On February 2, 2026, the Kölner Wissenschaftsrunde invited curious minds to the Europasaal in the historic Rathaus Köln for a new installment of “Wissenschaft im Rathaus” — a monthly lecture series that brings academic research to the public forum. The event “The TikTok Shop from a Scientific Perspective” featured Prof. Dr. Richard C. Geibel, Head of the E-Commerce Institute Cologne and researcher at IU Internationale Hochschule, who examined the astonishing rise and implications of the TikTok Shop in Germany.
Within a remarkably short period, the number of merchants active on the platform jumped from 5 to over 14,000 sellers. A trajectory that sparked an essential question:
Is the TikTok Shop merely a hype, or does it signal a fundamental transformation in digital retail and social commerce?
You can find more about the lecture series here.
Redefining the Customer Journey in Social Commerce
From Fragmented Touchpoints to Integrated Moments
Prof. Dr. Geibel’s lecture highlighted a profound shift in how consumers interact with brands and products online. Traditional e-commerce involves a series of discrete touchpoints — search, multiple product pages, and checkout funnels. In contrast, social commerce, as exemplified by the TikTok Shop, blurs these stages into seamless “consumer moments”. Here, discovery, inspiration, interaction, and purchase happen within one social feed. This evolution is reshaping buyer expectations and challenging classic funnel models.
TikTok Shop’s Rapid Growth: Hype or New Channel?
The empirical rise of TikTok Shop in Germany — from a handful of sellers to a vibrant marketplace with thousands of vendors — indicates more than short-lived buzz. Prof. Geibel positioned this development within broader industry trends:
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increasing integration of social media and commerce
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algorithm-driven content discovery
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frictionless in-app purchase experiences
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mobile-first user behavior patterns
From a scientific perspective, TikTok Shop is not only a channel for impulse purchases, but a living experiment in platform economics, attention markets, and behavioral triggers that demand rigorous scrutiny.
Audience Exchange: Critical Questions and Real-World Dialogues
One standout feature of the evening was the highly engaged and lively audience participation. After the lecture, attendees raised thought-provoking questions that went beyond pure commerce topics. Thereby, touching on social, ethical, and demographic dimensions of social commerce.
For example:
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Several audience members asked about age demographics and whether younger users are disproportionately targeted or influenced through TikTok Shop mechanics.
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The room reacted with visible surprise and critical reflection when discussing scarcity strategies employed by certain brands on TikTok, such as artificial time-limited drops and community-gamified buying triggers.
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The conversation also shifted toward youth protection and digital wellbeing. With questions about how society might balance innovation with measures to safeguard younger generations from excessive social media influence.
These exchanges highlighted that TikTok Shop isn’t just a business model. It is a societal conversation about technology, consumer psychology, and regulatory context.
Bridging Research and Practice: The Role of Scientific Inquiry
The event underscored the importance of scientific inquiry in public discourse. Rather than positioning the TikTok Shop as an unquestioned success story, Prof. Geibel contextualized it as a relevant research field with implications for marketing strategies, consumer protection, and platform governance.
The E-Commerce Institute Cologne takes a similar approach in its research: it develops evidence-based business concepts for companies and institutions that do not just follow trends, but understand underlying mechanisms and long-term implications.
Conclusion: TikTok Shop as Social Commerce Case Study
The Wissenschaft im Rathaus event on February 2 was more than a lecture — it was a dialogue between science and society. By combining academic rigor with real-world questions and public engagement, it showcased how emerging digital commerce models like the TikTok Shop can and should be examined from multiple perspectives: retail strategy, consumer behavior, ethics, and societal impact.
If digital commerce continues to evolve at this pace, understanding platforms like the TikTok Shop through scientific frameworks will be essential for businesses, regulators, and users alike.
About the Authors of the Presentation
This article is based on insights from the lecture “The TikTok Shop from a Scientific Perspective” by Prof. Dr. Richard C. Geibel. Dr. Geibel is a researcher at IU Internationale Hochschule and leads the E-Commerce Institute Cologne, where scholarly research informs strategic business frameworks for organizations navigating the digital economy.