TikTok Shop starts its Black Friday push a day earlier as big retailers join

TikTok Shop's U.S. Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaign will run from November 11 to November 30, starting a day earlier than last year. Best Buy, Ulta Beauty and Sephora are selling on the platform for the first time this holiday season, and shoppers can use a new AI assistant to find gifts.

TikTok says nearly a third of its U.S. users expect to buy a gift on Black Friday, and holiday-related hashtags climbed sharply from August to September. Over last year's four-day Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, platform sales topped $500 million, and sellers who hosted livestreams grew sales 84% across more than 760,000 sessions.

Brands such as Tarte, E.l.f. Cosmetics, Beachwaver and Gap Inc.'s labels are lining up exclusives, advent calendars and livestreams for the season. A TikTok Shop executive told Modern Retail the channel has moved past the experimental stage.