The convenience of scrolling through TikTok as a work break or late at night in bed, aren’t we all guilty of sneaking in TikTok sessions throughout the day. Social media has become an integral part of our lives, one of which is TikTok. With its bite-sized and easily digestible content, the attraction of short-form content goes without a doubt. Globally, the average time one spends on Tiktok is 52 minutes, with 90% of its users utilising the app on a daily basis (Dean, 2020). Notably, it has become a useful platform for the beauty community – influencing the way which we consume beauty products.

Thanks to the pandemic, closure of brick and mortar stores, as well as concern over hygiene, no longer allow us to shop for beauty products the way we used to. With no more beauty testers or makeover counters, beauty stores are no longer operating as they used to. Instead of browsing through stores for new releases or seeking professional recommendations from professional beauty advisors, consumers have switched over to platforms such as TikTok for inspiration, advice, and recommendations. Thanks to Tiktok, it is no surprise to see beauty products blowing up and going out of stock.

Several brands have seen overnight success thanks to Tiktok. For example, Paula’s Choice. How did a product that has been on the market for over 27 years suddenly sell out multiple times? Simple – TikTok. Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Exfoliant was featured by a TikTok user, Amelia Olivia on one of her “Get Ready with Me” videos. The video racked up over three million views and 400,000 likes, sweeping the products off the shelves (Bendlin, 2022). Other users began sharing their rave reviews of the product, with the Paula’s Choice hashtag garnering over 98 million views. Paula’s choice isn’t the only brand that has blown up. Deciem’s The Ordinary saw a 426% sales spike of its AHA 30% + BHA 2% Peeling Solution thanks to TikTok’s community of acne-positive influencers (Flora, 2020).

Today, Tiktok is reshaping the traditional way in which we consume. Rather than a linear sales funnel as seen in Figure 1, the path to purchase on TikTok is an infinite loop instead, as depicted in Figure 2.

 

That means, there is no definite start or endpoint. Instead, consumers can enter, exit, or re-enter the loop at different stages. While good news for businesses as seen from several successes, this cyclical trend propels even more consumptive behaviour from users. As TikTok continues to be a part of many’s social media routines, alongside the loosening of pandemic regulations, how will individuals’ consumption behaviour change? What about the environmental impacts of consumption? I am excited, yet hesitant to witness this change in time to come/

 

References

Bendlin, K. (2022). How a decades-old product became tiktok’s favorite skincare find. Byrdie. https://www.byrdie.com/paulas-choice-tiktok-viral-skincare-product-5216692

Dean, B. (2020, November 4). Tiktok user statistics(2022). Backlinko. https://backlinko.com/tiktok-users

Flora, L. (2020, April 2). TikTok takes off among beauty brands. Glossy. https://www.glossy.co/beauty/tiktok-takes-off-among-beauty-brands/