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Social commerce is gaining momentum in the UK鈥攚ith sales set to double by 2028鈥攁s major brands join TikTok and as more people shop on social platforms.

TikTok Shop gears up for busy holiday season in the US, UK: The platform expects hefty ecommerce and ad growth this year as shoppers get used to transacting on the app

In our exclusive survey with ESW, data from shoppers in 18 countries reveals new twists in the path to purchase, the rising momentum of marketplaces, and the resilience of age-old fundamentals.

This is the first installment of our 鈥淯碍 Ad Spending Benchmarks鈥� series, which helps ad buyers and sellers calibrate their spending and revenue mix against the market.鈥嬧��

Smaller players and TikTok will lead in growth. If TikTok avoids a US ban, it will grow its ad revenues by 32.1% this year, reaching almost $35 billion. However, given that about 44% of TikTok鈥檚 ad revenues come from the US, its final 2025 figures could end up radically different.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a fast-growing and lucrative ecommerce market. To tap into growth in the country, retailers and brands need to understand what motivates consumers.

The EC has already forced TikTok to retire the TikTok Lite Rewards program for violating DSA regulations, citing 鈥渋ts propensity to stimulate addictive behaviors, especially among minors and younger users.鈥�. The EC is investigating multiple parties for DMA noncompliance. This law is all about holding the internet鈥檚 largest 鈥済atekeepers鈥� to account to promote competition.

UK investigates how children鈥檚 personal data is used: The move comes as people are increasingly wary about invasive data collection practices.

GenAI and social are set to heavily influence the UK commerce and advertising landscape in 2025, while thrifty consumer behaviors persist and video viewing shifts to mostly digital.

While TikTok pioneered the most recent short-form video trend, YouTube has comfortably overtaken it in terms of user count. This is due to YouTube鈥檚 ability to put its own competing product directly in front of such a large and captive audience. It鈥檚 even pulling away from TikTok, and a US TikTok ban would likely boost these numbers.

Meta, TikTok under fire for data usage practices: The social media giants are facing lawsuits that could have long-term consequences.

TikTok Shop鈥檚 sales soared 153% in January: The video app鈥檚 social commerce arm is eating into Shein鈥檚 market share, adding to the hurdles facing the fast fashion company.

Western Europe isn鈥檛 the biggest market for TikTok in terms of user numbers. But its users are highly engaged and digitally savvy, so the platform should be an attractive proposition for marketers.

After years of turbulence, UK ecommerce sales are growing again, albeit slowly. And there won鈥檛 be a significant shift over the next five years.