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This is the second in a new series lifting the lid on Gen Z’s social media habits and their impact on fashion consumption. Read the first instalment on social media shopping hauls here.
Back in March 2020, Audrey Peters started out on TikTok like many others, posting comedy videos. Her content comprised witty sendups of New York boroughs and hotspots, a concept that eventually ran out of steam. She first experimented with a luxury unboxing video in March this year following a shopping trip to Italy. It garnered 1 million views, she recalls. “Now unboxing content is my best-performing content on TikTok,” she says. “So, I ran with it.” Since June, her views have pushed up by 160 per cent, with engagement up 140 per cent. Her profile has 37.2 million likes.
Unboxing features creators unpacking a newly purchased product and showing it to an audience online. The concept first emerged in the early 2000s on YouTube, notably in the gaming and electronics sphere. Today, it's been adopted by a new generation of TikTok creators: #unboxing has had 44.3 billion views on the platform since its launch in 2018.
TikTok content
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For luxury brands, unboxing is a low-cost way to gain endorsement from leading social media creators. However, getting their products in front of creators isn’t easy —and experts point out that it’s not possible to influence the output in the same way brands can through paid partnerships.
Similar to hauls (which usually showcase multiple products), unboxing allows social media users to live vicariously through creators. While fast fashion and thrift clothing dominate haul videos, many of the most popular unboxing videos are focused on luxury fashion and products — an online trend led, perhaps inevitably, by Kim Kardashian.
“I started watching unboxing videos back when I was a kid,” says 20 year old Dallas-based student Khandon James. “The first unboxing video that I remember was when the new Apple iPhone and iPod Touch had just come out. Seeing those gave me a feel for the product and made me want it.”
“It’s about the experience,” agrees Gabrielle Ragsale, also 20, based in San Francisco. “I love the process of unboxing, it’s kind of like Christmas. Back in the day, you would [be inspired by] reviews or maybe even pictures someone submitted, but now you can see a whole video of someone’s first impression, debunking the entire product in detail.”
“Unboxing wasn't something we necessarily thought would have longevity,” says Holly Harrison, luxury, fashion and retail brand partnerships manager at TikTok. She highlights how TikTok has reinvigorated unboxing content with visual cues and music. “We've really seen it lean into people's desire to tell stories about fashion.”
Unboxing is very effective at increasing creators’ all-important watch times on TikTok, Peters says. “People can decide what they think of it. Whether they love or hate it, they want to see what’s inside. At the end of the day, it’s engagement.”
Low-cost marketing, high returns
Influencers point out that luxury unboxing videos tend to be paid for by brands gifting the product rather than paying them fees typically associated with hauls. British fashion creator Mira Al-Momani is known for her haul-style videos, often featuring emerging designers, but is now posting unboxing videos featuring products from the likes of Balmain and Mulberry. “I’ve been doing less haul-style videos and focusing more on when a luxury brand sends a piece — I’ll open it and give a genuine reaction to it.” Her audience, she says, loves sharing in her excitement.
“It’s very clever on the [brands’] part to gift product,” she says. “With a gift and no expectation, I’m so grateful. I have the thrill that those who watch unboxings feel. So, I’m likely to post.”
Peters also buys many of her luxury unboxing products herself. “My shopping has increased because unboxings do so much better than other types of content — it’s an investment in myself,” she says, explaining how they create a virtuous circle in which unboxings drive up her viewing statistics and in return help to inflate the fees she can charge for more conventional hauls or brand partnerships. “I might spend a lot of money on a luxury item but because it gets me so many followers and so much engagement, for my next partnership I can charge more.”
It’s not all good news. While luxury unboxing videos can make the luxury shopping experience accessible to young consumers, they can also unleash a scramble for low-cost, fast fashion dupes. “It does boost luxury goods [sales] but there’s a dark side to it too, which I’ve seen on my videos,” says Al-Momani. One user commented on her unboxing of a Balenciaga Le Cagole bag with a link to a dupe by a Chinese e-tailer.
More positively, here’s a paradox to consider — unboxing is being utilised to combat overproduction in the fashion system. Heat, a startup that raised $5 million in seed funding early this year, allows luxury brands to monetise unsold inventory via buzzy drops of surprise merchandise. It has seen the potential of pairing the excitement of unboxing with the fun of its mystery box format. “I've always watched a lot of YouTube and saw unboxing content getting tons of engagement. I enjoyed watching people's reactions, seeing if they got a good haul, if they got value for money. That made me want to try it out myself,” says Heat co-founder Joe Wilkinson. “The idea had worked with beauty boxes and was massively taking off within sneaker/streetwear culture, so it made sense to pair that product with a mystery box format.”
Heat’s community regularly shares unboxing of its latest mystery Heatbox. The brand leans into this with paid partnerships in the run up to a Heatbox drop. “Potential customers see their favourite creators opening Heatboxes in the lead up to a launch. That builds up anticipation for the next drop,” Wilkinson says.
What makes great unboxing?
Julia Peterson, an analyst at youth culture agency Archrival, emphasises the need for unboxing to be authentic to appeal to young consumers. “They want to learn how a specific product could fit into their life before they buy it,” she says. Peterson highlights its inspirational power. “Unboxing is inspirational in the way Instagram photos can be. It gives people inspiration about what to wear and also where to wear it.”
TikTok content
This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.
Tiktoker Peters advises brands to think creatively about “really interesting ways of presenting a product… and telling its story”. She likes to explain the history of products and share tips on how to access exclusive items, such as the Hermès Kelly bag.
High-end luxury is more compelling for unboxing than mainstream fashion, many creators say. Peters has experimented with brands such as The Frankie Shop and Reformation to make her content more accessible to a wider audience. High-end luxury was “without question” better performing, she says. A Frankie Shop haul received 160,000 views in two days versus 1.1 million views for a Celine unboxing and 4.2 million views for her video titled “come with me to Paris to get a Kelly”.
Young consumers appreciate the educational value of unboxing videos. US student Khandon James says that when he sees a product he likes, he’ll research an unboxing video for it. “When it comes to fashion, I like the influencers that really focus on the quality of the material. Whether or not it's stretchy. If you can wash it in the washing machine or dry clean.”
TikTok’s Harrison notes an increase in unboxing content that is lifestyle-focused and connected to day-in-the-life narratives. Creators such as Melissa's Wardrobe might unbox a dress and then show themselves wearing it at an event. “It allows for people to really get excited about the story, but also in a really authentic way. It’s almost product placement for brands within people’s real lives, which I think is really exciting. It shows how TikTok is an entertainment platform. Product placement with these stories can really resonate.”
Creators should be given freedom, Peters insists. “Sometimes I’ll get such intricate briefs as to how they want the box to be held exactly or how they want me to flip the camera. But I warn them, it might tank,” she says. “TikTok is different from Instagram. I get from the corp side there are KPIs they want to hit and messages they want. But, at the end of the day the only way unboxing can get a lot of views is if you let creators do it their way.”
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