Welcome to the Executive Focus Group, a Glossy+ member-exclusive series driven by monthly focus groups with subject matter experts. The bi-weekly series offers actionable takeaways for business leaders navigating the rapidly evolving beauty and fashion industries.
This month, Glossy brought together a group of leaders from brands investing in TikTok Shop. TikTok Shop has grown rapidly over the past two years, reaching 47 million shoppers in spring 2025. The leaders who joined Glossy’s focus group this month discussed the strategies and pitfalls of selling on TikTok Shop and how they’re approaching this booming marketplace.
Below is a recap of the part of the conversation focused on the TikTok strategies that are working.
Focus group members
Rosalia Bucaro Polizzi, chief merchandising officer at QVC. QVC has swiftly become one of the top-selling companies on TikTok Shop.
Katie Tripodi, director of U.S. digital merchandising and e-commerce expansion for HanesBrands. Hanes has recently made TikTok Shop a major focus, adopting the platform in the last six months and already seeing big returns.
Katia Rudnick, founder and CEO of the jewelry brand Katia Designs. Rudnick has been using TikTok Shop from the first day it launched and makes multiple appearances per week on her brand’s TikTok channel.
Glossy: When did you first start selling on TikTok Shop? What was your early experience?
Tripodi: “About a year ago, when we were selling off Champion, we decided to test out a few things. We did a 7-day free trial with [TikTok analytics company] Kalodata just to find out what the potential market size could be. We pulled the data around our categories. We have a large intimates business, and we found that, in 12 months, there were $80 million in intimates sales on TikTok. We were like, ‘Holy cow.’ It was a huge unlock. The measured market was declining by 17%, but when you add this in, the market is flat. The consumers we were looking for had moved platforms.”
Bucaro Polizzi: “We’ve been very fortunate as it relates to TikTok. Overall, live social selling is just selling on TV. We’ve been doing this on the linear side for a long time. TikTok is just a more extreme version of it. It’s a very natural extension of our business’s capacity and experience. We’ve been able to bring a 24/7 format to TikTok Shop, which has allowed us to reach this new generation of shoppers.”
Rudnick: “Historically, we are primarily on Meta. And at the beginning, TikTok was very popular among young people. My customer tends to be women aged 45 and up. And in the beginning, TikTok Shop was not so busy for us. But over time, this age group has actually become a big part of TikTok. You can see it in a lot of creators.”
Glossy: What strategies are working best on the platform right now?
Rudnick: “I do a lot of the lives and the content myself, but we’re also working with influencers big and small. Sometimes I do more, but other times less, when I have more on my plate. But it works best when it’s me because I’m involved with every aspect of the product. We have customers who tune in, and they ask me questions directly, and I can answer them. Or they suggest things like, ‘I’d like to see that necklace in this setting’. So, it’s a great opportunity for feedback. Over 50% of our sales come from repeat customers, so it’s a way for us to interact directly with this dedicated customer.”
Polizzi: “Smaller creators have really helped grow our social impact. The volume of content that’s needed for 24/7 live is significant, and the amount of content they’ve helped us create has been valuable and is a big part of the equation that has been meaningful to our success.”
Tripodi: “The different brands under Hanes and the different categories do better than others. Hanes has such name recognition, and it’s easier to get creators to want to try to sell it. Shapewear, for example, is more of an uphill battle. There’s huge competition, so more investment is needed and more strategic targeting and just being smart with how you brief your creators and how you show up differently than other brands that are funneling so much money into the platform already.”
