TikTok Shares Holiday Shopping Trends for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2026

TikTok has shared new data on how people are planning holiday purchases on TikTok Shop for 2026 Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Black Friday and Cyber Monday are running from 11 to 30 November in 2026. So, for marketers, the time to start prepping for the holiday season is now. 

The report is useful because it shows what shoppers are interested in right now, while they are still deciding what to buy. Brands get an early look at which categories are gaining momentum, based on current activity instead of marketers having to rely on last year’s sales.

TikTok also explains how that decision gets made, and influencers sway most of it. Shoppers may arrive with a few ideas already in mind, but TikTok says product discovery while browsing TikTok is what shapes the intent to click buy.

Below is what TikTok announced, then we go in depth on what we, as a TikTok marketing agency, think brands should do with it.

TikTok Shares Holiday Planning Data Ahead of Black Friday

TikTok announced that its Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaign on TikTok Shop will run from 11 to 30 November. Furthermore, it published trend data to show that holiday planning has already started. Content tagged #holidayshopping rose 263% in September compared with August

TikTok also reported more than 100 billion e-commerce searches on TikTok Shop in the U.S. in 2025, and said that product selection across categories has grown by more than 1,200% since 2024. 

New retail brands joining this year include Sephora, Michael Kors, Best Buy, Ulta Beauty and Victoria’s Secret. In a GlobalData study cited by TikTok, 67% of Americans on the platform said they trust a large brand the same or more when they see it on TikTok Shop than on another platform. That rises to 82% among U.S. TikTok Shop users aged 18 to 24.

Which product categories is TikTok flagging for 2026 gift lists?

TikTok highlighted five areas, all based on U.S. data:

• Pre-owned luxury: TikTok says U.S. users are 2.5 times more likely to buy a luxury item as a gift this Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The highest-priced item sold on TikTok Shop in the U.S. this year was a pre-owned luxury bag at $25,580.
• Jewelry: U.S. searches for “gold jewelry” rose 1,134% month over month in September; “opal rings” rose 825% and #friendshipbracelet searches rose 120%.
• Collectibles: category sales grew 230% year over year in October, and searches for “squishy toys” rose 149% month over month in September.
• Gaming: one in five U.S. TikTok users expects to buy gaming devices or items this Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
• Fashion and beauty: #christmaspajamas content rose 297% and “fall nails inspo” searches rose 251% month over month between August and September. Womenswear makes up a third of fashion sales on TikTok Shop so far this year.

Trends Shaping 2026 Holiday Lists

Hashtag	Growth, Sep, 2026 (M-0-M)	Theme
#bananabreadrecipes	1,503%	Fall food
#fallwishlist	450%	Wish lists
#giftsforwomen	440%	Gifting
#holidaygiftideas	248%	Gifting
#holidaydecor	97%	Décor

 

How does LIVE Shopping on TikTok Shop Drive Sales?

LIVE Shopping on TikTok Shop drives sales by putting a product demonstration, a trusted host, and real-time answers in one place, so viewers can see the product working and settle their doubts before they buy. 

LIVE Shopping is livestreamed selling in which viewers watch products demonstrated and ask questions as the stream runs. TikTok says U.S. LIVE Shopping sales more than doubled in the first half of 2026 year over year.

During the 2025 Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, TikTok Shop sales passed $500 million because of sellers who hosted livestreams. Creators who sold on live saw 84% year-over-year sales growth across more than 760,000 sessions and 1.6 billion views. 

TikTok’s own example this month was Fenty Beauty, where a 12-hour LIVE with Rihanna drew more than one million viewers and 53 million impressions.

Our campaign with COSRX also supports this point. When COSRX needed to crack TikTok Shop, creator-led product demonstrations helped deliver 2x sales growth and a 15% TikTok Shop uplift. A product that is shown being used removes much of the guesswork that stops people from buying.

TikTok Shop is Making Order Delivery and Returns Easier than Before

TikTok Shop is adding a 3-Day Delivery badge on eligible products. It is also letting shoppers return eligible purchases at around 10,000 Happy Returns locations in the U.S., with no box or label needed. TikTok says sellers can skip the cost of building their own reverse logistics.

Source: happyreturns

House of Marketers Insight: what this means for influencer marketing

We read this announcement as TikTok making the case that holiday gifting is a discovery problem, and discovery on TikTok is led by creators. Three things follow.

1. Match Your Creator Briefs to What Shoppers Are Searching For. 

TikTok’s own numbers show people searching for things like gold jewelry, opal rings, and fall nails because they saw them in content first. Brands selling into those categories should be briefing creators to create narratives around those products as the answer. 

2. Plan Your TikTok Shop LIVE Sessions and Creator Hosts Now

With sellers who stream seeing strong growth, brands without a LIVE plan are leaving the highest-intent format to competitors. A good LIVE host is a creator the audience already trusts, someone who can demo, answer questions and hold attention. That takes weeks to scope, brief, and rehearse. With the campaign window opening on 11 November, creator booking for LIVE is a now decision.

3. Trust transfers through creators.

Creator content is the bridge that builds trust before a shopper reaches the product page. Strong creator-made content also feeds the search behaviour TikTok describes, because people who see something in a video then go and search for it.

Conclusion:

As a TikTok marketing agency, our background shapes how we read announcements like this one. TikTok is building the shopping infrastructure, and creators remain what brings shoppers into it. The brands that will do best this season are the ones that have their creators briefed, seeded, and scheduled before the window opens.

House of Marketers is a TikTok marketing agency working with 100+ brands a year across the UK, US, and Europe. If you are planning holiday creator campaigns or LIVE Shopping, get in touch for a free campaign proposal.