Social Commerce Strategy: How DTC Brands Can Win on TikTok Shop

TikTok Shop went from $0 to $70B in under three years. It is now one of the fastest-growing sales channels for DTC brands. With billions in revenue flowing through trending categories and products, TikTok has transformed from a discovery platform into a full commerce engine. To win, brands need a social commerce strategy that blends product selection, creator partnerships, and real-time trend tracking.

Key Takeaways

• TikTok Shop categories like beauty, fashion, and health are leading in revenue and consumer attention.
• Breakout products show that lifestyle utility combined with cultural resonance drives massive sales.
• Creator partnerships, when paired with ad amplification, convert engagement into real revenue.
• Tracking hashtags and tying them to revenue signals allows brands to act on emerging trends before they peak.

1. Understand the Social Commerce Landscape

TikTok’s strength is merging discovery with purchase. Categories with the highest sales show where shoppers are already putting their money. According to Charm data tracked from August 2024 through August 2025, these figures reveal not only the scale of activity but also the sustained consumer demand over the past year:

• Beauty & Personal Care – $2.3B revenue, 131M items sold
• Womenswear & Underwear – $1.5B revenue, 82M items sold
• Health – $1B revenue, 42M items sold

For DTC brands, this data confirms that beauty, fashion, and wellness are the hottest TikTok Shop categories that are driving sales on TikTok Shop. These categories not only represent significant market share but also highlight where consumer attention is consistently flowing.

By focusing on these verticals, brands can position themselves in high-velocity spaces where content and commerce naturally intersect, setting a strong foundation for growth on the platform.

2. Study Winning Brands

TikTok Shop’s top shops prove that diverse DTC categories can thrive and that success is not limited to a single vertical. Instead, a range of industries are seeing major wins on the platform:

• Tarte Cosmetics – $85.7M, 3.1M units sold, leveraging makeup tutorials, influencer reviews, and live shopping events to drive massive engagement and conversion.
• Goli Nutrition – $82.4M, 3.8M units sold, building on the popularity of functional gummies and consistently amplifying content through creators in the wellness and fitness communities.
• Halara US – $74M, 2.3M units sold, capturing attention with try-on hauls, athleisure lifestyle content, and partnerships with micro-influencers who embody authenticity.

These brands pair native TikTok storytelling with aggressive creator-driven promotion, proving that authentic video formats can convert into high sales at scale. What unites them is their ability to adapt quickly to trends, amplify their reach with trusted voices, and position their products as part of TikTok’s cultural conversation rather than just items for sale.

3. Top-Selling Products on TikTok Shop

Individual breakout products highlight what TikTok shoppers want most, based on Charm data from August 2024 through August 2025. These figures not only show which SKUs are leading in revenue but also reveal the types of items that align best with TikTok-native behaviors:

• Goli Nutrition’s 3-Bottle Ashwagandha & Vitamin D Gummy – $23.6M revenue, 780K units sold, a prime example of functional nutrition tied to wellness conversations and supplement trends.
• Wavytalk Blowout Boost Ionic Thermal Brush – $22.2M revenue, 671K units sold, showing how beauty tools that promise easy transformation perform well in short-form tutorials.
• Nello Supercalm Calming Drink Mix – $20.9M revenue, 589K units sold, reflecting the explosive rise in calming and stress-relief products promoted under lifestyle and mental health content.

Together, these products combine lifestyle utility and cultural resonance. They are not just useful, they embody the themes TikTok audiences are already engaging with, from self-care routines and wellness hacks to beauty makeovers. For DTC brands, the lesson is clear: when product benefits overlap with TikTok’s cultural conversations, the potential for scale increases dramatically.

4. Double Down on Creator Partnerships

TikTok creators are the new sales reps, and their influence on purchase decisions cannot be overstated.

In an analysis with Charm data, we found that top-selling brands on TikTok Shop had 5.8 times the number of creators as less-successful brands, showing the importance of leveraging creators to drive sales.

The top three creators, based on U.S. TikTok Shop sales from August 2024 through August 2025, drove over $7M in revenue each, showing just how powerful creator-led commerce can be when done strategically:

• @influencedqueens – $7.9M revenue, 376M views, known for rapid-fire product reviews and lifestyle content that blends entertainment with subtle product showcases.
• @myriamestrella8 – $7.3M revenue, 330M views, excelling in beauty and wellness storytelling that feels authentic and community-driven.
• @dj.foof – $7.2M revenue, 647M views, leveraging humor and relatable content formats that make product placements feel seamless and organic.

What these examples prove is that successful creators balance organic engagement with paid ad amplification, turning authentic storytelling into scalable commerce outcomes. Reach alone doesn’t guarantee sales, it’s the combination of ROI-driven ad spend and trusted, authentic voices that delivers consistent results.

5. Learn from What’s Trending

Hashtags on TikTok serve as cultural signals, indicating where conversations and, often, purchases are gaining traction. When a hashtag begins to surge in views, it typically reflects a broader trend that shoppers are already adopting, making it a powerful indicator of which products might take off next.

For example, in a Charm report, we can see how hashtag and trend analysis help brands track what’s gaining momentum before competitors catch on:

• #shapewear – 2.8B views and $48.9M in revenue from Aug 2024–Aug 2025.
  • Top Product: Yianna Fajas Colombianas shapewear ($408M revenue).
  • Top Shop: Yianna ($773K).
  • Top Creator: @kayleemacomber ($101K).
• #menwardrobe – Exploded in Aug 2025, jumping from just 975 views in July to 28.9M views (a 2,962,946% increase) with $198K in product revenue.
  • Top Product: PSD Men’s Boxer Briefs ($198K).
  • Top Shop: PSD ($249K).
  • Top Creator: @meghouse24 ($149K).

By consistently tracking hashtags and linking them to real revenue performance, DTC brands can not only spot rising trends before they peak but also act with confidence, knowing which cultural signals are tied to genuine consumer spending rather than fleeting hype.

6. Optimize for Checkout

Once you capture attention, remove friction and make it effortless for customers to convert. A strong checkout strategy goes beyond simply listing a price, it involves understanding consumer psychology, simplifying the path to purchase, and building trust at the critical final step.

• Offer bundles. Bundled SKUs not only increase average order value (AOV) but also encourage repeat use, as seen with Goli’s 3-pack gummies strategy.
• Use platform-native discounts and promotions. Flash sales, TikTok-exclusive discount codes, and timed deals can create urgency and mimic the viral nature of content itself.
• Streamline the checkout flow. Enable in-app checkout, reduce extra clicks, and make payment options clear and mobile-friendly.
• Build shopper confidence. Highlight customer reviews, shipping transparency, and return policies directly within the product listing to eliminate hesitation.

How Charm Powers Your Strategy

TikTok trends change fast, and brands that thrive on the platform are those that treat every campaign as part of a continuous learning cycle. Instead of relying on one-off successes, winning teams build a structured feedback loop that turns insights into action — and this is where TikTok shop data becomes essential.

Charm TikTok shop data empowers different audiences in unique ways by transforming signals into strategy. For retailers and marketplaces, it reveals which brands and products are surging, allowing them to refine their assortments and stock items with proven demand before competitors do. For investors, it highlights fast-growing DTC brands and the creators driving their success, making it easier to spot breakout opportunities early. For agencies and service providers, those same insights into revenue trends, hashtags, and top creators can inform smarter campaigns and partnerships that align with what consumers are actually buying.

By surfacing these signals, Charm enables each group to move faster and act with confidence while trends are still gaining momentum. Book a demo with Charm.io today and find the next breakout trend before your competitors.