E-commerce trends
How Tabs Chocolate Bet Everything on UGC with TikTok
Julie Cauville
April 14, 2023
Tabs Chocolate turned a provocative product category into a multi-product e-commerce brand without spending on paid advertising. Founded in late 2021 by Jake Lewin and Oliver Brocato, the company scaled past $11M in revenue and 100,000 customers within roughly 18 months by relying entirely on TikTok and user-generated content. By 2026, Tabs rebranded with Studio Freight and expanded into mood-boosting product lines like Groove Tabs. The brand continues to be cited as a textbook UGC-first playbook in D2C e-commerce.
The founders took inspiration from a viral TikTok video featuring Sextz, another sex chocolate company, and decided to build a premium brand around the same concept. With a focus on User-Generated Content (UGC) and influencer partnerships on TikTok, Tabs Chocolate grew rapidly. Oliver Brocato has since exited the company at age 22 and moved on to new ventures including Bustem, a brand protection service for e-commerce.
Capitalizing on the power of UGC and TikTok
Jake and Oliver saw early that User-Generated Content (UGC) on TikTok could replace traditional paid acquisition entirely. Instead of running ads, they paid micro-influencers to produce short-form videos featuring the product, then reposted the best performers across a network of TikTok accounts they controlled.
The numbers back up that bet. 80% of Gen Z consumers rely on user-generated videos when making purchase decisions (Buzzinly, 2026). 37% of users trust content creators more than brands when finding new products, and Gen Z makes purchases on social media four times more often than older generations (McKinsey).
Tabs Chocolate's partnership with influencer Macia Wolf showed what a single piece of UGC could do: one TikTok post pulled in over 6.7 million views and 643K likes, translating to nearly $50K in direct sales.
UGC ads also outperform traditional display across the board: 4x higher click-through rate at 50% lower cost per click (Archive, 2026), and a 29% higher conversion rate compared to campaigns without user content (Search Logistics, 2026).
Building a UGC machine with TikTok: Tabs Chocolate's secret sauce
Tabs Chocolate built its content engine by recruiting a network of trusted creators to produce unboxing videos and reviews aligned with their brand. Consumers are 2.4 times more likely to notice UGC over branded content, giving creator-made videos a built-in attention advantage.
They collaborated with influencers who created TikTok videos featuring their product and reposted them on a network of TikTok accounts they managed. Paying influencers around $100 per 100,000 views, this cost-effective model kept customer acquisition costs low while scaling reach.
The system ran on volume, not celebrity. Rather than booking a few large creators, Tabs partnered with dozens of rising stars and micro-influencers who fit the brand's tone, ensuring a steady stream of fresh content without single-creator dependency.
How did Tabs Chocolate decode its TikTok audience?
Tabs Chocolate used Google Analytics and Shopify CRM data to build a detailed customer profile: young, adventurous buyers who responded to provocative, shareable content. That profile shaped every creator partnership and content brief that followed.
They focused on factors like profession, hobbies, social platform usage, and buying frequency to match creators with the right audience segments. This data-driven approach meant the brand's UGC felt native to each viewer's feed rather than forced.
The payoff went beyond individual viral moments. A Social Snowball case study confirmed the long-term impact: a 17% increase in influencer-attributed revenue and a 9.8x ROI on creator campaigns. By working with influencers who aligned with their brand, Tabs turned customers into advocates who not only bought the product but actively promoted it.
How did Tabs Chocolate find the right UGC creators?
Tabs Chocolate found UGC creators by identifying and contacting rising stars and micro-influencers who fit their brand's category or were in adjacent niches. They considered factors like the creators' audiences, content styles, and values to ensure their UGC would resonate with their ideal customers.
Their strategy involved asking key questions during the planning phase: objectives, content format, and core values to communicate. By understanding their audience's preferences and the influencers they followed, Tabs Chocolate selected creators who produced authentic, engaging content.
One example of their success is partnering with Emily, a true brand ambassador, whose TikToks can be found on their account. By choosing the right creators, Tabs Chocolate built a UGC machine that drove engagement and sales on TikTok.
Tabs Chocolate's sweet recipe for success
Tabs Chocolate proved that a UGC-first strategy can take a brand from zero to eight figures without paid ads. The playbook was clear: pick a product people want to talk about, build a network of micro-influencers, pay for performance, and let the content compound across TikTok.
The company expanded well beyond its original product after a full rebrand by Studio Freight. Through http://tabs.co, the brand now sells product lines like Boost, Chill, and Dream alongside its original chocolate, all marketed as vegan and guilt-free. Oliver Brocato moved on to new ventures, but the playbook Tabs built remains one of the clearest examples of how UGC-first marketing can scale an e-commerce brand from zero.
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