The Future of Shopping: Creativity, Discovery & Automation

At Smartly Advance in New York, TikTok convened a heavyweight panel to discuss how discovery commerce is reshaping retail.

• Lorry Destainville, Global Head of Partnerships, TikTok

• Josh Gray, Global Head of Commerce Product Strategy & Operations, TikTok

• Diana Rodriguez, Paid Social Growth Marketing Director, Nutrafol

• Moses Velasco, Chief Product Officer, Smartly

• Sam Carter, CEO, Fospha

The session examined how creativity, community, automation, and measurement are converging to define the next era of shopping.

1. Commerce as entertainment

TikTok’s Josh Gray argued that the funnel is collapsing. On TikTok, the same piece of content can inspire, inform, and convert in one swipe. Brands need to match the standards of creators rather than interrupt them. He highlighted Gap’s collaboration with a TikTok creator on a hoodie design, which sold out quickly, as an example of commerce driven by cultural participation.

2. Community-led storytelling

Diana Rodriguez of Nutrafol explained how her growth team has reorganized around creator partnerships. They produce diary-style videos showing real customer journeys, which double as performance assets. She noted TikTok search is now a performance lever: Nutrafol develops content that answers questions people are searching for, then amplifies it with paid.

3. TikTok as a performance channel

Gray also pushed back on the idea that TikTok is just for awareness. With one in four users now searching directly on TikTok, it is becoming a true performance channel. He pointed to Smart Performance Campaigns and Symphony Creative Suite, which have delivered multiples in ROAS and significant lifts in purchase for brands like Clinique.

4. Automation With a Human Edge

Smartly’s Moses Velasco underlined that automation is essential to scaling creative on TikTok, but it must be guided by people. Smartly’s AI Studio helps brands generate and test creative at speed, but Velasco was clear that human input is what ensures resonance. “AI has to be a multiplier, not a replacement,” he said.

5. Measurement as Competitive Advantage

Sam Carter of Fospha closed by addressing measurement. He noted that last-click attribution systematically undervalues TikTok and other demand generating channels, while traditional MMMs are too slow to capture fast-moving ecosystems like TikTok Shop.

Carter stressed that brands now need daily, ad-level, full-funnel measurement to reflect how people actually shop across DTC sites and marketplaces. He shared that Fospha has seen TikTok campaigns driving halo effects on Amazon sales, outcomes most tools miss. Without unified measurement, he warned, brands risk under-investing in the very channels creating growth.

The discussion showed that the future of shopping won’t be defined by infrastructure alone. Success will come from creativity that entertains, communities that validate, automation that scales, and measurement that proves impact across every channel.

For marketers, the mandate is clear: treat TikTok as both brand and performance, reorganize around creators, use automation as a force-multiplier, and demand measurement models that capture the whole path to purchase.