Though uncertainty is still swirling around TikTok’s future, its ecommerce platform continues to provide brands with opportunities to sell and directly connect with consumers.
“Early on…we started building a community. The overall margin is very healthy. It’s absolutely sustainable,” said Lost & Found Energy co-founder and COO Cooper Clegg.
That healthy margin has been supported by the brand’s exclusive flavor launch strategy.
- Lost & Found sold over 10,000 cases of 12 packs in the first six hours of its most recent drop on the platform.
- In April 2024, it launched Strawberry Pop and sold out of its 3,200 cases in two hours.
- Later in July, it debuted Island Punch and Mango Pineapple, selling 5,000 cases in a single day.
- In 2024, the energy brand sold over 125,000 cases within 9 months on TikTok Shop, cementing the channel as Lost & Found’s primary sales platform.
“There’s not a platform that we believe is even close in terms of how user-friendly it is,” Clegg said. “It’s a combination of the simplicity and ease of checkout for the customers, the feedback that we get and how quickly you know whether or not you have a hero or zero.”
Lost & Found has used geographic data paired with direct consumer comments to build out a targeted retail approach. It has also leveraged shopper engagement on TikTok Shop to build relationships with distributors and then drive consumers to retail stores in specific markets, bringing tangible brick-and-mortar sales results.
That’s not to say there haven’t been challenges. Like any ecommerce business, resellers and counterfeit products need to be monitored. Some CPG brands have reported revenue losses due to unreceived deliveries; due to the fulfillment process, brands are held accountable for replacing those lost orders. But Lost & Found said they have been very satisfied with TikTok’s fulfillment and logistics program.
“That said, if brands are fulfilling orders themselves then it is no different than any other e-commerce site,” Clegg said. “Brands will need to make a customer service decision case-by-case which requires a little bit more legwork with the carriers.”
When asked how a possible TikTok shut down or algorithm change could affect Lost & Found, Clegg said, “we would be ignorant to not make sure that we have other avenues if we need to pivot.”
The brand is readying to launch an independent website that can serve as its hub for DTC fulfillment alongside other ecommerce channels like Amazon and TikTok Shop.