and laborious. Therefore, a kitchen gadget that can slice and dice vegetables in seconds has become increasingly popular. You simply place the washed vegetables on the grid, press down the lid, and in one second, the vegetables are chopped into small pieces.
Price-wise, these choppers are generally under $20, with some even as low as $10.
Automatic Hair Braider
In 2023, an automatic hair braider became a viral product on TikTok. Even before this, detangling combs and automatic hair braiding tools were already popular. From working professionals to cute kids, products like the Hair Brush and Quick Twist were popular across all age groups.
This success is also due to the strategic marketing efforts by leading brands. Thousands of influencers were engaged to create videos. These influencers targeted three main user groups: Western women with long hair, people with coarse, fragile hair that tangles easily but love braiding, and kids who play outdoors and often have messy hair. These products achieved viral success through repeated “viral spreading” on TikTok.
Wigs
While wigs are everyday items for many beauty enthusiasts, their mainstream popularity and brand recognition have been significantly boosted by TikTok. By showcasing real vs. fake models and quick before-and-after comparisons, wigs became a hot topic. In 2021, the hashtag #wig became a trending tag on TikTok, with #wig hair currently boasting 12 billion views. The exposure is staggering. Following the surge in TikTok popularity, Google Trends and Amazon search rankings for wigs also saw significant increases, making wearing wigs a trendy practice.
Categories with Viral Potential
Reviewing the viral products on TikTok over the past six years, they can be grouped into the following categories:
Novelty and Fun Products
Essentially, most people use TikTok for leisure and entertainment. Unique, humorous, or quirky products not only grab users’ attention but also evoke emotional resonance, increasing the likelihood of sharing and having viral potential.
Examples include:
- Floating plant pots
- Smart pet toys
- Prank props
- Fun household items (like talking blankets or singing lollipops)
Practical and Creative Products
Products that solve everyday problems or provide convenience, with high usage frequency, can quickly attract user interest when their usage and effectiveness are showcased through short videos. If these products also have some innovation, they can further stimulate users’ curiosity and desire to mimic.
Over the past few years, examples that repeatedly went viral on TikTok include:
- Multi-functional portable tools
- Disposable cleaning cloths
- Wireless chargers
- DIY craft kits
- Creative home decor
- Unique stationery
Holiday-related Products
TikTok is known for its young user base. Reports indicate that 48% of TikTok users are aged between 18 and 29, a demographic that is typically more sensitive and interested in holiday products, which have significant market value. Data shows that many TikTok users start their holiday shopping early, using TikTok as their “holiday shopping search engine”. Holiday-related hashtags like #holidayshopping, #holidayhaul, and #holidaygiftideas frequently dominate the trending topics.
Patterns of Viral Products
The data from various viral products offer us some insights, but more importantly, we need to understand the patterns behind this data. These viral products usually have three main characteristics:
Affordable Prices
Products that achieve “national-level” popularity on TikTok are typically priced between $9.9 and $44.99. When products fall within this relatively low price range, the consumer’s risk is minimal, making impulse purchases more likely.
Clear and Compelling Selling Points
Due to TikTok’s video length limitations and its emphasis on visual impact, only products with clear and compelling selling points can immediately capture user interest. Apart from the platform’s characteristics, young users are more adapted to fast-paced consumer culture and expect quick satisfaction.
Novelty
TikTok is a platform that thrives on creative content. Novel products provide rich material and inspiration, allowing users and creators to produce interesting videos. By leveraging current trends or hot topics, these products can quickly grab users’ attention and gain more exposure.
Examples include:
- Colour-changing lipsticks
- Smart translation earbuds
- Creative toys
- Automatic stirring mugs
- Hanfu (traditional Chinese clothing)
- Egg drop crafts
Leveraging Trends for Marketing Success
Chasing trends is a crucial strategy for sellers to boost sales and break through bottlenecks. However, trends can be fleeting, and many sellers who invest heavily may find themselves with little to show for it once the trend fades. Therefore, understanding the lifecycle of trends is key to better marketing planning. TikTok trends can drop sharply in a matter of days to weeks, influenced by factors such as user behaviour, content quality, platform algorithms, and market strategies. Sellers can use tools like Google Trends, Reddit, Pinterest Trends, and TikTok Trends to gather trending information, analyse top brand marketing strategies, and observe sales trends on e-commerce platforms for better insights.