The valuation of ByteDance soared to $450 billion! TikTok accelerates overseas expansion under its umbrella

It is predicted that ByteDance's revenue in 2025 is expected to reach $186 billion, an increase of about 20% compared to 2024, just one step away from Meta's $187 billion.

The capital market has responded quickly, with leading institutions such as SoftBank and Fidelity successively raising their valuations of ByteDance. At present, its market value is generally expected to fluctuate between $400 billion and $450 billion.The core driving force supporting ByteDance's annual revenue growth is TikTok, which has long been under heavy regulatory pressure in the United States.

Currently, the strict regulation of TikTok in the United States continues, but it still cannot stop TikTok's rapid expansion in the international market. Now its global monthly active users have exceeded 4 billion, putting it on par with the American internet tech giant Meta.

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While TikTok continues to grow as a social content platform, it is also striving to explore more efficient monetization business models. Among them, TikTok Shop, as the core carrier of the platform's e-commerce business, has become an important part of its globalization strategy.

At the end of March this year, TikTok Shop officially launched in Germany, France, and Italy, further expanding its service scope to cover about 72 million European users. The first batch of brands to settle in includes well-known companies,such as fashion e-commerce About You, international skincare brand Nivea, etc..

According to research data from OMD, 34% of consumers in Germany have already indicated that they are aware of this shopping feature, and among the 18-29 age group, this proportion has reached 47%.

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At the same time, TikTok Shop's fully managed business is also performing strongly in other markets where it has launched. The fully managed model means the platform is responsible for logistics, fulfillment, customer service, and other core links, so merchants only need to focus on products and content to achieve localized sales in multiple countries.

As of May this year, the GMV of TikTok Shop's fully managed business in markets such as the United States and the United Kingdom has more than doubled year-on-year. In terms of market expansion, its fully managed business has also newly entered Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Mexico, reaching more than 500 million consumers in total.

In addition, TikTok Shop also plans to include Poland as its seventh European site. According to foreign media reports, TikTok has completed the e-commerce business layout in existing markets this year, and the next round of market expansion is expected to start as early as next year.

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Although TikTok Shop's penetration in new markets is still at an early stage, judging from user awareness, brand response, and GMV growth curve, its e-commerce potential worldwide should not be underestimated.

In particular, the promotion of the fully managed model has lowered the threshold for brands to go overseas, allowing small and medium-sized merchants to quickly enter local markets with the help of the platform, achieving initial expansion with "light operation and fast launch".

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While lowering the entry barriers for overseas brands, this model has also given TikTok Shop a differentiated advantage in competition with traditional overseas e-commerce giants.

Facing competition from giants such as Amazon, Shein, and Temu, althoughTikTok Shopstill needs time to continuously optimize in supply chain integration, fulfillment efficiency, user trust, etc., its "watch and buy" instant shopping model is undoubtedly reshaping the growth paradigm of cross-border e-commerce.

Next, with the successive opening of new markets such as Poland, whether TikTok Shop can complete the transformation from "trial" to "stable operation" in Europe will become an important signal to measure how far its global e-commerce map can go.

For Chinese brands, this may be an excellent window of opportunity to regain the high ground of overseas market traffic. Seizing this opportunity is expected to achieve better development.