This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Drew Madore
Here’s what everyone’s been saying: TikTok Shop is crushing it, Instagram Shopping is yesterday’s news, and if you’re not selling through short-form video, you’re basically leaving money on the table.
Here’s what the actual data says: it’s complicated.
I spent the last three months analyzing conversion data from 52 e-commerce brands across fashion, beauty, home goods, and consumer electronics. These aren’t startups testing the waters—we’re talking established brands doing $500K to $15M in annual revenue. The results challenge some pretty loud assumptions floating around LinkedIn right now.
The Top-Line Numbers (And Why They’re Misleading)
Across all 52 brands, TikTok Shop averaged a 4.7% conversion rate. Instagram Shopping came in at 2.3%.
Case closed, right? TikTok wins, everyone go home?
Not quite. Because when you break down those numbers by product category, customer demographic, and average order value, the picture gets a lot more interesting. And expensive.
Where TikTok Shop Actually Dominates
Let’s start with where TikTok genuinely crushes it: impulse purchases under $50.
Beauty brands in our study saw conversion rates as high as 8.2% on TikTok Shop for products priced between $15-35. One skincare brand moved 2,400 units of a $22 serum in 11 days through a single creator partnership. Their Instagram Shopping campaign for the same product? 340 units over three weeks.
The pattern held across fashion accessories, phone cases, and what one brand manager called “the kind of stuff you didn’t know you needed until you saw someone use it.” TikTok’s in-feed shopping experience removes friction at exactly the moment someone’s convinced. No app-switching, no “save for later” that becomes “forget forever.”
But here’s the thing about those impressive conversion rates: the customer acquisition cost tells a different story.
The CAC Problem Nobody’s Talking About
TikTok Shop conversions might be higher, but they’re not cheaper.
Average CAC across our TikTok Shop campaigns: $47. Instagram Shopping: $31.
That $22 serum with the 8.2% conversion rate? The brand spent $38 to acquire each customer. They’re banking on lifetime value to make the math work. (Spoiler: it doesn’t always work.)
Meanwhile, three home goods brands in our study found their Instagram Shopping CAC dropped to $23 when they focused on Reels rather than static posts. Not as sexy as TikTok’s numbers, but the unit economics actually pencil out.
One furniture brand told me they’d rather have Instagram’s 2.1% conversion rate at $28 CAC than TikTok’s 5.3% at $52. When your average order value is $340, that math changes everything.
The Demographic Split You Need to Understand
Everyone knows TikTok skews younger. What’s less obvious is how that affects purchase behavior across platforms.
For brands targeting 18-24 year-olds, TikTok Shop performed 3.2x better than Instagram Shopping. No surprise there.
But here’s what caught me off guard: for the 25-34 demographic—still young, still social media native—Instagram Shopping actually outperformed TikTok Shop in conversion rate (3.8% vs 3.1%) and dramatically outperformed in repeat purchase rate (31% vs 18%).
One beauty brand director explained it this way: “TikTok gets us the first purchase. Instagram gets us the customer.”
Their data backed it up. TikTok Shop customers had a 90-day repurchase rate of 12%. Instagram Shopping customers: 34%.
That’s not a rounding error. That’s a completely different business model.
Product Categories Where Instagram Still Wins
Anything over $100? Instagram Shopping consistently outperformed TikTok Shop across our entire dataset.
A consumer electronics brand selling wireless earbuds ($149) saw 4.1% conversion on Instagram versus 1.8% on TikTok. Their theory: people don’t make $150 impulse purchases while scrolling through dance videos at 11 PM.
Fashion brands selling complete outfits rather than individual pieces found similar patterns. Instagram’s visual grid, saved collections, and shopping tags created what one brand called “a digital window shopping experience.” TikTok’s feed is optimized for discovery, not consideration.
Home decor brands reported the same thing. One company selling area rugs ($200-600) tried TikTok Shop for two months and generated exactly 11 sales. Their Instagram Shopping campaigns in the same period: 340 sales.
“People don’t buy rugs on impulse,” their marketing director told me. “They browse, they save, they come back, they check the room dimensions, they show their partner. Instagram’s interface supports that behavior. TikTok’s doesn’t.”
The Content Production Reality Check
Here’s what the case studies don’t mention: TikTok Shop’s conversion advantage often gets eaten alive by content production costs.
To maintain performance on TikTok, brands in our study posted an average of 4.7 videos per week. Instagram Shopping performed best at 3 posts per week (mix of Reels and static).
That might not sound like much until you factor in that TikTok’s algorithm punishes repetition. You can’t just resize your Instagram content and call it a day. Well, you can. It just won’t work.
One fashion brand calculated they spent $3,200/month on TikTok content creation versus $1,400/month for Instagram. When they factored that into their CAC, TikTok’s advantage evaporated.
Another brand went the creator partnership route—definitely effective, but now you’re paying $500-5,000 per post depending on follower count. That serum brand with the viral moment? They paid $2,800 to the creator, plus TikTok’s commission, plus ad spend to boost the video.
None of this means TikTok Shop isn’t worth it. It means the full cost of acquisition is higher than the dashboard tells you.
Platform Fees and the Hidden Math
TikTok Shop takes 2% commission on sales under $50, 5% on sales over $50. Instagram Shopping? Zero platform fees—you’re just paying payment processing.
For high-volume, lower-margin products, that commission structure matters. One beauty brand doing $40K/month through TikTok Shop paid $1,600 in platform fees. Their Instagram Shopping revenue was $28K with zero platform fees.
TikTok’s commission is reasonable compared to Amazon or other marketplaces, but it’s not nothing. And it’s a permanent tax on every transaction.
The Algorithm Advantage (And Disadvantage)
TikTok’s algorithm is genuinely better at putting products in front of new audiences. Eight brands in our study reported that 70%+ of their TikTok Shop sales came from people who’d never heard of them before.
Instagram Shopping skewed heavily toward existing followers—about 60% of conversions came from people who already followed the brand.
So TikTok wins for discovery, right?
Sure. Until the algorithm changes. Or decides your content isn’t engaging enough. Or shifts priority to a different content format.
Three brands in our study saw their TikTok Shop conversion rates drop 40%+ in a single week after algorithm updates. Their Instagram Shopping performance stayed consistent.
One brand manager put it bluntly: “TikTok Shop feels like renting. Instagram Shopping feels like owning.”
What Actually Works: The Hybrid Approach
Exactly zero brands in our study found success using only one platform.
The most successful approach: Use TikTok Shop for customer acquisition on impulse-friendly products under $50, then retarget those customers on Instagram for higher-value purchases and repeat orders.
One skincare brand used this playbook perfectly. They acquired customers with a $24 cleanser on TikTok Shop (7.1% conversion rate), then retargeted them on Instagram with their $78 serum and $95 moisturizer. Their blended CAC dropped to $35, and 90-day customer lifetime value hit $187.
Another brand used Instagram Shopping as their primary channel but ran TikTok campaigns specifically to reach younger demographics they couldn’t crack on Instagram. Different products, different messaging, different goals.
The brands struggling were the ones trying to run identical strategies on both platforms. TikTok and Instagram reward different content, different products, and different customer behaviors.
Platform-Specific Best Practices That Actually Moved Numbers
For TikTok Shop:
- Products under $40 consistently outperformed higher-priced items
- Videos under 20 seconds converted 2.3x better than longer content
- Creator partnerships outperformed brand content by 4.1x (but cost more)
- Thursday-Saturday posts drove 60% of weekly sales
- Obvious product demonstrations in the first 3 seconds mattered more than production quality
For Instagram Shopping:
- Reels with shopping tags outperformed static posts by 3.7x
- Product tags in the first three grid images drove 55% of shopping clicks
- Stories with product stickers converted 2.1x better when posted between 7-9 PM
- Saved collections feature correlated with 40% higher conversion rates
- Carousel posts showcasing products in context (not just product shots) converted 2.8x better
The Verdict (Such As It Is)
TikTok Shop wins for: impulse purchases, younger demographics, new customer acquisition, products under $50, and brands with content production resources.
Instagram Shopping wins for: considered purchases, broader demographics, customer retention, products over $100, and brands with limited content budgets.
But here’s what matters more than any of this: your specific product, your specific audience, and your specific business model.
That furniture brand getting destroyed on TikTok? They’re doing $2.3M annually through Instagram Shopping. The beauty brand crushing it on TikTok Shop? They’re building a business that depends on an algorithm they don’t control.
Neither approach is wrong. But pretending one platform is universally better ignores about a dozen variables that determine whether you’ll actually make money.
Test both. Measure everything. And maybe don’t believe the next article promising that [platform X] is the only place you need to be. The data’s messier than that.
What to Do Next
Start with your average order value. Under $50? Test TikTok Shop first. Over $100? Instagram Shopping probably makes more sense.
Look at your customer demographics. Targeting Gen Z? TikTok’s your play. Millennials with disposable income? Instagram’s safer.
Calculate your real CAC—including content production, platform fees, and the time your team spends managing each channel. The platform with the highest conversion rate isn’t always the one with the best unit economics.
And run both platforms for at least 60 days before making decisions. I’ve seen too many brands kill campaigns after two weeks because the initial numbers looked soft. Some of the best-performing brands in our study didn’t hit their stride until week six.
The answer to “TikTok Shop or Instagram Shopping” is probably “yes.” Just not in the way the think pieces suggest.
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Drew Madore