Imagine sipping on whipped coffee you made after watching a TikTok, only to find out that instant coffee

is suddenly sold out everywhere. That is not just your average viral moment. That is a real-time

economics lesson playing out in supermarkets around the world. Platforms like TikTok have become

more than entertainment. They are now unpredictable market movers. They create demand out of thin air

and force suppliers, entrepreneurs, and even economists to scramble in response.

We live in a time where a single 15-second video can spike nationwide demand for a kitchen gadget, a

rare cheese, or a face mask. These digital moments produce what economists call a demand shock. That

means a sudden, unexpected increase in the quantity of a good or service that consumers want to buy,

often with no warning to those producing or selling it.

Take the early lockdown days. The Dalgona coffee trend from South Korea caught fire in India, the

United States, and just about everywhere else with caffeine. Google reported that searches for “whipped

coffee” shot up by more than 1,800 percent in March 2020. Grocery stores in multiple countries saw

instant coffee fly off shelves. A decades-stable supply chain was rattled by one viral recipe.

Then came baked feta pasta. When Finnish food blogger

Jenni Häyrinen posted the recipe, it exploded on TikTok.

Sales of feta cheese spiked so quickly that supermarkets

in Finland ran out completely. That was not just a food

trend. It was a demand shift large enough to be measured

in national inventory. Fashion has had its turn too. Crocs,

long mocked and memed, staged one of retail’s strangest

comebacks. Between 2020 and 2022, the company’s

share price tripled, not because of innovation, but because

influencers and Gen Z turned the shoe into an ironic

statement.

Where demand explodes, teenage entrepreneurs follow. The

easiest way in is dropshipping. You set up a store online, list

a product from a third-party supplier, and when someone

buys, the supplier ships it directly. Your job is to market and

pocket the margin. This model thrives when products go

viral. LED light strips, jellyfish lamps, avocado slicers, all

had their time in the spotlight. The first wave of sellers

usually made serious money with almost no upfront costs.

That is first-mover advantage in action. Enter early, and you get higher prices, easier marketing, and more

forgiving customers. Enter late, and you fight over scraps.

But why do people rush in the first place? Psychology. The Fear of Missing Out, or FOMO, pushes

consumers to act fast when they see peers buying. Herd behavior kicks in, with people following the crowd instead of checking prices or questioning necessity. Social media only makes this stronger. Millions of likes and comments turn a random item into a must-have. Normally, when prices rise, demand falls. But viral products bend this rule. Economists call it low price elasticity. TikTok Shop showed this in 2024, when cloud lamps and skincare rollers sold out within hours

even after prices went up. Sellers had a small window to charge more without losing sales.

In the end, timing is everything. Entrepreneurs who spot trends early win big. By the time a product hits

mainstream, margins shrink, competition multiplies, and the hype fades. From whipped coffee to Crocs,

viral moments prove that the internet does not just mirror the market, it drives it. Every trend is a tiny

economic event, and sometimes those fifteen seconds of fame can shake entire supply chains and create

thousands in profit. All it takes is attention, timing, and a good algorithm.