TikTok Shop went big on its second-ever Black Friday last year.
The platform pulled in $100 million in sales across more than 30,000 livestreams.
It was a peak moment in retail, proving that TikTok is no longer just a discovery channel, it’s a fully-fledged commerce engine. And we’re here for it.
As we go full speed ahead into another Black Friday season, the opportunity will be bigger and better than before (thanks mostly to TikTok cashing in on the success of its Shop over the past year and creating a ton of tools especially for brands).
If you haven’t started already (and if not, why not?!), now’s the time to get your store, content, and creators on standby ready for the big day.
TikTok Shop Black Friday Store Optimization
Before you even think about rolling out discounts and launching any Black Friday campaigns, make sure your TikTok Shop is set up to convert. Even the smallest of tweaks during this time can make a huge difference.
Here are some things you can start with:
1. Polish your product titles, thumbnails, and shipping badges.
TikTok shoppers are notoriously fast browsers with thumbs that move at lightning speed. To stop the scroll, your visuals need to be clear and to-the-point.
- Titles: Put the key benefit and product type front and center (e.g. hydrating lip oil - non-sticky gloss finish) instead of something vague or keyword-stuffed.
- Thumbnails: Use bright, close-up shots of your product being used. Lifestyle shots can work particularly well for this, rather than a shot of your product on its own.
- Badges: Make sure all your listings have clear shipping and discount badges that explain exactly what shoppers will get.
2. Activate TikTok Shop Fulfilment for two-day delivery
The “Amazon effect” is in full swing during the busy holiday shopping season. Shoppers actually prioritize fast, reliable shipping over steep discounts, with 66% of holiday shoppers claiming they would give up discounts for guaranteed delivery.
In 2023, 19% of shoppers expected 2-3-day delivery, but that’s shot up to 30% in 2025.
If you’re using TikTok Shop Fulfilment, your products automatically qualify for 2-day delivery tags, which is a bonus for two reasons. Firstly, shoppers will be more inclined to buy from you and, secondly, TikTok handles all the warehousing, packing, and delivery during your busiest weeks.
Tip: Activate 2-day delivery at least a month before BFCM to make sure you get the badge in time (and so TikTok has enough stock ready).
3. Add 30-second Insense creator demos to your top SKUs
73% of shoppers who watch a product demo video are more likely to buy the product. Even better if those product demos feature real people or customers using your stuff.
Take this opportunity to partner with Insense creators to produce short videos that show your products in action. These could be unboxings, quick transformations, before-and-afters, or side-by-side comparisons.
When you’ve got some good content, you can always:
- Use these clips as shop videos pinned to your best-sellers.
- Reuse them in your ads and organic social feeds.
Tip: Prioritize vertical demos with captions, natural lighting, and that have a clear, compelling hook in the first 3 seconds.
TikTok Shop Conversion Tools for Black Friday
Now your store is looking the part, you can start layering on conversion tools to give shoppers a final nudge over the finish line. Luckily, TikTok gives you plenty of options to play with, and you can even combine them together to make the ultimate BFCM journey.
- Flash sale. Set up simple, punchy flash sales that catch people when they’re chronically online and hype it up with countdown stickers or reminders earlier in the day. For example, you might run a different flash sale for 3 hours each evening.
- Voucher center. Drop a “mystery” voucher 48 hours before your main sale goes live and promote it through Lives and creator content so people know to grab them early.
- Bundles. Higher cart value + perceived extra value for the customer = winning BFCM formula. Pair your bestseller with a smart add-on (like a serum and gua sha, or a phone case and screen protector) and pitch it as a limited-time Black Friday set instead of a regular upsell.
- Free shipping subsidy. Sneaky shipping costs are a major deal-breaker during checkout. Avoid turning customers off by offering free shipping thresholds (like on carts over $40) and highlight it everywhere: your product pages, pinned comments, Live captions – everywhere!
Tip: Don’t feel like you have to use all these tools at once. Pick 2-3 that best fit your audience and products. So, you might do a bundle + free-shipping threshold that encourages shoppers to bump up their order.
TikTok Shop Live-Commerce Strategy for Black Friday
Live commerce (a.k.a. holding a TikTok Live to promote and sell products to your audience in real-time) is one of the single best ways to shorten the decision journey for shoppers.
When it’s done right, conversion rates can sit snugly between 10-30% – way higher than the 2-3% you’d expect from standard ecom tactics.
The emphasis is on the “done right”, because in the US, 40-54% of frequent live buyers will purchase during your broadcast.
Ideally, you want to use the good old Hook-Hold-Offer formula, which looks like this:
- Hook (around 15 seconds). The first few seconds are make or break. Use bold, specific promises and get straight to the point. Something like, “you won’t believe what this can do in 10 seconds” would work well.
- Hold (8-minute demo blocks). Use 8-minute “chapters” or demo blocks to show how your product can be used, exacerbate the pain point it solves, and answer common questions. You can layer in engagement at this point, with polls, mini challenges, and Q&As. Don’t forget to keep mentioning your deal.
- Voucher reveal. Save your best offer for mid or late in the session so people have a reason to stick around. Combine urgency and scarcity (e.g. “valid for the next 10 mins” or “only 30 left”) where possible and make sure the deal is clickable (and tell people how to take advantage of it).
Lives can be (and probably should be) a mega part of your Black Friday TikTok Shop campaigns. So, you don’t want to just do one or two.
Instead, plan out a schedule which could look something like this:
- Thursday (warm up). Tease your deals, drop early vouchers, reward those keen beans and loyal shoppers. Let people know what’s coming over the next few days.
- Black Friday (marathon). Go deep. Get online for long periods of time, share meaty offers, showcase your bestsellers, and get viewers involved.
- Cyber Monday (close-out). Remind people what they missed, drop last-call deals, and push any stock that’s still hanging around.
Tip: Source and contract hosts via Insense
Your host is a pretty important part (if not the most important part) of your livestream. You want someone who knows how to talk live, engage, and sell, but who also feels familiar to potential shoppers.
With Insense, you can source and contract hosts in just 48 hours (something that usually takes weeks to sort out). This still gives you plenty of time to brief your host and write a script if you need to.
TikTok Shop Black Friday Content Ideas
Here’s a handful of Black Friday TikTok ideas you can bend or remix during the big event.
Unbox-and-guess challenge
The concept: Send a wrapped box to content creators (or your own “mystery item” packaging) so they can unbox it live on camera. Viewers can guess what’s inside before the big reveal.
Why it works: The obvious benefit is it builds curiosity and keeps people watching. It’s also great for engagement because people will want to get involved with the guessing.
Unboxing is massive on TikTok (just take a look at the billions of views on #unboxing) and luxury brands in particular are all over this tactic.
Split-screen creator demo
The concept: Use a split screen to show side-by-side comparisons, like “with vs without” or “before and after”.
Why it works: Us humans love to compare things, plus it’s a visually rich way to get information across as quickly as possible.
Sephora uses a split screen at the end of this video to showcase the before and after.
Countdown sticker restock timelapse
The concept: Show inventory running out or a restock arriving via a sped-up time-lapse. You can overlay a TikTok countdown sticker for extra pizzazz.
Why it works: It’s the age-old scarcity tactic. It makes things feel urgent and gives people a reason to keep checking back if they want to cash in.
Swipe-to-steal price slider
The concept: Get your audience to interact with your content by asking them to drag a slider or use the reveal effect to see the discount drop or deal.
You can do this with TikTok’s native sticker tools and even add a limited-time voucher so shoppers can only unlock that particular deal via the slider.
Why it works: People are more inclined to swipe when there’s something “hidden” underneath (put it down to our curious nature). It’s a great way to get viewers to interact with your brand and products, as well as increase the time they spend on your videos.
Free Soul uses the swipe slider to give shoppers a 40% off coupon.
Hashtag haul recap
The concept: This one goes beyond the big event itself and invites creators and customers to share their post-BFCM hauls (what they bought) under a branded hashtag.
Why it works: The obvious benefit is you get a ton of social proof you can use to promote products later down the line and it keeps the buzz going after your deals are done.
Creator duet “first-look” review
The concept: Send your product or an early sample to creators and ask them to record a first-look, reaction, or review. Then, encourage your followers to duet them (or remix) with their opinions or guesses.
Why it works: The familiarity of creators builds credibility, but it also gets your viewers engaged and creates a sense of community. Plus, the more videos that are circulating about your brand around BFCM, the better.
Cyber Monday mystery box reveal
The concept: Run a “mystery box” drop on Cyber Monday where you choose 2-3 bestsellers, bundle them with some fun extras, and reveal them live or a video.
You could film the unwrapping live so people can see what’s inside, use teaser stories in advance, or build them into your live commerce sessions to make the reveal a core part of the show.
Why it works: Build momentum again in the wake of Black Friday and encourage a few last-min impulse buys.
Tip: Don’t worry about doing all of these formats. That’s way too much to think about. Just use a few that you think will work best to get you more Black Friday TiKTok sales.
For example:
- Pre-BF: Unbox-and-guess and a restock countdown
- BF day: Split-screen demos and swipe-to-steal reveals
- Post-BF into CM: Haul recaps and creator duets
Run Black Friday Campaigns with Insense Creators
With BFCM almost upon us, you might be scrabbling around trying to find the best creators to work with.
Worry not, Insense is on hand to help.
You can source, brief, and launch campaigns in just 48 hours and repurpose the content you collect in multiple ways to give it life after the big event. To find the right creators in the first place, you can filter by niche, engagement rate, and past performance to make sure you’re partnering with the best.
Then, use the platform to:
- Post your campaign brief. Describe your product, goals, and content style to turn your vision into reality.
- Invite vetted creators. Browse or auto-match with TikTok creators who fit your niche and budget.
- Ship products fast. Use Insense’s seeding tools to send items directly to creators for quick turnaround.
- Approve and download content. Get short-form UGC you can use across TikTok Shop, shoppable ads, and organic posts.
- Turn top videos into ads. Whitelist creator content as Partnership Ads to really lean into what’s working.
- Track and rehire winners. Rebook creators who drive clicks, saves, and sales for your Q5 campaigns.
Ready to power your Black Friday campaign with authentic creator content?
Book a demo or try Insense for free to start sourcing creators today.
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