The TikTok store topped $134 million in US sales on Black Friday

TikTok's Black Friday sales in the United States tripled from last year to more than US $100 million (S $134 million), in a sign that TikTok's e-commerce popularity is growing despite a potential ban.

According to Bloomberg, TikTok, owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance, attracted 165% more shoppers in the two days between Black Friday (Nov. 29) and Cyber Monday (Dec. 2) compared to the same period last year.

TikTok says posts using the hashtag #tiktokshopblackfriday or #tiktokshopcybermonday have been viewed more than 7 billion times.

TikTok also said that between November 13 and December 2, a third of TikTok store users bought products from small and medium-sized businesses, but well-known brands such as Crocs, Fenty Beauty and Estee Lauder also made it to the top of the bestseller list.

The surge in holiday sales suggests that intense regulatory scrutiny has had a limited impact on user interest. The app could be banned in January, according to a new law signed by President Joe Biden. Lawmakers are concerned that TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, poses a national security threat to American users.

TikTok now has more than 170 million users in the United States, and sellers continue to use the platform to promote their products.

Mr. Biden signed a law in April requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok's U.S. operations to an American company or face a national ban, but TikTok has focused on growing its market presence in the United States.

While some sellers of the platform saw sales dip after the TikTok ban was passed, public concerns eased over the summer. According to data from the Pew Research Center in July and August, support for a TikTok ban among U.S. adults has fallen, with about half of adults saying a ban would probably not be implemented.