How to Sell on TikTok Shop? The Ultimate Guide
TikTok Shop E-commerce Integration
TikTok has become a major force for eComm firms trying to connect with younger, more engaged audiences since its debut. However, traditional advertising might feel out of place on the platform, and brands frequently discover the hard way that TikTok content needs to be innovative, unique, and authentic in order to thrive. This makes DTC marketing a harder nut to crack.
This has changed with the launch of TikTok Shop, whose integrated shopping features greatly facilitate direct product sales to interested customers. We believe it’s an unmissable opportunity for companies and should be an integral component of any social commerce strategy in 2024, with over a billion users worldwide and a distinctive culture.
We’ll lead you through every step of selling on TikTok Shop in this comprehensive merchant guide, from account setup to identifying the most effective strategies to attract new viewers and turn them into paying customers.
We believe that merchants that want to seamlessly integrate TikTok Shop with their current eCommerce shop without encountering difficulties or expensive mistakes would find it most helpful. We’ve broken down the procedure into simple phases so you can dive right in and start using the social commerce platform, or you can take a more cautious approach and swiftly scale up.
TikTok Shop: What is it?
The TikTok app offers a function called TikTok Shop that lets users find and buy things straight from TikTok videos. Users may peruse carefully selected collections, delve into product details, and complete purchases all within the app’s seamless shopping experience.
What advantages do sellers have while using TikTok Shop?
The sophisticated algorithm that TikTok Shop employs to deliver relevant information and foster a great user experience is extended to the shopping experience, with features designed especially for eCommerce:
- Users of TikTok may now make purchases from within the app, which simplifies the purchasing process and gets rid of any unwanted distractions. It’s a fantastic method to take advantage of the sense of urgency that Gen Z consumers with short attention spans already associate with platforms like TikTok.
- In addition to a variety of other inventive methods of showcasing things, such as live broadcasts, businesses and producers can connect to products that are labeled in their “shoppable” films. (We go over these choices below.)
- Shopify, WooCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, BigCommerce, and other eCommerce platforms are just a few of the platforms that merchants can integrate TikTok Shop with.
How To Open A TikTok Store: A Comprehensive Guide
It’s not too difficult to begin selling on TikTok Shop, especially if your company already uses the app for community outreach or social media promotion. In order to begin going, you need to finish the verification procedure, make sure your product listings are optimized for the platform, and look into the many selling options available to you.
We’ve put up an easy-to-follow guide to help you get started, which will lead you through the necessary processes and factors. (It’s easier than you may imagine.)
Sign up to become a legitimate seller on TikTok Shop.
A few markets, including the US, the UK (United Kingdom), and seven Asian territories, can access TikTok Shop as of early 2024. You must have an active TikTok account in order to sign up, as well as other business data to support your verification.
You might need more information than you typically have on hand if you’re an eCommerce manager or marketer registering on your company’s behalf. We advise utilizing the pertinent account to begin the procedure, making a note of everything you need, and coming back later. Alternatively, you can call your company’s legal department while working through the process.
When you set up TikTok Shop, make sure you have your business details ready.
Tax identification numbers and a registered business address are among the pertinent details that you will be required to provide for verification, contingent upon the nature of your business and the market you choose. You must designate a key representative and provide images of valid identification, such as passports or driver’s licenses, as part of the procedure.
Keep in mind that the verification procedure could need a few business days. If you think selling on TikTok Shop might be a possibility in the future, we advise you to get verified right now. Being organized has no drawbacks.
Integrate TikTok Shop with your product inventory.
Retailers who offer a large number of SKUs and have an extensive online presence may be reluctant to further complicate their omnichannel selling approach. That is incorrect. It’s quite easy to sell in large quantities on TikTok Shop without adding any physical labor.
With a few clicks, you can utilize a solution like AfterShip Feed to sync your current product listings and bring in the necessary metadata if you’re currently utilizing an eCommerce platform like Shopify, BigCommerce, or Salesforce Commerce Cloud. You also need to put in some needed qualities in order to follow TikTok Shop’s guidelines (we’ll talk about these below). It is simple to list products in bulk with AfterShip Feed since it allows you to change up to 10,000 SKUs at once.
To accurately sync your current SKUs to TikTok Shop, use the AfterShip Feed.
If your goal is to sell at a large scale on TikTok Shop, we advise you to choose an automation solution based on its dependability. Overselling and other listing problems, for instance, might lead to severe revenue losses and a heavy workload for your team. You can utilize order and inventory sync with AfterShip Feed to manage your inventory levels 100% accurately. (In addition, sophisticated features like “fulfillment hold” can automatically hold TikTok orders in the event that they are canceled for one hour after checkout.)
Ultimately, the easiest way to scale is to make sure TikTok Shop integrates with your current workflow, avoiding any possible issues with fulfillment, inventory, and customer support. In order to guarantee that customers using social media apps continue to have a wonderful experience after making a purchase, AfterShip Feed integrates seamlessly with the current fulfillment process and works with leading return solutions, such as AfterShip Returns.
- Verify that you are adhering to the vendor requirements on TikTok Shop.
- Verify that you are adhering to the vendor requirements on TikTok Shop.
In order to safeguard consumers and merchants, TikTok has policies that vendors must abide by when listing products. You may find more specific information on the TikTok Shop Academy, but in summary, you need to include the following:
- legitimate records proving brand owners’ consent.
- Product certifications include certificates for children’s products in particular categories and testing results.
- Each product’s weight, length, breadth, and height measurements. Take a size chart for apparel, for instance.
- Details about shipping in TikTok Shop, including warehouse/pickup locations, shipping templates, and return policies.
- a chosen fulfillment method that works with your eCommerce platform, such as a “Shipped by Seller” option.
Before any products you submit appear in TikTok Shop, TikTok must verify that they comply with our rules.
Additionally, TikTok Shop has an AI-powered Product Optimizer that offers suggestions for enhancing your listings for optimal platform performance, including guidance on enhancing product photographs and copy. Once more, if you manage a large number of SKUs, a bulk editing function such as the one in AfterShip Feed can assist you in adding details that are absent from your current metadata and guarantee that you adhere to TikTok’s policies and best practices.
How to Use TikTok Shop for Sales
The flexibility TikTok Shop offers merchants in terms of how they approach their business is one of the main advantages of selling there; however, it is vital to be aware of all of your possibilities. Following their addition to TikTok, your products can be promoted to users in a variety of ways:
Creating a Product Showcase will help you sell more.
Companies who have a lot of activity on their profile pages might highlight things they have for sale so that TikTok users can browse and buy right from their accounts. In addition to creating your TikTok Shop account, adding a showcase tab to your profile is a terrific way to draw attention to popular products and entice users to browse your online store. Promotional incentives such as vouchers, discounts, flash sales, and free shipping can be included.
You can offer any product in your showcase as a straight buy in shoppable videos or live streaming. If you grant permission, third parties (such as creators who have enrolled in TikTok Shop’s extensive affiliate program) may add your products to their showcase, making them accessible for sale by others in exchange for a commission.
To enhance product discovery, utilize the Shop Tab.
Everywhere TikTok Shop is available, users can access the central marketplace on their home screen through the Shop Tab. This marketplace lets users search or browse by category, just like Amazon or Etsy. To increase discoverability, it also offers featured brands and tailored suggestions.
It takes both art and science to stand out from the crowd on this shopping tab. You may improve product discovery, uncover TikTok Shop product trends, and ultimately make sure more potential buyers are finding your things by utilizing the statistics in the TikTok Seller Center and TikTok’s optimization tips for listing.
Benefit from TikTok Shop’s live shopping options.
In Asia, live shopping has already become very popular; Taobao and other similar platforms have made billions of dollars for retailers. Live product pitches are very new to North American audiences, though, outside of television shows like QVC and HSN. This is about to change, as TikTok Live gives sellers a simple way to connect with Gen Z and younger consumers—who have enormous and continuing purchasing power.
Creators can share their personal product experiences, offer product tutorials, and showcase the features and advantages of their items on TikTok Live. During these live sessions, prospective customers can ask questions, interact with the product in real time, and see it in operation. Additionally, live commerce has a whole different sense of urgency than typical eCommerce. If shoppers believe there is a good price or a limited-time offer they don’t want to miss, they will be more motivated and inclined to make a buy.
Make Shoppable Videos to appeal to particular demographics.
This platform gained popularity with its bite-sized videos, which allow TikTok artists to showcase their vibrant personalities, establish interesting and entertaining connections, and meet new people worldwide. Through the creation of branded shoppable video advertising or by guaranteeing that shopping links appear in content made by creators (UCG), retailers establish seamless shopping experiences that are centered around these identical interactions.
You can work with current creators to sell to their pre-engaged audiences, run these as ads, or produce your own organic content with branded hashtags. In addition, hashtags can be used to target a specific audience or capitalize on current trends, which could improve product discovery and increase conversion rates compared to traditional advertising.
Bonus Tip: Use TikTok Affiliates to sell through creators.
You might or might not already have followers connected to your brand account as a TikTok Shop seller. Using the TikTok Affiliate program to connect with producers who are excited about promoting your items or even sending samples is one alternative to creating in-house films or running campaigns.
The main advantage of using influencers is that they are typically both excellent at producing interesting content and have a solid reputation, even if you will have to pay commission on each transaction. Leveraging influencers’ popularity and reach can greatly increase sales and brand visibility provided you have a decent product that you are relatively confident will do well.
Learn more about the successful beauty influencers on TikTok Shop and the lessons you can take from them.
Commonly Asked Questions regarding TikTok Store
Do you still have questions? Examine these supplementary materials regarding social commerce, omnichannel marketing, and TikTok Shop:
- Is selling goods on TikTok Shop safe?
- How do product reviews influence TikTok Shop purchases?
- What is the algorithmic process of TikTok
Shop?
- What makes me unique on TikTok Shop?
- How can product trends in TikTok Shop be scraped and analyzed?
Make, Link, Grow: Making the Most of TikTok Store
The setup and initial sales of TikTok Shop are the main topics of this beginner’s guide.
However, if you’re an experienced eCommerce expert looking to integrate TikTok Shop into an omnichannel strategy, you should plan for expanding by utilizing AfterShip Feed to synchronize TikTok Shop with your current eCommerce store. With the help of this tool, you can focus more of your time on selling by reducing the need for human entry and removing expensive platform errors like overselling.
Since the social commerce platform is still in its infancy, every week, new and creative methods for connecting with audiences and winning them over as clients are being found. Now is the perfect moment to be creative, try new things, and take advantage of the chance to lead the way in social commerce going forward.