TikTok Shop Unveils Virtual Gift Cards to Counter Amazon and eBay

TikTok Shop has rolled out a feature where customers can purchase electronic gift cards, ensuring it’s easy to share the power of the wide range of products on the application with loved ones.

Rollout during the holiday seasons makes the timing of this announcement even more important for TikTok Shop, which is eager to position itself in the market. By introducing digital gifting services, the platform now has the opportunity to rival others such as Amazon and eBay, which have gift cards available. Additionally, the platform has continued to introduce luxury retail services.

Gift cards can be loaded with denominations of funds between $10 and $500, making them unique with features such as animated designs to celebrate birthdays, weddings, thank-you messages, and other events. Gift cards will be delivered to customers through email, and a user must have a TikTok account to receive the gift cards. Upon receiving a gift card, funds will be credited to their account instantly, and customers can send an appreciation message or even return the gift card.

At the moment, the gift cards are only available in the US. TikTok intends to improve the service by early 2026 so that people can link a message or a recording to their gift cards. The company has also hinted at having an "interactive unboxing" functionality that records the reaction of the person opening it in real time.

"To celebrate, TikTok Shop is kicking off a series of launches in various countries around the world," announced Avery Phillips, a TikTok spokesperson. "After a huge milestone for TikTok Shop, in which it reached over $500 million in sales over Black Friday and Cyber Monday in the

However, TikTok Shop has an uncertain situation in the U.S., as the potential buyout of its operations by an American investor has remained pending. If not sold, TikTok will soon face a ban in the U.S. President Trump has extended the deadline to January 23, 2026.