The Andrew Faris Podcast How TikTok Shop Turned 40M Views Into Retail Deals
Oct 3, 2025
Colin McGuire, Co-founder of Boomn and CEO of Glimmr, shares his journey of transforming a small haircare brand into a retail hit. He reveals how 40 million TikTok views in just 96 days led to a swift deal with Target, driven by cultural relevance. Colin discusses the interplay between TikTok engagement and wider retail metrics, emphasizing that while TikTok itself may not yield profits, it can fuel growth and visibility across platforms like Amazon and Meta. He also offers tactical insights on influencer strategies that helped engineer virality and market presence.
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TikTok As The Cultural Engine
- Cultural relevance on social platforms is essential for scaling premium beauty brands beyond steady ad performance.
- Colin targeted TikTok as the cultural engine to break a growth ceiling and drive discovery across channels.
40M Views, $330K In Shop Sales
- Glimmer amassed about 35–40 million TikTok views in roughly 90–100 days and saw only ~$330k in TikTok Shop sales.
- The mismatch taught Colin that revenue-per-view on TikTok Shop is much lower than expected.
Treat TikTok Shop As Prospecting
- Use TikTok Shop primarily as a prospecting engine, not a profit center, to boost other channels and retail interest.
- Cultural signals from TikTok attract retail buyers and improve paid channel efficiency elsewhere.