5 days after TikTok went dark—are we back to business as usual?

It seems so.

ByteDance’s apps are back online— even if it took some extra days for Capcut! — but the brief 14-hour blackout exposed just how far-reaching TikTok’s impact is on creators and businesses alike.

While I won’t discuss the geopolitical implications here, I recorded an episode with Carlos Diaz for Silicon Carne (in French, France's Top 5 Tech & Business podcast) in which we break it all down.

Leading up to the ban, much of the coverage focused on TikTok Shop’s incredible success stories—and the glaring gaps left by alternatives like Meta, YouTube, Pinterest, and Whatnot.

What’s clear is that social commerce isn’t going away, and TikTok Shop remains unmatched in its ability to generate sales at scale.

What do you think? Are we really “back to normal”? Hit reply and share your thoughts! 😊

Read time: 4:09 mins (saving you over 39 minutes compared to reading all the articles)

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Hot Tok News

​Social commerce takes center stage at NRF (5-minute read on Modern Retail)

This article explores the multifaceted growth of social commerce as discussed by executives at the NRF conference. Highlights include Pacsun’s success on TikTok Shop, Havaianas leveraging influencer-led campaigns, and H&M tapping into Gen Z's love for Pinterest. Shopify’s Chief Revenue Officer confirmed that social commerce is now firmly on brands’ radars.

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​Pacsun’s TikTok Shop success story (6-minute read on Marketing Dive)

Expanding on its strong presence, Pacsun’s CEO shares how the brand navigates TikTok Shop, social marketing, and the creator economy. This article dives deeper into their winning strategies.

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​Drip Shop Live launches fast-track program for TikTok Shop sellers (3-minute read on EIN Presswire)

With the looming TikTok ban, brands are exploring alternatives, and live shopping platforms like Drip Shop Live are stepping in. Their new Fast-Track Program aims to help TikTok Shop sellers pivot seamlessly while maintaining sales momentum.

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​TikTok’s algorithm: A game-changer for DTC brands (4-minute read on Adweek)

TikTok’s unique algorithm has enabled brands like August and ClickUp to drive significant sales, with 55% of ClickUp’s revenue coming from the platform. The TikTok ban highlights three lessons: TikTok’s cultural impact, a lack of platform loyalty, and the difficulty of replicating its conversions elsewhere.

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​TikTok Shop’s top-selling brand explores diversification (5-minute read on Glossy)

Puneet Nanda, CEO of GuruNanda, the No. 1 selling product on TikTok Shop, shares their strategy to test other platforms ahead of a potential TikTok ban. The takeaway? Nothing matches TikTok Shop’s conversion power.

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​Marketers say ‘there’s no substitute’ for TikTok (6-minute read on The Wall Street Journal)

Marketers are bracing for the TikTok ban by adapting their strategies to other platforms like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. They’re also doubling down on email lists and even exploring TikTok U.K. to retain their TikTok “voice.”

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​Meta ad prices surge as TikTok budgets shift (4-minute read on Adweek)

Meta’s rising CPMs and increasing short-form video budgets reveal how brands are reallocating ad dollars ahead of the potential TikTok ban.

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​Wired explores the ByteDance-owned app galaxy (6-minute read on WIRED)

ByteDance isn’t just TikTok—it’s an ecosystem of apps that span social media, e-commerce, AI tools, games, and more. Wired takes a closer look at the range of ByteDance-owned apps and their global influence:

• TikTok, TikTok Studio, TikTok Shop Seller, TikTok Lite — Apps built for the TikTok ecosystem.
• Capcut — A free video-editing tool, optimized for vertical videos.
• Lemon8 — A photo-based social media app.
• Gauth — AI-powered homework assistant with 300 million users.
• Games — Titles include Marvel Snap, Land of Empires, and Mission EVO.
• Hypic — A photo-editing tool focused on generative AI.
• Lark — A Slack-like workspace communication app.
• Melolo, Fizzo, MyTopia Books — Entertainment apps by ByteDance subsidiary Poligon: Melolo offers short vertical dramas, while Fizzo and MyTopia Books focus on online fiction novels.
• Tokopedia — One of Indonesia’s largest e-commerce platforms.

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Tokonomics

New TikTok Shop 2024 numbers reveal explosive growth in the U.S. E-commerce data platform Charm.io has shared fresh details about TikTok Shop’s performance in the U.S. last year:

• 155,990 brands set up a TikTok Shop.
• 2.5 million products were listed.
• These efforts drove 411.2 million units sold and a total $7.32 billion in GMV.

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Insider Tok

AI tools dominate TikTok Shop innovation—designed to make sellers’ lives easier

The TikTok Ban uncertainty and the U.S. winter break have slowed December's pace for new TikTok Shop features. However, TikTok Shop’s monthly Innovation Webinar highlighted a strong focus on AI-powered tools, showcasing their commitment to empowering sellers:

• Product Optimizer— AI-driven tool for effortlessly building high-converting product pages.
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• Product Opportunities— Market insights tool to discover what shoppers are searching for.
  • Provides weekly opportunities to identify trending products.
  • Suggests popular keywords to improve existing product listings.
  • Helps sellers stay ahead of trends and expand inventory strategically.
• Video Assistant (for Creators)— A co-pilot for creating shoppable videos at scale.
  • Generates captivating scripts.
  • Summarizes buyer reviews and highlights product features.
  • Helps creators craft attention-grabbing hooks.
• Video Diagnosis (for Creators)— Offers deeper insights into published videos and eliminates guesswork, enabling creators to identify and implement improvements for better results.

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My team and I are actively testing the Video Assistant and the Video Diagnosis tools. It could be a game challenger and help fast-track the most challenging part of being successful on TikTok Shop, aka the cold start.

We'll report back in a future edition of this newsletter.

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Crazy Tok

We all love the "Chinese spy".

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Nicolehc20

This is the hardest goodbye 💔. #creditsto #@yanxiao1003 #chinesespy #tiktokban #fypage #makethisviral #paratii #sad #depressedtiktok #rednote #fyp #humor #help #paratiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

♬ original sound - Nicolehc20

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Another edition wrapped up!

This week, I’ve experimented with the format—removing the URLs and adding estimated reading times for each article to make things easier to navigate.

What do you think of the change? Does it work for you, or do you miss the direct links?

Just hit reply to share your thoughts—I’d love to hear your feedback.

Until next time, let’s keep innovating together!

What do you think? Just hit reply to let me know.

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