A Stranger Can Fall in Love With a Product in Ninety Seconds. Your Quote Takes Three Days. Somewhere tonight, a person who has never heard of a brand will watch one short video about it. Ninety seconds later, they will have paid, entered their address, and gone back to scrolling. That is not a fluke. On TikTok Shop, 67% of purchases happen with no prior intent to buy at all, according to research from Measure Protocol. The buyer did not plan it. They saw, they wanted, they got. Now compare that with how most local and service businesses handle a new enquiry. A form goes in on Tuesday. Someone replies on Thursday. A quote arrives the following week, if it arrives at all. This is the TikTok effect, and it has nothing to do with dancing or being on TikTok. It is a rewiring of what buyers expect: the shortest possible path from discovering something to acting on it. Once people taste that speed anywhere, they expect it everywhere. Including from you. What Is the TikTok Effect? The TikTok e...
“I Found You on Google” Is Hiding Three Weeks of Research. Ask your newest customer how they found you. Most will say “Google”. That one word hides the real story. Before they typed your name, they watched a YouTube video about the problem. They asked ChatGPT what a fair price looks like. They read your reviews, then your competitor’s reviews. They visited your website twice and left twice. The customer buying journey used to be drawn as a straight line. Awareness at the top, decision at the bottom, your ad somewhere in between. In 2026, that straight line is gone. What replaced it is a loop. Buyers circle between searching, comparing, forgetting and coming back. Google’s own research team calls this the messy middle. Here is why it matters. Most small businesses still spend money as if the straight line exists. They judge every channel by the last click, then cut the very things that were quietly winning them the sale. What Is a Non-Linear Customer Journey? A non-linear customer jou...