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November 28, 2024
Is TikTok the Ideal Platform for Holiday Gift Discovery?
According to a survey of over 1,100 U.S. adults who watch TikTok videos, 55% have already found ideas for holiday gifts this year while scrolling on the social platform, while 39% have purposefully searched TikTok for holiday gift ideas.
The survey from marketing agency MGH, taken on Nov. 13, further found:
- Seeking gift ideas across categories on TikTok: Users searching for or discovering holiday gifts have shown interest in food and beverage items (45%), personalized gifts (42%), tech gadgets (41%), beauty and skincare products (39%), clothing and accessories (39%), DIY gifts (38%), home decor and lifestyle items (36%), and experiences (36%).
- TikTok’s self-gifting appeal: While 37% of respondents have purchased items for others on TikTok Shop, even more, 47%, have purchased items for themselves.
- TikTok videos driving purchasing decisions: Of the respondents, 69% found videos (i.e., unboxings, user experiences, reviews) important when deciding whether to purchase an item.
“This survey demonstrates the undeniable influence TikTok will have on holiday gift idea generation and purchasing decisions this season,” commented Ryan Goff, EVP, chief marketing officer, and social media marketing director at MGH.
The findings come as surveys show younger consumers are particularly embracing social media platforms to discover and increasingly purchase gifts.
Gen Zers were found to be more than twice as likely as the average consumer to buy holiday gifts via social commerce this year, with 42% saying they are likely to do so compared to 26% of millennials and 15% of Gen Xers, per a Basis Technologies survey.
A recent survey from Fiverr International found that 54% of Gen Zers in the U.S. find their gifts on TikTok Shop. A third planned to find gifts via Facebook and Instagram ads, and nearly a quarter (24%) through influencer recommendations.
TikTok’s popularity as a gift-discovery tool comes as its Chinese parent, ByteDance, at the start of this year set a goal to grow the size of its TikTok Shop U.S. business tenfold to as much as $17.5 billion in 2024, according to a report from Bloomberg. TikTok Shop, featuring a dedicated shop tab on the home screen, live video shopping, shoppable ads, and affiliate programs for creators, was launched in September 2023.
On Nov. 13, TikTok began introducing a number of exclusive deals and sales from major brands as well as a series of livestream shopping events, including some from its “record-breaking creators” and one from rapper Nicki Minaj, to support holiday gifting.
The platform wrote in a press release, “The beauty of TikTok is that it’s so easy for people to discover content, products, and creators tailored to their interests. People can look to their favorite follows this holiday season for inspiration — or, they might discover new accounts to get inspired for someone in their life they’re looking to get a gift for.”
Fiverr’s study found that 57% of U.S. retailers surveyed are investing in social media ads.
Among retailers leaning into TikTok, Urban Outfitters partnered with TikTok personality Lubalin on a holiday campaign featuring a dance challenge and the brand’s first-ever holiday jingle. Cyntia Leo, head of brand marketing at Urban Outfitters, said in a statement, “The LOLidays campaign is about meeting our audience exactly where they naturally engage, on social — right in the heart of trends, buzz, and can’t miss moments.”
Discussion Questions
What’s driving TikTok’s appeal as a source of gift inspiration with younger consumers?
Are online shoppable videos the future of gift discovery?
Poll
Loading …BrainTrust
Neil Saunders
Managing Director, GlobalData
David Biernbaum
Founder & President, David Biernbaum & Associates LLC
Michael Zakkour
Founder - 5 New Digital &International Marketing Lead at UNILEVER
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For those that use the platform, TikTok can be great for product discovery. There are lot of brands, big and small, that are featured in videos. However, there is also a depth of information about them provided by creators. So not only do consumers discover new things, but they also get an idea of how suitable or good a product is. This gives them confidence to buy or experiment. All that said, from our data, TikTok is mostly used for product discovery by younger consumers, which reflects its user base.
TikTok for right now is a terrific platform for gift ideas because 55% of adults are already had success with it, either inadvertently, and 39% purposely.
It is advantageous that users can make, or watch, personal videos to provide information, opinions, and even emotion.
Another advantage is that nearly all adults under a certain age are TikTok users. For many, its a daily habit.
Sharing is very easy on TikTok so that too is an asset for gift searching. There are also tendencies for some of the most “influential influencers” to use TikTok as a choice platform.
Ideal? It’s hard to say. I can say, and I have been saying for seven years, that “V-commerce” is a bedrock of the evolution of e-commerce to “immersive commerce.” TikTok and platform V-commerce is one element. Other elements include the shoppable video on your Website, APP, and Video hub. V-Commerce flips the “funnel” and reflects the new consumer journey. Discovery, consideration, and purchase all in 90 seconds.
For the right product with the right audience, being on TikTok is essential. Lots of traffic. Ability to make a sale. If your target audience is on TikTok, you should be active and selling on TikTok. Same goes for other channels where potential buyers spend time and money.