TikTok announced Monday that it is launching an AI shopping assistant and a new in-app checkout feature that lets users buy directly from brands. The social network revealed the update to expand its e-commerce capabilities inside the application.
TikTok describes its new Shopping Assistant as a conversational AI agent designed to help users discover and purchase products. The company says the assistant understands context and remembers users preferences and needs throughout the conversation. It offers real-time, AI-powered shopping guidance, such as product details, shipping information, sizing, availability, and help completing a purchase.
As for the new checkout feature, TikTok says users can buy directly from a brand from their For You feed with one click. The For You feed serves as the app main, algorithm-driven video feed.
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The company says these new features are being built in partnership with commerce platforms and payment providers including Salesforce, Shopify, Shoplazza, and Stripe, among others. These tools broaden the app approach beyond the existing TikTok Shop marketplace hub by integrating shopping features directly into the broader app.
The expansion arrives as TikTok influence on shopping continues to grow. According to a TikTok Economic Impact Report released the previous week, activity on the platform helped generate $81 billion in GDP for U.S. businesses. Additionally, 54 million Americans said they had purchased a product after watching a TikTok video.
TikTok Shop generated billions in sales
TikTok Shop launched in the U.S. in September 2023. The market research firm eMarketer estimates it generated about $15.8 billion in U.S. sales in 2025, representing roughly 18% of all U.S. social commerce.
The new features could allow TikTok to capture more of users shopping journeys and potentially more transaction value without sending them elsewhere. By pairing a shopping assistant with direct payments, TikTok is turning its impulse-driven discovery feed into a place where users can get answers to questions about a product and make a purchase on the spot. By building an AI assistant for shopping directly in its app, TikTok also appears to be hoping that users will stay within its platform when they have questions about a product, rather than turning to outside AI tools like OpenAI ChatGPT.
