How to Sell on TikTok Shop: Everything You Need to Know

TikTok Shop is so hot right now — but does it live up to the hype?

Set to reach 955 million global users by 2025, TikTok is the fastest-growing channel right now, investing heavily into social commerce and, with it, its newest offering, TikTok Shop. 

Launched in the US in 2023, TikTok Shop was created for retailer brands to showcase and sell products used in live videos, tagged in content, pinned on brand profiles, or marketed in a new Shop tab.

@tiktokshop_us Welcome to TikTok Shop! Follow us to stay up to date on top trends, deals, and so much more. Happy shopping! #TikTokShop ♬ original sound – TikTok Shop 🇺🇸

In this post, we take you through how to sell on TikTok Shop the right way, giving you everything you need to crush TikTok product sales.

What Is TikTok Shop, and Is It Worth the Shopping Buzz?

TikTok-powered shopping was created as a way for brands to authentically connect with communities and content creators (influencers) to sell products. In short, it’s where entertainment meets commerce, and it’s making a huge buzz right now. Here’s a breakdown of TikTok Shop hype from our social guru Brandon. 

 

@storeya.com Comment below if you are selling on TikTok shop! #tiktokshop #shopify #ecommerce ♬ original sound – StoreYa.com

There are four native ways that TikTok Shop enables brands to sell (and users to buy) products. These include:

1. Shopping tab
2. LIVE Shopping 
3. Shoppable videos 
4. Product showcases 

Let’s take a quick look at each. 

1. Shopping Tab

TikTok users can now search to find and shop your product listings, shoppable content, and promotional campaigns in the TikTok Shopping portal. The Shop tab feature, which displays the TikTok Shop marketplace, divides products into categories for beauty, women’s clothing, electronics, food, and more.

 

2. LIVE Shopping 

With LIVE Shopping, TikTok users can shop directly from a livestream — by browsing the shopping basket icon or tapping on pinned products. When paired with LIVE Shopping ads that help people on TikTok discover and watch your videos and buy your products, TikTok LIVE Shopping can be incredibly powerful. 

How powerful?

 

@storeya.com Are you running your business through tiktok shop? #ecommerce #shopify #tiktokshop ♬ Powerful songs like action movie music – Tansa

3. Shoppable Videos 

Shoppable videos are in-feed videos that TikTok users can shop from by tapping the product link or basket icon.

4. Product Showcases 

A product showcase is where TikTok shoppers can shop directly from a content creator or brand account, getting product access within the TikTok app.

 

 

TikTok also includes another critical tool TikTok sellers can use to leverage the Amazon-like marketplace features of TikTok Shop: TikTok’s Affiliate Program.

TikTok Shop is available to sellers, creators, partners, and affiliates, and, when combined with TikTok Ads, can be an excellent conversion driver. P.Louise Cosmetics, for instance, was looking to scale up orders and drive return on ad spend using their TikTok Catalog. To do this, they used Video Shopping Ads via TikTok Shop and Spark Ads to spotlight specific products. 

And the results? They were able to reach over 10k completed payments — their highest number ever — while running their TikTok campaign. They also saw their overall ROAS dramatically improve after they combined TikTok Shop paid ads with their website conversion campaigns. 

Another brand that has had massive success with TikTok Shop since its launch is skincare eCommerce brand Love & Pebble. After leveraging the power of TikTok Shop’s Creator Affiliate program and boosting content with Shop Ads to drive sales, they saw a 1,194% increase in sales and 3.2X better ROAS.

TikTok Shop vs. Facebook Shop 

There are critical differences between these two social commerce platforms and marketplaces. While shops on Facebook and Instagram focus on providing online storefronts for brands that are shoppable on either platform, TikTok Shops also offer a marketplace (the Shopping tab) whereby users can shop across brands — similar to how one would on Amazon. 

Additionally, while Facebook and Instagram Shop showcase static video and images, TikTok prioritizes short-form video content, pushing product discovery through viral video content.

How Much Does It Cost to Sell on TikTok Shop?

Creating your TikTok Shop account is free, but then you will need to consider the costs of creators (influencer marketing), TikTok Shop ads (social marketing), and the commission fee that TikTok charges sellers. Let’s look at rough costs for each.

The cost of selling on TikTok Ads will depend on the number of products you sell, the number of influencers you have, whether you are using affiliates, what campaigns you are running, etc. Like with Amazon, the commission charge will vary depending on what industry your products fall under. You will also need to consider affiliate marketing costs if you opt for it. 

And is selling on TikTok Shop worth it?

Like with any social media campaign, you need to tweak and optimize your strategies and your ads until you find the optimum ROAS for your business. You also want to start marketing with TikTok Shopping on a good footing, so the foundation you lay is essential. Something that the rest of this post will help you achieve! 

Let’s get TikTok selling!

How to Start Selling Your Products on TikTok Shop the Right Way

Step #1: Setting Up Your TikTok Shop 

First, you want to set up your Shop through the TikTok Seller Center. You can do this manually through TikTok Sellers Central, or automatically from an existing category using a TikTok service app. For instance, if you’re on Shopify, you can install the TikTok sales channel app and set up TikTok Shop in your Shopify admin. 

Either way, the onboarding for TikTok includes a short registration process to confirm the TikTok account and region and then the terms and conditions pop-up. You will then follow two verification steps: 

1. Verify your documents and business information (which can take up to 24 hours) 
2. Upload your first product 

Step #2: Adding Products to Your TikTok Shop 

Next, you want to start adding products to your TikTok Shop. If you’re using an app on Shopify, this can be done automatically. If not, you need to manually upload your products one by one or in batches. After this, you need to optimize product information and set up inventory management. 

Either way you add products, you need to first complete stage one of Shop setup, which includes setting your shipping fees template and reading through the TikTok product guidelines.

[Source: TikTok Academy] 

To make sure you start off the right way, here’s a video course from TikTok’s Seller Academy that takes you through all the steps — in detail — of adding products to TikTok Shop.

Expert TikTok Shop Optimization and Marketing Hacks

Now that you know the basics of starting a TikTok Shop and loading products for the TikTok Shopping marketplace, let’s look at some optimization and marketing hacks you can use to get a head start on your competitors.  

1. Tweak and Improve Product Catalog Performance

As you would with any social commerce platform, you want to tweak each product listing and optimize your product catalog as a whole. Like with any online store or marketplace, the first impression a TikTok shopper gets when they visit your storefront matters. On a basic level, this means being aesthetically consistent and recognizable while ensuring you use good product photos.

As a side note, optimizing your product catalog will help your TikTok Shopping ad performance. Here are best practices for ensuring you have a high-quality TikTok product catalog:

1. Keyword research. Like any social commerce channel or marketplace, you want to do some keyword research for product listing optimization. This means using keyword research or search tools like the TikTok Shop Search feature to identify keyword opportunities for your TikTok product listings.   
2. Number of product catalogs. TikTok suggests that you upload all products into a single catalog (instead of creating multiple catalogs). They then recommend, especially for larger retailers, that you divide your catalog into multiple feeds. This will enable you to manage all your TikTok marketplace inventory from one place and ensure everything is up to date and running smoothly. 
3. Product video and images. To improve product visibility, you should aim to use high-quality product videos or images of at least 500 x 500 pixels. TikTok will not approve product photos without meeting these minimum requirements. You also want to follow good eCommerce product photography best practices, such as avoiding blurred images, placeholders, or distracting logos or white backgrounds.
4. Titles and Descriptions. You want to avoid any spelling mistakes or unrecognizable symbols such as ®, ™, or © that may result in product disapproval. You also don’t want to make exaggerated or false claims. Ensure your headlines are straightforward and your product descriptions are detailed and captivating. Here’s a good product description example.

You also want to be sure that you integrate your TikTok Shop marketing

 

2. Revamp Your TikTok Content with an Emphasis on Engagement 

Yes, you want your videos to be shoppable, but you also need them to be engaging! While product links ensure TikTok users can actually start buying from you, the videos are what draws them in. Partnering up with the right content creator and utilizing UGC is a great place to begin. Ultimately, you want to ensure you are creating compelling content that’s authentic and relatable. 

To get you started, here are a few tips for revamping your content strategy and creating engaging TikTok content:

1. Review your TikTok audience. The first thing you want to do is look at your audience more closely. What are their demographics, preferences, and interests? What type of content resonates with them, and what videos don’t? What other accounts are they following and engaging with? This not only helps you better plan your content strategy but could point to missed opportunities for your entire marketing strategy.  
2. Consider video length. TikTok was designed for short-form video content, so don’t go overboard with your content length. Even though there are much longer options available, you want to keep most of your TikTok account content around 7 to 15 seconds — the shorter, the better. Everything about TikTok is fast. This means if you’re repurposing content from other social media platforms, you need to cut back. 
3. Post consistently. With TikTok content, you want to be consistent. As we discussed above, TikTok’s pace is swift. Therefore, to stay relevant and keep your audience engaged, you will need to post regularly.  
4. Invest in influencers and TikTok partners. By collaborating with the right TikTok creators or co-marketing with other brands, you have the opportunity to reach new markets. This can be easy (and fun) to do with TikTok features such as stitch videos, joint challenges, or duets — to name a few.  
5. Turn to TikTok Analytics. TikTok Analytics is a good place to gauge overall performance and the health of your content strategy. This includes total comments, views, and likes to see which topics or video formats are working better for your specific audience. 
6. Keep up with trends. Trends, popular challenges, and viral sounds are all great ways to boost not only visibility but also engagement. Trending topics and formats (such as the current TikTok trend, silent review) can reach new audiences and capture viewers’ attention. 

@itscassiethorpe A silent review of all my designer mini bags #silentreviews #silentreview #designerbags #bagtok #minibags #luxurybags #designerminibags ♬ original sound – CA$$IE

For more video content tips, visit our Winning TikTok Video Ideas and Best Practices [+ Examples] post. 

3. Get Very Professional with Your TikTok Ads  

If you want to sell products and dominate your niche, TikTok Shop and TikTok Ads go hand-in-hand. The trick is using the right ads in the right combination. 

Including product tags is not enough. As you would with any marketing channel strategy, you want to test various ad campaign types and optimize each until they perform at their peak. This means: 

• Using TikTok trends and storytelling templates
• Establishing quantifiable performance targets
• Partnering with TikTok creators to boost authenticity and reach
• Making the first three seconds count
• Switching your ads (more than you might on other platforms) every seven days 
• Closing with a good CTA 

For more advanced TikTok Ads and marketing tips, visit these three guides: 

1. TikTok Marketing: How to Create a Strategy That Converts
2. [Case Study] 9+ Winning TikTok Ad Examples and Why They Work
3. The Ultimate Guide: TikTok Ads for eCommerce

4. Register Your TikTok Shop for TikTok’s Affiliate Program 

The next way you can boost your TikTok selling success is to sign up for the TikTok Affiliate program. Unlike the more traditional TikTok influencer marketing, where you pair with one creator, the TikTok Affiliate program opens up your products to all creators signed up, as well. 

To sign up, eCommerce brands simply need to follow these three steps.

You can then choose between three types of TikTok Affiliate plans: 

1. Shop plan. This Affiliate plan enables you to set one flat commission rate for all products in your TikTok Shop. 
2. Open plan. Open to all creators, this plan allows you to create different rates for different products. 
3. Targeted plan. For brands wanting to keep the circle small, the Targeted plan is where you invite only a picked group of creators to promote selected products.

Here’s a rundown of how the most popular Affiliate plan, the Open plan, works.

The bottom line is that the TikTok Affiliate program offers more selling opportunities for a brand’s TikTok Shop while helping creators monetize their content creation. Similar to Amazon affiliate marketing, brands only pay commission if a sale is made from a creator’s product link. 

That’s not to say influencer marketing is dead! 

5. Upgrade Your Influencer Marketing by Partnering with the Right TikTok Creators 

Partnering with the right TikTok creators is a great way to boost your TikTok Shop. It does this by: 

• Increasing reach to new audiences 
• Gathering social proof for TikTok marketing 
• Driving more authentic content on TikTok 
• Encouraging better user interaction and engagement 

At the end of the day, partnering with a TikTok creator will help you drive TikTok Shop awareness and product sales because of the increasing reach, better engagement, and additional social proof that builds real-time trust. Additionally, it allows you to tap into the unique tap into the ingenuity of creators to build more innovative and original on-brand marketing campaigns, which can entice potential shoppers and help differentiate your brand and products from your competitors’.

Wrap Up 

Now you have everything you need to know to sell on TikTok Shop — and sell well. Ultimately though, you will need to tweak your TikTok Shopping strategies and Shopping ads until your ROAS improves. 

Want to stay up to date with TikTok Shop marketplace news? Post Yes! in the comment section below, and we will reach out to get you opted into our weekly eCommerce news updates. 

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