TikTok

The craze over Pop Mart’s toys speaks to a desire for escapism and customisation during increasingly uncertain economic times — but their popularity may be fleeting.

As online marketplaces grow, speciality and mass retailers face mounting pressure. With assortments blending and channels blurring, standing out is only getting harder.

The move could open the door to resolving years of debate over whether the company would share what is considered the crown jewel of the ByteDance-owned short video-sharing platform.

As the popularity of alternative social media platforms like RedNote grows outside of China, domestic beauty brands like Florasis and Judydoll are reaping the benefits.

Hermès, Chanel and Louis Vuitton are among the luxury megabrands that have largely remained quiet amid a flood of viral TikToks falsely suggesting their bags are made in China.

With Google’s online advertising business declared an illegal monopoly and Meta at risk of spinning off Instagram, the digital advertising market could be headed for an overhaul with a looming recession in the backdrop.

Chinese creators claiming to manufacture for luxury brands have gone viral on the platform, offering cut-price ‘dupes’ in response to Trump’s punitive tariffs on the country.

Much like its Western counterpart TikTok, the short-form video app Douyin has become a vital part of the beauty marketing and e-commerce playbook in China. But growth on the app can be just as ephemeral as its trends.

Liverpool-based mass cosmetics brand Made by Mitchell was on the brink of closure when TikTok Shop made it a star. Now it has its sights set on making a splash in wholesale, too.

TikTok trends have caused entire product categories, from snail mucin serums to bronzing drops, to go mainstream, but that pipeline’s future is uncertain.