TikTok is making a run for the Snapchat generation and has already surpassed Instagram with Gen Z users, according to an eMarketer report. Meanwhile, TikTok also just advanced its e-commerce aspirations with a new retail feature being tested in Europe.
The eMarketer study points to 2025 as the year when TikTok will reach near parity with Snapchat in the U.S. among people born between 1997 and 2012, the group known as Gen Z. The report says that in 2025, Snapchat will still be the leader in terms of users among the youngest social media generation, with 49.5 million people in the U.S. in that age group. TikTok will reach 48.8 million people in Gen Z, and Instagram will reach 48.2 million Gen Z users in the U.S.
Meanwhile, Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, trails among Gen Z as of this year, reaching 33.3 million people in that age group, whereas Snapchat and TikTok are reaching 42 million and 37.3 million Gen Zers, respectively, this year.
On Tuesday, Bloomberg News reported that TikTok was building more e-commerce tools to offer retailers a chance to sell directly to its audience, too. TikTok is testing a digital storefront with Hype, a streetwear brand. It’s not TikTok’s first foray into digital sales, and Facebook and Instagram both have digital storefronts, too, which are venues for brands to sell merchandise direct to consumers.