TikTok just became the first non-gaming app to surpass US$10 billion in consumer spending! 

According to the app analytics firm, data.ai, TikTok users have spent more than US$10 billion on in-app purchases since 2016.

The only other apps that have crossed this milestone are games such as Candy Crush Saga, Clash of Clans and a few others. 

The US$10 billion club is a super hard one to join, especially for a non-gaming app. But if any app could do it, of course it would be TikTok, which has over one billion monthly active users.

But exactly how did they do it?

Well, according to data.ai, the bulk of the spending came from TikTok’s in-app purchases of coins.

Coins are a TikTok virtual currency that users can spend on gifts for creators on the platform. I’m sure you’ve seen videos of influencers playing taps and roses, and getting roses, lions, flaming hearts, etc…. Ice cream so good!

Well, users have to buy coins first before giving these gifts to creators. Creators can then cash out the gifts as real money and TikTok keeps about 50% of the payout.

So a lion is worth almost 30,000 coins and pays out about US$400- creators get half and TikTok gets half. Roses are worth one coin and the payout is about seven cents, and the list goes on and on. There are close to a hundred different gifts that users can give creators, each with varying payouts. 

The report said consumers spend over US$11 million per DAY tipping their favourite content creators. And it’s a win-win for TikTok.  They make money selling the coins and they get half of the payout.

TikTok also makes money outside of in-app purchases, like through advertising and e-commerce with TikTok shop, but data.ai said those weren’t counted in its analysis.

Even though TikTok is the only non-game app to join the US$10 billion club, there are a couple of other non-game apps that pull in billions. Tinder and YouTube both trail TikTok by $2 to $3 billion.

According to data.ai, TikTok is on track to become the highest-earning mobile app ever, surpassing Candy Crush and hitting the US$15 billion mark in 2024.

So if you’ve been sleeping on TikTok, it’s time to wake up…  and that’s the bottom line.