The shift comes as the Philippine e-commerce market continues to expand at a rapid pace. According to the International Trade Administration, the country’s e-commerce sector reached $24 billion in 2025, with annual growth projected to remain above 13 percent in the coming years.
TikTok Shop has emerged as a major player in the fast-growing social commerce space, offering brands a platform to create immersive and experience-driven marketing campaigns.
By combining entertainment, community engagement, and seamless shopping, it enables companies to foster deeper, more authentic connections with consumers and drive more organic interactions with their products.
Content-driven commerce
During TikTok Shop’s Brand Forum and Media Engagement, brands discussed how the platform’s creator ecosystem and advertising tools are changing the way companies market products online.
The platform offers a full suite of tools and programs designed to help both new and existing brands maximize their product visibility and reach.
Native tools such as Smart+, which uses AI to automate bidding and targeting for better ROI; Product Optimizer, which improves product listings for search visibility; and TikTok Shop Ads, which promote products through targeted shoppable video campaigns.
“Traditionally in retail, we would get our products through shelves. For TikTok Shop, it allows us to create more authenticity,” Patricia Co, head of e-commerce of Mars Wrigley PH, said during the panel discussion.
“So content is now discovered through content in an entertaining, humorous way and that creates an entirely different experience that perfectly aligns with how we want our products to be experienced,” Co added.
Driving engagement
Snickers recently partnered with TikTok Shop for a campaign featuring Mingyu of K-pop group Seventeen.
The campaign generated more than 300,000 entries on TikTok and featured a wide range of user-generated content, including posts from creators and even a 7-Eleven cashier, helping the brand connect with consumers through fun and engaging content.
HONOR PH also used creator-led content to market its smartphone launches.
AC De Guzman, head of e-commerce at HONOR PH, said the brand focused on producing durability-related content for the HONOR X98 and HONOR X90 through influencer partnerships and video storytelling.
According to De Guzman, HONOR PH sees TikTok and the broader retail space as increasingly community-driven, where engaging and entertaining content matters more than hard-selling.
Consumer behavior in the Philippines has also become increasingly mobile-first, with product discovery often happening through social media feeds and livestream sessions.
Legacy brands adapt to Gen Z audiences
For legacy brands, creator-led commerce has also become a way to reconnect with younger audiences.
“With the boom and the shift of Gen Z type of media, we found that more than ever, it was very important to reintroduce the products to this new set of consumers. And we've been missing out for quite a while,” said Trish Andulte, digital commerce director, P&G Personal Care and Home Care, Philippines.
“But starting three years ago when we shifted into TikTok Shop and really started activating our different brands, we had an opportunity to do creator-led commerce,”he said..
According to Andulte, creator-led conversations and user-generated experiences helped build credibility around the company’s products while allowing the brand to reach consumer segments it previously struggled to engage.
She added that TikTok Shop Mall’s tools and programs contributed to fivefold growth for the company compared with last year.
“What's really been different out of all of the other channels that we play in as a company is that we are able to talk in the language that our consumers relate to most through the help of creators and advocates,” she added.
Affiliate and creator ecosystem
Joanna Patricia Tantoco, cluster lead at TikTok Shop, said the platform continues to expand its affiliate and creator ecosystem to help brands scale through community-driven engagement.
The company is also investing in creator discovery tools, automated outreach systems, logistics support and advertising solutions such as GMV Max.
“Moving forward for TikTok Shop, we will continue to invest in all these solutions that will allow brands to really scale sustainably. So this means strengthening our ecosystem,” Tantoco added. —Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
Content Producer
