A can of lemon and ginseng flavoured energy drink bearing the brand name Mission is the go-to for Joe Yates when I meet him.
As the 24-year-old chief executive of a rapidly growing Tiktok shopping agency, Somerce, it is on point. Yates is certainly on a mission.
He cracks open his second can of the stuff as we sit down in the trendy coffee shop – daubed in graffiti art and yellow paint – that sits in the bottom floor of the agency’s office and studio space in an unassuming block just off Caledonian Road in North London.
‘I want to be the leading voice in social commerce,’ he says.
Somerce, a portmanteau of the words social and commerce, specialises in just that; the rapidly growing industry of selling products on social media.
In particular, the company specialises in live shopping on Tiktok – a bit like QVC, but for the internet age. Presenters share shifts of up to 14 hours, selling to their audience on the app.
Yates says his 60 clients have sold £100million worth of products through him this year so far.
On a mission: Somerce provides companies with the ability to run Tiktok live shopping, content creation and Tiktok advertising
The industry is a growing one, and has already reached significant heights in the US and especially in China, where it is expected to surpass more than $1trillion in 2026.
In the UK, live selling is still in its relative infancy, but is already worth some £7.4billion and rising.
The biggest platform for live shopping is Tiktok, where influencers sell products on its real-time video service Tiktok live. However, other platforms are also wading into the market. Live selling platform Whatnot launched in the UK in 2022, while the likes of Ebay are also entering the space.
Unsurprisingly, retailers and brands are keen to capitalise on this new form of selling – but few have the infrastructure, or the expertise, in place to do so.
This is where Yates and Somerce come in.
It provides brands with everything from the studio set-up, to filming and livestream management, and even show presenters.
Somerce is in the process of expanding its footprint to two new studios, giving great capacity to operate simultaneous livestreams
Though still in his early twenties, Staffordshire native Yates has the makings of a serial entrepreneur. He sold his first business – a social media management firm called Unknown Marketing – in 2022 for a seven-figure sum. By that point, he had built a team of 30 people.
Yates set up Somerce just over a year ago to provide companies with the ability to run Tiktok live shopping, content creation and Tiktok advertising. He appears to have barely stopped for breath since.
‘We have a live business,’ Yates says, ‘and we have influencer marketing, paid media and content.’
In the eighteen months or so that Somerce has been running, the business has grown to have more than 40 employees, and is working with major brands like Unilever and L’Oreal.
Yates told This is Money: ‘I knew a lot of brands were really going to struggle with this and they have. And that’s why we exist and why we’re the number one in the UK.
‘Some brands could do it themselves, but we have the knowledge of how to do so, we train everyone in our team on the systems – brands don’t know these systems and processes.
‘We’ve done it before so many times, we know the recipe for success.’
A floor above where we are sitting, all of this is in play.
Since early afternoon the day I visit, Somerce has been running a live shopping stream which will last until 10pm.
This is a significant live stream for Somerce and its client, beauty brand Glow For It.
In front of an extensive camera set up, all controlled from a series of computer monitors, Glow For It founder Daisy Kelly stands alongside a Somerce-hired Tiktok live presenter as they sell products to the hundreds viewing the stream at any one time.
‘I have been told there’s only two available, so you’re going to need to be quick to add that to your cart at the discounted price,’ Kelly says to the camera, holding up Glow’s new “lash recharge” product.
‘Ten seconds until we drop it,’ she adds, ‘Who’s ready? Only two bundles available.’
Yates (left) has run live shopping events with Glow For It Founder Daisy Kelly
From behind the camera, one of six or so Somerce employees working behind the scenes calls ‘five seconds.’
‘Five seconds left,’ Kelly tells viewers, ‘go, go, go guys.’
For anyone who has watched online shopping channels, the tempo feels very similar – but being online means they can interact with customers in real time, rather than simply watching the orders roll in.
Kelly and her fellow presenter read and respond to the viewers comments while they’re on the stream.
‘Elaine said, I have just ordered the hair growth serum today. We love that, Elaine. Thank you. Cannot wait for your journey with us. Thank you for your order.’
l like the pressure to keep succeeding… sometimes I think I’d like the easier life, but I don’t think I could ever do it
Half a minute later, all the orders have been locked in.
‘It feels like community,’ Yates says, ‘When [make-up brands] Made by Mitchell or P. Louise go live, that community love it, especially if the founders are on.’
‘Then they make loads of money,’ he says.
This community, Yates claims, reinvents the feel of the high street.
‘It is going full circle, retail is becoming more experiential,’ he says. He points to new flagship brand stores which focus on customer experience, pointing to the likes of the Nike store on London’s Regent Street and Space NK on Oxford Street.
Somerce, Yates says, tries to create a memorable customer experience that suits each brand it works with.
In a studio across the corridor, Yates shows me another live-streamer selling health supplements. Tailored to the company’s audience, the set-up couldn’t be more different.
Instead of music and a rush to sell, the live-streamer sits alone in the studio taking viewers through the products on sale.
She controls each purchase made using the tablet in front of her, as she demonstrates products at the same time.
Somerce is in the process of expanding its footprint to three new studios in London, giving great capacity to operate simultaneous livestreams. The company also has three studios in Manchester.
‘She’ll do a three hour shift and then come off,’ Yates says. It’s a world away from the high octane rapid-fire style of Glow’s livestream, that sees Somerce presenters rotate at regular intervals over the course of some ten hours.
Yates is doing a 14-hour shift to run a livestream a few days later, he says.
‘There’s always more to do,’ he says, ‘Thursday is a massive opportunity.’
‘When I look back, I would only have dreamt of having worked with brands like L’Oreal and to be connected with all these people.
‘As an entrepreneur, like the pressure to keep succeeding… sometimes I think I’d like the easier life, but I don’t think I could ever do it.’
