The news: TikTok is extending its reach beyond TikTok Shop as it looks to grab a larger share of US ecommerce.

The platform rolled out two tools that give it a role in more shopping journeys, including purchases that happen outside its marketplace.

• Buy Direct lets consumers complete purchases from participating brands inside TikTok even when those products aren’t sold through TikTok Shop.
• Shopping Assistant is a conversational AI agent that helps shoppers with questions about product details, shipping, sizing, availability, and purchasing. It can also understand context and remember shoppers’ needs throughout the conversation.

TikTok is also extending its agentic capabilities to lead generation with Agentic Leads, which uses AI-guided conversations to help businesses identify, qualify, and convert high-intent prospects. The tool will operate through TikTok Direct Messages as well as lead forms on advertisers’ websites.

Why it matters: TikTok has quickly established itself as an ecommerce powerhouse. We expect it to punch above its weight this year, driving 23% of social commerce sales despite accounting for 21% of time spent on social networks. That reflects its ability to turn users into shoppers: We expect 51% of TikTok users to make a purchase on the platform, ahead of Facebook (40%) and Instagram (36%).

Now TikTok is trying to build on that momentum by bringing more merchants into its commerce ecosystem, giving shoppers more opportunities to buy without leaving the platform. And it is building from an already sizable base: We expect TikTok Shop’s US online sales to jump 48.0% this year to $23.4 billion—$1.47 billion more than we expect Target to generate online.

Buy Direct significantly expands that opportunity beyond TikTok Shop. By letting brands sell through TikTok without joining its marketplace, TikTok can become a transaction layer that connects social discovery with brands’ existing commerce operations. That lowers the barrier for more merchants to turn TikTok engagement into sales and could give the platform a role in a much larger share of US ecommerce.

The strategy: Expanding TikTok’s utility for shoppers and merchants should drive more transactions on the platform, generating additional conversion signals. Shopping Assistant adds on conversational intent as questions about sizing, availability, price, or shipping can reveal not only what consumers are interested in, but what is preventing them from purchasing.

TikTok is also extending its advertising infrastructure beyond its own platform. Its new TikTok Ad Network (TTAN) lets US advertisers extend campaigns to a network of nearly 400,000 apps, while TikTok for Business Model Context Protocol (MCP) lets developers build AI agents that can plan, launch, and manage TikTok campaigns using outside tools.