TikTok Shop beauty neared $1B a quarter, yet half of shops sold nothing
US TikTok Shop beauty sales are booming, but an analysis shows the winners are very few.
The numbers
- Q2 2026 TikTok Shop beauty GMV: $980M, up 82% year on year
- The top 5 brands took more than half of tracked sales
- Medicube: $62.8M quarterly GMV; Dr. Melaxin: $38.8M. Dr. Melaxin was the top indie beauty brand for the year at $142.2M
- Meanwhile about half of roughly 803,500 US shops had zero sales in 2025; just over 2,000 sellers passed $1M in annual GMV
- Of 851,000 affiliates, fewer than 300 reached seven-figure sales
The piece argues the system favors brands that already have marketing budgets and parent-company backing, like Medicube and Dr. Melaxin. Some struggling sellers are trying livestream platforms like Whatnot instead.
Is there a way for a small brand to survive this? Sample seeding, long-term deals with a few creators, or prioritizing another channel entirely? Share what you've seen.
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