Video sharing platform TikTok has made a huge splash online. Now, with the opening of the UK’s first-ever TikTok pop-up, it could also make a big impact IRL.

Today marked the opening of the TikTok For You House, a pop-up in the heart of the Westfield London shopping centre. The pop-up was designed and developed by Westfield and the space will welcome TikTok enthusiasts until August 8. 

The pop-up offers visitors a chance to develop their social media prowess and improve their TikTok presence. In the living room, guests can enhance their editing skills, while the garden provides a space for visitors to learn new football tricks or practice their dance routines. 

Cooking tutorials will take place in the kitchen with guests also learning more about recipes that have gone viral. In the dressing room, there will be advice on beauty and fashion. Some of TikTok’s most popular UK-based creators will be on hand to lead tutorials.

Visitors can also create their own video content in the different rooms around the pop-up. 

Harita Shah, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s marketing director for UK and creative, media, events and brand Europe, led the project and told Retail Week: “We look at what our consumers want and TikTok has become a huge phenomenon that people find inspiration from.

“The idea behind this really came in terms of us wanting to be able to bring a bit of the online into the offline space.”

Shah added: “As measures have lifted, we have seen people feeling more confident and coming out shopping.

“We are always looking at what consumers are passionate about, we want to bring them experiences that you can’t experience anywhere else.

“You’ll see that a lot of retailers are starting to do activity with TikTok themselves and see the benefit from it.”

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Waterstones is one such retailer that has already noted the TikTok effect in its stores. While the original perception of TikTok was that most of its content was related to popular dance, many users buck that trend to post about their latest literary discoveries.

Creators publish short videos reviewing books or offering recommendations based on already-popular titles. Videos are then posted using the hashtag #booktok, which has been viewed over 14 billion times, making the community the world’s largest book club and launching the careers of newer authors.

Waterstone chief executive James Daunt said: “This started some time ago, over a year ago. Certainly, during the pandemic, it has dramatically increased in scale and has had an impact on book sales. It still continues to grow.”

Recommendations by popular creators can propel books up the bestseller lists, even if they have been published a few years earlier, as users choose their next read.

Daunt said: “It has been both driving people into our shops and driving the sales of particular titles.

“It can put 10 bestsellers in our top 25 so it’s really amazing. In terms of the overall percentage of sales, it is modest but it is really getting significant volumes of individual titles to sell.”

Other retailers are also capitalising on the influence of TikTok creators. The hashtag #tiktokmademebuyit has 4 billion views on the app as users are inspired to purchase trending items, particularly new discoveries from Amazon’s vast catalogue.

Superdrug has a dedicated section on its website dedicated to products that grew in popularity through TikTok, while sales of ice cream brand Little Moons soared by 700% in Tesco stores in just one week in February after the treat went viral online.

The opening of the For You House in Westfield is further confirmation of TikTok’s ever-growing impact on consumer engagement.