In the lead-up to Black Friday, retailers brace for one of the busiest periods in the calendar year – and one increasingly shaped by social commerce. TikTok Shop, in particular, is shaping new consumer expectations through its seamless in-app shopping and native checkout, removing long-standing trust barriers and redefining how products are discovered and purchased.

Mark Andreev, Chief Operating Officer of payment provider Exactly.com, explains how the platform’s influence goes beyond convenience – reshaping what shoppers expect from retailers during peak trading and set to play a major role this Black Friday.

TikTok Shop has established itself as a major player in 2025, as it awaits its most significant Black Friday season since its widespread uptake. Beyond offering a new level of convenience for consumers, TikTok Shop integrates a native checkout strategy that addresses a longstanding barrier to trust in social commerce. But its influence goes further: the in-app shopping tool is redefining how consumers discover products, make purchasing decisions and perceive online brands.

A new consumer journey 

The consumer journey has drastically evolved. From brick-and-mortar to digital-first, Black Friday shopping has continued to shift, and brands are delivering omnichannel experiences to meet customers across all touchpoints and facilitate purchasing. Today, Black Friday is a battleground for brands: competition is fierce, stakes are high and companies are fighting to keep their customers loyal.  

TikTok’s integrated Shop feature is reshaping the purchasing experience by making transactions seamless during content consumption, directing potential customers to the embedded shopping platform via links to discounts, special prices and bundles from verified vendors. 

By enabling consumers to make direct purchases on the app, the platform has successfully bridged product discovery, influence to purchase and conversion – collapsing the traditional purchase funnel that many Black Friday strategies once relied on.

Essentially, TikTok users purchase items driven by the platform’s algorithm, which amplifies urgency, highlights limited-time deals and viral products, and creates a sense of scarcity that accelerates decision-making. 

Yet, as new features roll out and more retailers join the frenzy, customer hesitation about the platform persists. Videos of negative experiences and questionable purchases continue to proliferate, further fuelling distrust in social shopping.

The missing factor

There’s a missing factor in the social equation – trust. The platform offers a comprehensive solution for sellers through its native checkout feature. Why’s that? Native checkouts keep users in-app, simplifying the buying process and reducing friction, fostering greater customer confidence.

However, as the platform controls the checkout experience rather than the retailer, it limits brand voice and personalisation at a crucial moment: conversion. This can leave customers feeling disconnected from the brand’s service standards, creating a confidence gap despite the convenience of the in-app checkout.

Despite seller verification efforts, the brand experience does not fully carry over to the in-app shopping environment. Users often rely on external factors like recommendations and reviews, signalling a shift toward socially influenced shopping. This doesn’t inherently indicate mistrust in brands, but rather a change in how consumers seek and obtain trustworthy information on social shopping platforms.  

The rise of scams is another factor undermining confidence. Reports of counterfeit products and fraudulent sellers have made consumers more cautious, even as verification measures improve.

Regaining control and building trust

This shift underscores the need for brands and businesses to regain control and find new ways to build trust with their consumers – aligning with the expectations shaped by platforms like TikTok Shop.

At the core of this effort is presence. A strong presence on social platforms, supported by fintech-enabled transparency and accountability, offers a powerful strategy for brands aiming to stay relevant and competitive. Secure, flexible payment options and clear customer protections should sit at the heart of every ecommerce strategy.

When it comes to presence, visibility matters. Consistency is key – being active, responding to comments and posting with purpose. Think about Duolingo: even people who don’t use the app might have come across their content – it’s memorable and humorous. That visibility has built credibility and kept the brand top of mind, even offline. While not every business has Duolingo’s creative budget, strong. shareable content from smaller companies can still go viral and grab attention.

Beyond that, people buy from people, so keeping things human is paramount. Removing any uncertainties by setting clear expectations around refunds, delivery and returns is a staple of transparency and a key driver of consumer confidence. Social selling relies on impulsive purchasing to drive conversions, but brand trust goes a long way. Customers don’t expect perfection – they expect honesty and accountability.

The advantage of payment links

While social commerce platforms push for hosted checkouts, many smaller businesses find this option either unavailable or restrictive, and others are reluctant to accept the constraints of selling on popular social platforms, such as strict rules, added fees and commissions.

For businesses seeking to regain control while keeping the streamlined nature of in-app checkout, payment links offer a fast, low-cost alternative. Payment links are easy to use and more flexible during peak seasons like Black Friday. They do not require a full ecommerce setup, and there is greater flexibility in choosing a payment provider and retaining buyer data for marketing and future brand strategy.

When payment pages are up to date, with working links, mobile-friendly design, branding, security and popular payment options, payment links bridge convenience and trust – helping brands capture Black Friday momentum without sacrificing control.

Customer expectations and confidence in social commerce are evolving rapidly. As the popularity of social ecommerce platforms continues to grow, TikTok Shop will continue to impact customer behaviour and reshape the customer funnel as we know it. 

With this happening, customer trust in social selling is still catching up. Building credibility is key in social commerce, and in 2025, it starts with being present, transparent and accountable. 

To keep up with a new shift in consumer behaviour, fuelled and supported by the increasing uptake of social shopping, customers are increasingly shopping online and expecting new levels of convenience. With Black Friday coming up, this should be a wake-up call for businesses to find new ways to build customer trust beyond mainstream channels. In a landscape where convenience is immediate but trust is cumulative, the brands that succeed will be those that deliver both consistently.