A new MGH survey reveals how TikTok shapes consumer holiday shopping patterns, with many users finding gift ideas on the platform months before traditional shopping periods. MGH’s EVP, CMO, and Social Media Marketing Director, Ryan Goff, shares key findings from consumer research that highlight significant changes in shopping behavior.
MGH’s EVP, CMO, and Social Media Marketing Director, Ryan Goff
Survey Reveals Early Shopping Patterns
The research has uncovered a major shift in holiday shopping timing. “What was slightly surprising was the large number of people who have already found gifts this year on the platform,” Ryan explains.
The numbers paint a clear picture: 55% of TikTok users discovered holiday gift ideas while scrolling through their feeds, and 39% specifically searched for gift inspiration on the platform. These findings indicate TikTok’s influence on both product selection and shopping timing.
“The platform has fundamentally shifted how people approach holiday shopping,” Ryan notes. “We’re seeing consumers engage with holiday content much earlier than traditional retail cycles would suggest, and they’re making purchasing decisions based on organic discovery rather than planned shopping trips.”
TikTok Shop Adoption Grows
TikTok’s integrated shopping features show strong user engagement, with nearly 40% of users making purchases through TikTok Shop.
The survey shows that 47% of users buy items for themselves, while 37% purchase gifts for others through the platform. Ryan points to the streamlined purchasing process as a key factor: “TikTok has made it so easy to see content that feels native and authentic to the platform. I can click one to two buttons and then purchase that product. It’s removed much of the legwork and made shopping easy.”
He notes the platform’s strength in driving spontaneous purchases: “[TikTok] also does a nice job of being an immediate buy where people don’t have a lot of time and don’t do a lot of comparison shopping. It’s powerful in driving impulse buying because they have made it simple.”
Ryan adds that integrating shopping features directly into the content experience creates a “natural flow” that makes shopping feel less transactional and more like a “natural extension of content consumption.”
Personalization Through Advanced Technology
Ryan believes the TikTok algorithm is “the best in the game today.” “The platform knows exactly who you are and what you want because of the videos you consume and engage with. And it does a nice job of serving up products that are highly relevant to you.”
This precision extends to advertising content. “The platform makes ads not feel so much like ads anymore. It puts advertising content natively into the platform that causes people to take notice,” Ryan says. “If these were standard ads on other platforms, like Facebook or Google, I don’t know that as high a percentage of people would have already discovered a holiday gift as they have on TikTok.”
The platform’s affiliate program enhances this natural integration. “The TikTok Shop affiliate program puts real people with real experiences in front of the camera, talking about how they’re enjoying that product,” Ryan explains. “I find myself watching many ads simply because they feel like somebody is talking about their experience with a product. They’re obviously incentivized to do so many times, but it’s the content that fits nicely into the native scroll that one might be doing on TikTok.”
“What makes TikTok unique is its ability to serve content that feels personally curated,” Ryan points out. “The platform’s understanding of user preferences goes beyond simple demographics, reaching into behavioral patterns and content consumption habits that create a truly personalized experience.”
Shifting Search Patterns and Product Discovery
Ryan notes that TikTok is increasingly becoming a primary search tool among younger users: “Search behavior is changing. People now use the TikTok search functionality to replace Google, especially among younger generations.”
Drawing from personal experience, the exec shares: “I was looking for Thanksgiving recipes. Many times, blog entries with recipes on Google are difficult to follow. But I found myself going to TikTok to find those recipes and watching videos of people cooking. So not only is shopping behavior changing, but search behavior is also changing rapidly here, and TikTok is driving that.”
Ryan adds that the visual nature of TikTok search results provides a more engaging and informative experience: “Users can immediately see products in action, understand how they work, and gauge their real-world application, which traditional search engines struggle to provide.”
The range of discoverable products on TikTok also continues to grow. “What’s interesting to see is the diversity of products now featured on TikTok,” Ryan shares. “I was just scrolling through my feed. Since I have a couple of kids at home, I was receiving toy content for the holidays and DIY content. A lot of air-dried clay has appeared in my feed.”
He notes that the platform’s ability to surface niche products and create micro-communities around specific interests has transformed product discovery: “We’re seeing products gain traction that might never have found their audience through traditional retail channels.”
Strategic Considerations for Brands
Brands face specific challenges in developing effective TikTok strategies, with the biggest challenge being “overthinking and overplaning,” Ryan says. “TikTok values content produced at scale, and that feels very natural. To get there, you often have to experiment a lot.”
He emphasizes taking action over seeking perfection: “Brands that get caught up in the planning phase. The message that will resonate perfectly often gets left in the dust by other creators and brands that produce a lot of content at scale and test many different messages to see what works.”
Ryan believes that success on TikTok requires brands to embrace “spontaneity and authenticity,” adding that the brands seeing the most success are those “willing to experiment, fail fast, and adapt their approach based on real-time feedback from their audience.”
The industry veteran recommends tracking “surface-level metrics matter – engagement focused on the number of comments and shares: how many people are engaging with that content by typing, ‘I want this,’ into the comment field and tagging their friends, but also clicking the share button and saying, ‘This is the thing that I want.'”
“Beyond traditional engagement metrics, we look closely at the quality of interactions,” Ryan adds. “Are users asking detailed questions about the product? Are they sharing personal experiences? These qualitative indicators often provide deeper insights into content performance than pure numbers.”
Future Developments
Ryan highlights the increase in the number of people who live social shopping. “What used to be QVC and Home Shopping Network has now moved to something that feels much more natural on TikTok and is frequently much more fun to watch because real people are incentivized to create strong content and keep their viewers engaged,” he shares.
“The future of social commerce will be increasingly interactive and community-driven,” Ryan predicts. “The success of live shopping on TikTok demonstrates that consumers want more than just a transaction – they want an experience, entertainment, and the ability to engage directly with sellers and other shoppers.”
David Adler is an entrepreneur and freelance blog post writer who enjoys writing about business, entrepreneurship, travel and the influencer marketing space.
A new MGH survey reveals how TikTok shapes consumer holiday shopping patterns, with many users finding gift ideas on the platform months before traditional shopping periods. MGH’s EVP, CMO, and Social Media Marketing Director, Ryan Goff, shares key findings from consumer research that highlight significant changes in shopping behavior.
MGH’s EVP, CMO, and Social Media Marketing Director, Ryan Goff
Survey Reveals Early Shopping Patterns
The research has uncovered a major shift in holiday shopping timing. “What was slightly surprising was the large number of people who have already found gifts this year on the platform,” Ryan explains.
The numbers paint a clear picture: 55% of TikTok users discovered holiday gift ideas while scrolling through their feeds, and 39% specifically searched for gift inspiration on the platform. These findings indicate TikTok’s influence on both product selection and shopping timing.
“The platform has fundamentally shifted how people approach holiday shopping,” Ryan notes. “We’re seeing consumers engage with holiday content much earlier than traditional retail cycles would suggest, and they’re making purchasing decisions based on organic discovery rather than planned shopping trips.”
TikTok Shop Adoption Grows
TikTok’s integrated shopping features show strong user engagement, with nearly 40% of users making purchases through TikTok Shop.
The survey shows that 47% of users buy items for themselves, while 37% purchase gifts for others through the platform. Ryan points to the streamlined purchasing process as a key factor: “TikTok has made it so easy to see content that feels native and authentic to the platform. I can click one to two buttons and then purchase that product. It’s removed much of the legwork and made shopping easy.”
He notes the platform’s strength in driving spontaneous purchases: “[TikTok] also does a nice job of being an immediate buy where people don’t have a lot of time and don’t do a lot of comparison shopping. It’s powerful in driving impulse buying because they have made it simple.”
Ryan adds that integrating shopping features directly into the content experience creates a “natural flow” that makes shopping feel less transactional and more like a “natural extension of content consumption.”
Personalization Through Advanced Technology
Ryan believes the TikTok algorithm is “the best in the game today.” “The platform knows exactly who you are and what you want because of the videos you consume and engage with. And it does a nice job of serving up products that are highly relevant to you.”
This precision extends to advertising content. “The platform makes ads not feel so much like ads anymore. It puts advertising content natively into the platform that causes people to take notice,” Ryan says. “If these were standard ads on other platforms, like Facebook or Google, I don’t know that as high a percentage of people would have already discovered a holiday gift as they have on TikTok.”
The platform’s affiliate program enhances this natural integration. “The TikTok Shop affiliate program puts real people with real experiences in front of the camera, talking about how they’re enjoying that product,” Ryan explains. “I find myself watching many ads simply because they feel like somebody is talking about their experience with a product. They’re obviously incentivized to do so many times, but it’s the content that fits nicely into the native scroll that one might be doing on TikTok.”
“What makes TikTok unique is its ability to serve content that feels personally curated,” Ryan points out. “The platform’s understanding of user preferences goes beyond simple demographics, reaching into behavioral patterns and content consumption habits that create a truly personalized experience.”
Shifting Search Patterns and Product Discovery
Ryan notes that TikTok is increasingly becoming a primary search tool among younger users: “Search behavior is changing. People now use the TikTok search functionality to replace Google, especially among younger generations.”
Drawing from personal experience, the exec shares: “I was looking for Thanksgiving recipes. Many times, blog entries with recipes on Google are difficult to follow. But I found myself going to TikTok to find those recipes and watching videos of people cooking. So not only is shopping behavior changing, but search behavior is also changing rapidly here, and TikTok is driving that.”
Ryan adds that the visual nature of TikTok search results provides a more engaging and informative experience: “Users can immediately see products in action, understand how they work, and gauge their real-world application, which traditional search engines struggle to provide.”
The range of discoverable products on TikTok also continues to grow. “What’s interesting to see is the diversity of products now featured on TikTok,” Ryan shares. “I was just scrolling through my feed. Since I have a couple of kids at home, I was receiving toy content for the holidays and DIY content. A lot of air-dried clay has appeared in my feed.”
He notes that the platform’s ability to surface niche products and create micro-communities around specific interests has transformed product discovery: “We’re seeing products gain traction that might never have found their audience through traditional retail channels.”
Strategic Considerations for Brands
Brands face specific challenges in developing effective TikTok strategies, with the biggest challenge being “overthinking and overplaning,” Ryan says. “TikTok values content produced at scale, and that feels very natural. To get there, you often have to experiment a lot.”
He emphasizes taking action over seeking perfection: “Brands that get caught up in the planning phase. The message that will resonate perfectly often gets left in the dust by other creators and brands that produce a lot of content at scale and test many different messages to see what works.”
Ryan believes that success on TikTok requires brands to embrace “spontaneity and authenticity,” adding that the brands seeing the most success are those “willing to experiment, fail fast, and adapt their approach based on real-time feedback from their audience.”
The industry veteran recommends tracking “surface-level metrics matter – engagement focused on the number of comments and shares: how many people are engaging with that content by typing, ‘I want this,’ into the comment field and tagging their friends, but also clicking the share button and saying, ‘This is the thing that I want.'”
“Beyond traditional engagement metrics, we look closely at the quality of interactions,” Ryan adds. “Are users asking detailed questions about the product? Are they sharing personal experiences? These qualitative indicators often provide deeper insights into content performance than pure numbers.”
Future Developments
Ryan highlights the increase in the number of people who live social shopping. “What used to be QVC and Home Shopping Network has now moved to something that feels much more natural on TikTok and is frequently much more fun to watch because real people are incentivized to create strong content and keep their viewers engaged,” he shares.
“The future of social commerce will be increasingly interactive and community-driven,” Ryan predicts. “The success of live shopping on TikTok demonstrates that consumers want more than just a transaction – they want an experience, entertainment, and the ability to engage directly with sellers and other shoppers.”