TikTok is no longer just where people discover products. It is where they buy them.
In 2025, TikTok Shop generated $64.3 billion in global GMV, doubling the $33.2 billion from the year before. In the United States alone, 71.4 million shoppers made a purchase through TikTok Shop (Bigblue, 2026). Social commerce is projected to surpass $100 billion in 2026, and TikTok is positioned to capture a growing share of that number.
For brands that are still treating TikTok as a brand awareness channel, that shift has already happened without them.
Here is what changed and what brands need to do about it.
TikTok GO: the platform just became a travel agent
One of the biggest announcements from TikTok World 2026 was the expansion of TikTok GO into the United States. Users can now book hotels, tours, attractions, and local experiences directly inside the app, through partnerships with Booking.com, Expedia, Viator, GetYourGuide, and others.
Creators earn commissions when users make bookings through their content. Brands in travel, hospitality, and experiences now have a direct path from content to conversion inside the same app where their audience is already spending time.
For brands targeting Latino audiences specifically, this matters. Hispanic consumers over-index on travel and experience spending, and TikTok is one of the most used platforms among Latino Gen Z and Millennials. The combination is significant.
Search Hubs: showing up when it counts
TikTok introduced Search Hubs, which give brands premium placement at the top of TikTok search results. This is not passive discovery. It is reaching users who are actively looking for products, information, or things to buy.
TikTok has quietly become a search engine, especially for younger audiences who turn to it before Google. Search Hubs let brands be present at exactly the moment when intent is highest.
Multi-SKU sampling: smarter creator partnerships
TikTok Shop now allows brands to send multiple products to creators in a single sample request. This enables more comprehensive reviews, unboxing content, and authentic storytelling that goes beyond a single product mention.
For brands working with Latino creators, this is especially useful. The more a creator can genuinely engage with a brand’s full range, the more natural and trustworthy the content feels to their audience. And with Hispanic audiences being highly attuned to authenticity, that trust is the difference between content that converts and content that gets scrolled past.
Smart+ and One Asset Manager: less friction, more control
TikTok’s Smart+ advertising tool now gives brands more control over automation at the module level. You can turn automation on or off for specific elements including targeting, budget, and placements, instead of accepting a one-size-fits-all approach.
One Asset Manager brings catalog, creative, and data connections into a single workflow inside TikTok Ads Manager, reducing the setup friction that has historically made TikTok a harder platform to manage at scale.
For brands running multicultural campaigns, this level of control matters. Being able to target specific communities, languages, and cultural interests with precision, without rebuilding your entire creative stack, is exactly what hispanic marketing requires.
What this means for your brand
TikTok in 2026 is a full commerce ecosystem. Discovery, consideration, purchase, and creator monetization all happen inside the same app. Brands that are still treating it as a top-of-funnel awareness channel are leaving revenue on the table.
The brands winning on TikTok Shop right now are the ones that understood early that the platform rewards authenticity over production value. Highly polished, studio-quality brand ads are seeing a 25% drop in reach despite higher output (Accio, 2026). What works is content that feels native, creator-led, and culturally specific.
That last part is where most brands still fall short. TikTok’s algorithm does not care about your production budget. It cares about whether your content belongs in the feed of the person watching it. For brands trying to connect with Latino audiences, that means working with creators who genuinely understand the community, not just speaking Spanish in a caption.
At Vaquero, we help brands build TikTok strategies that are grounded in cultural intelligence from the start. The tools are powerful. The strategy behind them is what makes the difference. Let’s talk.
Works Cited
Bigblue. “TikTok Business for E-commerce Brands: Complete Guide 2026.” bigblue.co, June 2026.
GeekSeller. “TikTok Expands Shopping, AI, and Advertising Tools at TikTok World 2026.” geekseller.com, 2026.
Influencer Marketing Factory. “TikTok Shop: The Definitive Guide 2026.” theinfluencermarketingfactory.com, April 2026.
TikTok for Business. “TikTok Product Preview: What’s New for Brands in Q2 2026.” ads.tiktok.com, July 2026.
Accio. “TikTok Hot Selling Products: 2026 Updated Guide.” accio.com, 2026.