• by Colin Kirkland , February 19, 2025

Considering the recent success of TikTok's shopping initiatives in the East, as well as its uncertain lifespan in the U.S., the ByteDance-owned company is expanding its shopping platform, TikTok Shop, to more regions and merchants across the globe.

Along with its recent plans to launch in Mexico, TikTok will expand operations to Italy, Germany and France, with longer-term plans to also launch in Japan and Brazil later this year, according to the South China Morning Post.

The announcement comes shortly after the China-based company launched in the U.K., with a host of automated campaign tools, as well as in Ireland and Spain. The expansion builds on TikTok's overarching rollout across European markets as its fate in the U.S. remains uncertain due to a sell-off bill signed by former president Joe Biden, then delayed by President Donald Trump, with the app's existence in the region now awaiting a potential new buyer.

Central to its expansion strategy is TikTok's focus on live-stream video, which is the main selling-format for the company's doppelganger app Douyin in China, which generated over $500 billion in product sales in 2023.

According to TikTok, general interest in livestreaming in the app is rising -- reporting that over 100 million creators went live in the app in 2024, with 46 million creators launching their first-ever stream.

“Billions of users watched LIVE content and generated 269Bchats,” the company stated, adding that 250 thousand creators doubled their income year-over-year. 

As TikTok looks to place more emphasis on live-stream shopping in new regions across the globe, social commerce is expected to grow exponentially. According to eMarketer, the industry is estimated to encompass $2.9 trillion dollars in transactions by next year.

However, research shows that brands are just beginning to consider allocating parts of their budgets for social commerce strategy, despite findings that show 69% and 66% of social media users believing that Instagram Reels and TikTok video will gain further prominence over the coming year, respectively.