At OMR Festival in Hamburg this week, TikTok is bringing to life its new global positioning, Watch it. Love it. Want it., which reflects how discovery, connection and action happen together on the platformNew Ipsos research found 93% of daily TikTok users saying they would use it to research products before buyingClosed-loop solutions like TikTok Shop are also driving growth across Europe. In the UK, a third of online shoppers have made at least one purchase, while in Germany, one in seven online shoppers have used the platform just a year after launch, according to new NielsenIQ dataPeople come to TikTok to discover what's new, engage with what they love, and take part in what matters to them. Businesses everywhere, from independent creators to global companies, are tapping into that journey to drive real results. At this week's OMR Festival, TikTok is bringing this to life in Europe through its new global TikTok for Business positioning: Watch it. Love it. Want it.The positioning captures what happens on TikTok every day. People come to be entertained and to discover what's new. When something catches their attention, they don't just scroll past, they watch. When they connect with it, they share it, talk about it, and make it their own. And when they love it, they act on it.The mid funnel on TikTok is where watching becomes wantingTikTok proves that bringing discovery, consideration and action together in one place can help brands overcome the "messy mid-funnel" and drive real returns.Brands selling online face mounting challenges, as consumers look for new ways to navigate overwhelming choice and economic uncertainty. In 2024, Accenture reported that 71% of consumers think purchase decisions are taking the same amount of time or longer than before, and 74% have abandoned baskets in the past three months. (1)As consumer habits shift towards more deliberate, considered purchase behaviours, the research suggests the so-called 'mid-funnel', or consideration phase, has become a critical pressure point for brands looking to drive growth.Previous research showed TikTok holds a key role in the mid-funnel. It is ranked the most influential platform during consideration, with users showing 29% higher emotional engagement (2) and 40% stronger brand recall than non-users. (3) So while marketers have typically seen the mid-funnel as a place where the buying journey slows down, new research from Ipsos, polling 9000 people across 12 markets, found that TikTok has the potential to accelerate it. Among daily users, 93% say they would use TikTok as a research platform prior to purchase.Exposure to advertising also plays a measurable role in consideration, with 68% of users saying advertising on TikTok prompted them to buy immediately.Where attention turns into actionIn the past, advertisers often had to piece together different platforms to build awareness and then drive sales. On TikTok, those moments are connected. One of the ways this is playing out on TikTok is through TikTok Shop, a community-powered marketplace that allows people to discover and buy products without leaving the app. TikTok Shop is already home to over 100,000 sellers* across the EU, who are reaching new customers and converting sales every day.Within a year, TikTok Shop has established itself in new markets in Europe as a key growth driver for sellers of all sizes. To mark the first anniversary of TikTok Shop in Germany, new data from NielsenIQ's Online Panel has shown that one in seven German shoppers have already used it to buy something at least once. The research also pointed to broad appeal across age groups, with Gen X and Gen Z leading the way: 33% of Gen X, 29% of millennials and 33% of Gen Z have bought something on TikTok Shop.The UK shows TikTok Shop's potential in a more established market. In the UK, where TikTok Shop has been operating for the past five years, almost a third (31%) of British online shoppers now buy on the platform. Millennials are leading this trend, with 34% making purchases on TikTok Shop, alongside a third (33%) of Gen Z, and 26% of Gen X.Across both markets, fashion leads as the top-performing category, followed by beauty, home appliances and tech. Best-selling products reflect demand spanning a range of categories, from viral beauty must-haves such as Wonderskin's lip stain and P Louise lip kits in the UK, to wet-dry vacuum cleaners, freeze dried strawberries and teeth whitening products emerging as customer favourites in Germany.In the UK, TikTok Shop recently revealed 60% year on year growth for the beauty category in 2025, becoming the fourth largest beauty retailer in the country.Thomas Wlazik, GM Europe and Israel for TikTok Global Business Solutions, commented: "'Watch it. Love it. Want it.' captures what brands are already seeing on TikTok: the distance between attention and action is getting shorter. The research shows that TikTok is the most influential platform for closing that gap. We can see this in the growth of our direct commerce solutions like TikTok Shop, which has already established a strong foothold in the UK and is showing signs of rapid growth in Germany. For brands, the opportunity is not just to be seen, but to show up in ways that people want to watch and to build real connections with consumers. In doing so, they can drive measurable growth."Brands across Europe are using TikTok Shop to reach new audiences and reignite personal connections with customers. In February, PepsiCo launched Pepsi Zero Cream Soda in two flavours on TikTok Shop ahead of its supermarket listing. The campaign reached over 30 million users in Germany, with over 150 creators participating and more than 40,000 visits to TikTok Shop as a result. @pepsideutschland Die Woche ist geschafft ✔️ Und du hast so richtig abgeliefert! Zeit für deinen Treat. 🩷 Strawberry 🍓 oder Vanilla 🤍– oder einfach beides 😉 Your Moment. Your Treat. #startemitpepsi ♬ SECRET PROFILE - user16009122004 Julia Dobre, Marketing Director Beverages for DACH & Italy at PepsiCo, commented: "Our approach to TikTok shows what happens when marketing and sales are no longer treated as separate. People discover a product, hear about it from creators they trust, and can act on that interest immediately. Our role is to make that journey feel natural rather than forced, by working with creators in a way that is credible and by removing friction at the point of purchase. It is a more direct, responsive way of building brands, and one that is already shaping how we think about growth in Germany."Stefan Heidenreich, E-Commerce Leader at NielsenIQ commented: "Our NielsenIQ data show how quickly social commerce is becoming part of everyday shopping behaviour. Early adoption in Germany, alongside more mature usage in the UK, highlights both the immediate traction and long-term potential of this model. Importantly, engagement spans multiple age groups and product categories, pointing to a broader shift in how consumers discover and purchase products."Tak Ha, Research Director at Ipsos, commented: "The middle of the purchasing journey is becoming increasingly hard for brands to get right, with decisions slowing down or falling away altogether. Through Joyful Utility, TikTok creates the conditions to help brands show up in that moment, delivering content that is useful, engaging and grounded in real experience from trusted voices. In doing so, it gives brands the opportunity to turn hesitation into momentum, making the path to purchase clear for consumers."Source:Accenture, Life Trends 2024Kantar, Cross Media Journey Research (US & SEA), 2024TikTok Marketing Science UK, Brand Building Research, 2021Ipsos x TikTok, Re-energising the mid-funnel, 2026 - a 15-minute representative survey of 9,000 social media users across 12 markets (US, UK, DE, FR, IT, SP, BR, MX, ARG, COL, KSA, TUR).
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