• by Colin Kirkland , March 27, 2025

With TikTok Shop's future facing uncertainty in the U.S. -- despite successful holiday results -- the social media company’s e-commerce hub is expanding across Europe, officially launching in France, Germany and Italy.

TikTok Shop first launched overseas in 2021, when it became available in the U.K., followed by additional launches in Ireland and Spain, showcasing the ByteDance-owned company's plans for a wider European expansion.

According to a report from Reuters, TikTok has already begun working with merchants in France, Germany and Italy, helping sellers load their products onto the platform. By next Monday, TikTok Shop should be up and running in these regions.

“My own expectation for Europe is to launch with more speed than we did in the UK, because in the UK four years ago this model was very new, we had to do a lot of education, we had to try out a lot of things to get the right fit,” Jan Wilk, head of operations at TikTok Shop UK said in an interview with Reuters.

So far, supermarket chain Carrefour plans on joining the platform in France, while fashion retailer AboutYou and cosmetics brand Cosnova will begin selling on the German-based platform.

Wilk added that the TikTok Shop is aiming to diversify its range of products and prices, moving beyond China-based products by including the addition of more luxury items from European brands.

For years, TikTok has been attempting to translate its sister company Douyin's live-shopping successes in China, but has struggled to interest a significant number of users from Europe and the U.S. in the initiative.

Last year, for example, Douyin generated over $500 billion in product sales, while TikTok generated less than $4 billion.

However, the company made gains in the U.S. this holiday season, amassing over $100 million in single-day sales on Black Friday as well as a 165% increase in shoppers year-over-year, and showing newfound promise for its ability to compete with online retailers like Amazon, Temu and Shein.

Last year, TikTok Shop also recorded a sevenfold increase in gross merchandise volume (GMV) of between $7 billion and $8 billion in the United States -- its largest and fastest-growing market -- according to EchoTik, an analytics and data provider focused on TikTok.

Recently, TikTok Shop has added more local services into its stateside commerce push, while tripling the amount of shoppers each month since its U.S. launch, according to the company.

However, as TikTok Shop expands to more markets outside of the U.S. – including Mexico – the company is stuck in the wake of a delayed sell-off bill originally passed by the Biden administration. As of now, the White House has yet to decide on a potential buyer, nor has ByteDance offered a final opinion on the matter.