Big news! TikTok Shop is kicking off an ultimate mid-year extravaganza, serving as the "golden springboard" for cross-border merchants!
Surprise attack in the content field to reshape the growth of cross - border promotions.
Text by丨Miao Yue
Edited by丨Shi Lei
The afterglow of the 618 promotion in China has not yet faded, but a crucial battle concerning the fate of cross - border merchants in the second half of the year has quietly begun overseas. The mid - year consumption season in Europe and the United States (hereinafter referred to as the "mid - year promotion"), this globally - watched e - commerce carnival, is gearing up.
On the giant screens on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York, the scarlet countdown of the summer promotion bombards viewers in turn. From the Galeries Lafayette in Paris to the central exhibition hall of KaDeWe in Berlin, the ubiquitous promotion previews are constantly arousing the long - pent - up consumption desire in the overseas market.
Online, Yibang Power learned that during this year's mid - year promotion, Amazon's Prime Day spans four days, making it the longest membership day in history. Walmart has also extended its event, with the promotion lasting for six days. Temu launched a low - price sniper attack with a 21 - day long marketing period. And the much - anticipated US region of TikTok Shop is also about to officially start the mid - year "battle" at the end of June and the beginning of July.
It is worth noting that the mid - year promotion in the US region of TikTok Shop offers the most substantial resources since the beginning of the year, and it has launched the largest - scale promotion since its establishment in the UK and European regions such as Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.
For cross - border merchants, the battlefield of this year's mid - year promotion is fiercely competitive, but the opportunities are also unprecedented.
01 Why is the mid - year promotion a "golden springboard" for cross - border merchants?
"It's very difficult to have a chance to replenish seasonal products because it requires a 3 - 5 - month stocking cycle in advance. From the factory's production schedule to trans - oceanic transportation, every link squeezes the margin for error." Giefu, the operator of a TikTok Shop homeware brand (festival products), frankly stated the pain points in the industry. Therefore, when the products from the previous quarter face a change of season, the "mid - year promotion" becomes a crucial window for merchants to clear their inventory.
Meanwhile, before the "peak" of the cross - border year - end peak season arrives, merchants can also use the mid - year promotion to plant the seeds of interest in products in advance and test potential best - sellers, so as to stockpile "ammunition" (user pool, data insights, best - seller upgrades, etc.) for the next stage of explosion. And this kind of supply - chain prediction precipitated by a "big promotion" is becoming a standard ability for leading cross - border merchants.
A relevant person in charge of the fitness equipment brand LICHICO once pointed out that during the Black Friday promotion in 2024, the orders soared by 300%, which was a stress test for the brand. After that, they reorganized their overseas customer service team. "Now our English - speaking customer service team even includes local professional fitness coaches (who can better understand what users mean), and the return rate has dropped by 23%." In his opinion, grasping the extreme challenges brought by each promotion event, this long - term ability building is even more important than short - term sales volume.
For merchants, before the "peak" of the cross - border year - end peak season arrives, the mid - year promotion is being given dual strategic values - it is not only a window to clear seasonal inventory but also a "pre - battle" to verify the potential of best - sellers and accumulate user assets.
This logic of "fighting to sustain fighting" is reshaping the operation mode of cross - border merchants. Leading players have formed a flywheel effect of "promotion - review - iteration": using the promotion data to feed back into supply - chain prediction, converting indicators such as user search keywords and video viewing duration into production instructions.
"After each promotion explosion, we will face challenges in after - sales service and resource allocation. But it is precisely these challenges that allow us to continuously optimize our team structure and operation strategies, accumulating valuable experience for future promotions and brand activities." LICHICO said.
02 How does "content e - commerce" bring "new logic" to the mid - year promotion?
If the mid - year promotion is the "golden springboard" for cross - border merchants' business in the second half of the year, then content e - commerce can inject unprecedented momentum into this springboard with its unique "content gene". To some extent, content e - commerce is also injecting new variables into the gameplay and value of the cross - border mid - year promotion.
For sellers willing to deeply cultivate platform e - commerce, 2025 will undoubtedly be a crucial year. Taking the US region of TikTok Shop as an example, the gameplay in 2025 will be more in - depth, and there is more room for exploration whether it is self - made content or cooperation with influencers.
Yibang Power found that in 2024, the content e - commerce ecosystem of TikTok Shop was rapidly maturing and splitting - the GMV in the US region increased by 220% year - on - year. In addition, as of May this year, there were more than 700 content agencies and over one million influencers in the European and American markets of TikTok Shop. The number of active influencers in the US region also increased by 212% rapidly compared with last year.
In 2025, the mid - year promotion node of TikTok Shop began to show unusual signs. In the core US market, the platform has made the most substantial resource investment since the beginning of the year, which is regarded as a "crucial battle of the year" internally. Meanwhile, the platform has also launched the largest - scale mid - year promotion (Summer Sale) since its launch in major European markets such as the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
On the one hand, the platform has carefully designed some "new gameplay" that directly addresses users' pain points. Users in the US region can enjoy up to a 50% discount during this mid - year promotion, and it has launched the "price - protected live - streaming room" for the first time (enhancing user trust through the "lowest price in the whole network" label) to strongly shape the platform's perception of "good prices and good products". The establishment of this perception is crucial for attracting new users and increasing the repurchase rate.
At the same time, data shows that the topic #DealsForYouDays related to the mid - year promotion in the US region already has over one million topic contents with a playback volume of 1.1 billion, and the #SummerSale topic has over 965,000 contents with a playback volume of 530 million.
In fact, the energy of the content field of TikTok Shop has also been fully verified in previous promotions:
Firstly, there is explosive growth. During the Deals For You Days in the US region in 2024, the overall business of the platform exploded by 145%. Among them, the GMV of live - streaming rooms increased by 163%, and the GMV of short videos increased by 151%. The transaction growth driven by content far exceeded the overall market. During the Summer Sale in the UK in 2024, the GMV of live - streaming rooms even exploded by 280%, and the GMV of short videos soared by 171%.
Secondly, there are emerging benchmark cases. During the mid - year promotion in the US region in 2024, the single - live - streaming GMV of the beauty brand Canvas Beauty exceeded one million US dollars. The trendy toy giant Pop Mart achieved a single - live - streaming breakthrough of over 100,000 US dollars through self - live - streaming by the merchant. These cases show that in the content e - commerce ecosystem, whether relying on an influencer matrix or deeply cultivating brand self - live - streaming, high - quality content can leverage considerable business increments.
"Content has deeply reshaped the 'people, goods, and field'. Merchants can convert product functions into perceptible values and emotional resonances through scene - based content display (such as the application of products in real - life scenarios, factory traceability, and professional evaluations), thereby solving the 'trust conversion' problem of non - standard products (clothing, homeware) and high - unit - price products." Zheng Shuiyuan, the founder of Mronos, a leading TikTok Shop agency, emphasized.
An example of a high - end homeware brand he previously operated (with an average unit price of over 800 US dollars) is a good illustration: through the content combination of "factory traceability live - streaming + immersive scene evaluation", users were made to "perceive the value", and ultimately, during the US summer promotion, the brand's GMV increased by 40% month - on - month.
03 How to play a "combination punch" to lock in new growth possibilities?
In the stage where the promotion traffic has entered a stock - game situation, although the content field has great potential, to convert this potential into real business increments, it is inseparable from the platform's systematic resource investment and gameplay innovation.
Yibang Power learned that during the Black Friday in 2024, the GMV of the TYMO store in the US region of TikTok Shop, which focuses on hair - care products, directly exceeded five million US dollars. "We suggest that other sellers start arranging content at least two months before Black Friday." Cheryle Wu, the vice - president of TYMO BEAUTY Brand, told Yibang Power.
For cross - border sellers, they need to make content deployments in advance and also deeply understand the gameplay of TikTok. Only by being familiar with the ecosystem can they really do well.
As the mid - year promotion with the strongest resource investment, TikTok Shop has also played a "combination punch" of "resources + subsidies + traffic" this year.
Firstly, there is a tilt of platform resources. This mid - year promotion can be regarded as the most substantial marketing event in terms of the platform's mid - year resource investment. The platform has increased its investment with all - round resources and offers a maximum incentive of 25,000 US dollars to cover all user touchpoints and seize users' minds.
During the event, in - app full - touchpoint advertisements will penetrate throughout, from the search bar to the recommendation page, from the home page to the detail page, comprehensively displaying event information so that no user can ignore it.
Secondly, the gameplay in the content field has been upgraded, providing more creative space for merchants. On the basis of retaining traditional advantageous projects such as core live - streaming rooms and short - video/live - streaming challenges, the US region's POP has specially launched content - featured category live - streaming rooms. Merchants in categories such as jewelry, 3C, cleaning, and home appliances can fully utilize live - streaming content to vividly display the features, advantages, and usage scenarios of products to the audience, enhancing users' desire to purchase. At the same time, the "crazy live week" event will last for a week to further stimulate the creative enthusiasm of merchants and influencers.
The synergy and optimization of the shelf field provide a guarantee for product conversion. The GMV of the shelf field of TikTok Shop is showing a strong upward trend and has become an important position for merchants to achieve business breakthroughs during promotions. The Flash Sale channel, as the core channel, will become an important channel for incubating and exploding best - selling products.
In fact, during this promotion, the platform has strengthened the channel atmosphere/labels at various user touchpoints such as the mall entrances to ensure that users can easily browse the event products as soon as they enter the mall, providing billions of exposure resources for the products. Moreover, Yibang Power also learned that the platform has increased the subsidy for merchants and upgraded the gameplay of "Flash Sale direct discount" and "full - amount reduction", further improving the conversion rate of the shelf field and bringing real benefits to merchants.
Brand empowerment creates a high - light moment for brand merchants in terms of both brand image and sales performance. US region POP merchants can also enjoy many benefits during this promotion. In addition to a direct discount subsidy of up to 20%, they can also participate in the official full - amount reduction coupon gameplay. At the same time, the US region's POP has launched the Super Brand Day for the first time during the promotion, achieving efficient precipitation and accumulation of brand and target - audience assets through a series of brand - related events.
"An efficient content e - commerce platform can make a brand's investment 'yield visible returns'. Simply put, the efforts made by a brand on TikTok Shop, such as creating content, cooperating with influencers, and interacting with users, can ultimately be converted into real results." For brand merchants like TYMO, TikTok Shop is far more than just a channel for selling products during promotions. It is more like a "brand energy charging station": the accumulated brand potential will ultimately feed back into various aspects such as new product testing, improvement of user awareness, offline event promotion, and omnichannel layout.
TikTok Shop's mid - year promotion this time can be said to be a "surprise attack" on traditional e - commerce at a key node, relying on the ecological advantages of the "content field". Its demonstrated ecological explosive power, innovative gameplay, and emphasis on the multi - dimensional value for merchants are also reshaping the rules of e - commerce competition and the new growth path for merchants.
Whether it is to meet the needs of the mid - year business peak and seize market opportunities or based on the long - term strategic layout of the enterprise, for cross - border merchants, it is essential to win this crucial mid - year promotion battle.
END
This article is from the WeChat official account "Yibang Power", author: Miao Yue, published with authorization from Qian Tang.
