TikTok Shop Trials Alcohol Sales Amid Age Verification Pushback

(Photo: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via AP)

TikTok Shop has begun trialing alcohol sales in the United Kingdom, signaling yet another expansion push for the platform valued at over $60 billion in sold goods in 2025.

The app has kicked off the initiative with a small number of well-known brands including Johnnie Walker Black Label Scotch Whisky, AU Vodka and Inedit Beer. The social media company says that it’s only working with a small group of licensed companies, and participating brands will remain invite-only for the time being.

Buying and selling on the TikTok Shop is already limited to users over the age of 18 in most markets, and the company insists that it’s gone to great lengths to ensure that remains the case for booze.

Alcohol sales reportedly include a three-step age verification process that checks users’ IDs during initial account creation, at checkout and once again upon delivery. In a marked change of pace from TikTok’s usual algorithm-forward operating model, customers will not be recommended alcohol products on their “For You” page, and must instead seek them out in the TikTok Shop tab of the app.

The program has only been rolled out in the UK, where alcohol sales are permitted on platforms like Amazon. Time will tell if TikTok Shop can emerge as a formidable rival. According to The Times, representatives of the company outlined plans for a “much wider expansion into alcohol” at a recent industry event.

In hindsight, it’s hard to believe that an app popularized by short-form dancing videos during the COVID-19 pandemic could emerge as an alcohol retailer — let alone a retailer of anything. But TikTok Shop has been a runaway success. The platform reportedly generated between $64 billion and $66 billion in global gross merchandise value in 2025, approximately $15 billion of which was made in the United States.

The company’s push into alcohol sales is likely to ruffle feathers.

The UK’s Office of Communications is currently investigating TikTok over “very serious questions” about child safety and age verification compliance. OFCOM believes that the app’s age inference technology may not be sufficient to identify under-18 users, and warns that inappropriate and harmful material is still being served on children’s social media feeds.

TikTok maintains that it operates well within the bounds of the nation’s Online Safety Act. The company says it’s invested billions of dollars into platform safety in the over eight years it has operated in the UK, pointing to the strength of its parental control features and reporting mechanisms.