AGS MAGAZINE: The next e-commerce playbook

Consumers used to search for what they wanted, compare a few options and buy. That still happens, but increasingly, now the product finds them first. Can Chan, Founder of TopTier League, talks about the shift from search-led shopping to discovery commerce, how content and creators are changing the way products get launched, and where AI could take the shopping journey next.

Before the search begins

On major e-commerce platforms, especially Amazon, search is still one of the main ways consumers begin a purchase journey. Usually, they already have something in mind. They look for it, compare the products that match what they need and make a purchase.

What Can saw changing was how platforms like TikTok could introduce products to people who weren’t even searching for them. That became especially obvious around 2020, when TikTok started growing rapidly across different markets. Someone could open TikTok with no intention of buying anything, watch a 20-second video, become curious about a product, see other people using it and make a purchase within minutes. The platform wasn’t simply helping people find what they already wanted. It was also helping them discover something they didn’t even know they wanted.

But Can doesn’t see this as the end of search commerce. As he puts it, “I don’t think search commerce disappeared. Rather, another layer was added before search: content-driven discovery.”

And that distinction is already becoming less clear. Amazon is not purely intent-led anymore, just as TikTok is not purely discovery-led. Both are moving towards a mix of search, recommendation, content and personalisation. For brands, spotting that shift early could make a difference.

Can says, “The brands that understand this shift early and build their traffic strategy around it will be in a much stronger position to capture the next wave of e-commerce growth.”

Amazon vs TikTok shop

With this shift, sellers need to understand how to launch products effectively on Amazon and TikTok Shop today. For Can, they are almost two different launch systems.

On Amazon, he would start with existing demand by analysing search volume, competing products, pricing, reviews, conversion expectations, and the advertising framework. Search traffic and listing quality still do a lot of the heavy lifting.

On the other hand, TikTok Shop starts with questions like: Is this the kind of product people would stop scrolling for? What is the story? What is the hook? Who is the right creator? Is there an angle for AI-generated content? Here, content-driven traffic and the product’s potential to go viral matter most.

That requires a different set of skills from traditional search-led e-commerce. Can says, “Amazon sellers need to learn storytelling, hooks, visual communication, creator relationships, and rapid content testing.”

That’s why traditional Amazon sellers also need to become comfortable with uncertainty. Traditional e-commerce often involves optimising known variables, but discovery commerce requires more experimentation.

The timelines can also vary a lot depending on the product. And increasingly, Can would connect the two systems rather than operate them separately. That is what he has spent the past several years helping sellers understand: how to combine these two worlds rather than treat them as competing channels.

China’s head start

Adding more depth to discovery commerce, Can studied TikTok Shop and Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. China’s social commerce model offers a preview of what other markets may become, and a sense of which elements may not translate.

He found that China’s social commerce has been developing for much longer and at a much larger scale. On Douyin, entertainment, creators and transactions can all operate inside the same ecosystem. Can expects other markets to keep moving in that direction as well.

Another notable factor is livestream shopping culture, which has strong consumer adoption in China. It’s not easy, though, to transplant that behaviour overnight into major Western countries.

If there’s one lesson worth taking from China’s model, Can says it’s speed and iteration. Chinese sellers are aggressive about testing products, creative concepts, livestream formats, pricing, AI integrations, and creator partnerships. For anyone trying to succeed on TikTok Shop, that’s the habit worth building.

What comes after

Can describes what an ordinary shopping journey could look like three to five years from now, and the role Amazon, TikTok, creators and AI might each play. For him, e-commerce is moving towards what he calls AI-mediated commerce.

Imagine telling an AI system: “I’m going to Japan for five days next month. I’m travelling with my family, we’re going to walk a lot, and I want to pack light. Find me a comfortable pair of shoes, a compact power bank and a lightweight jacket. Keep the total under $400.”

Instead of giving you 10 pages of search results, the AI system could understand the context, identify suitable products, compare them, explain the trade-offs, and help you complete the purchase. But that doesn’t necessarily mean Amazon, TikTok or creators disappear. Their roles start to overlap more.

Amazon can remain a huge product, fulfilment, marketplace and transaction infrastructure, with AI increasingly built into it. TikTok can remain a discovery and entertainment engine where products are demonstrated, and demand is created. Creators still bring something different. They can show how to use a product, provide more context, and serve as a human layer between the brand and the consumer.

AI could then sit across the entire journey, connecting intent, context, discovery, comparison and purchase. That means the advantage may no longer come from being great at only one channel, making the future much more interconnected.

As Can puts it, “The brands that can create great products, generate attention, activate creators, understand their customers, and use AI to accelerate experimentation will have a very different growth model from the e-commerce businesses of the last decade.”

This article was originally published in AGS Magazine. Explore the latest issue for more in-depth interviews, straightforward analysis and informed perspectives from across the affiliate and performance marketing industry.