- TikTok is investing heavily in e-commerce through its TikTok Shop program.
- The company offered benefits to both participating merchants and creators.
- Here's what sellers, small businesses, and influencers need to know about using Shop.
TikTok is investing heavily in e-commerce with its TikTok Shop program, offering perks to brands and creators who participate.
Starting a TikTok Shop as a seller is easy. Brands and small businesses must apply on the TikTok Seller Center portal and upload verification documents. This feature is available in countries such as the United States, Vietnam, Singapore, United Kingdom, and Thailand.
Read TikTok's 9-page document to learn more about how to get started with Shop as a seller and best practices.
Affiliate marketing is the main way creators and brands can help increase sales. Brands give a percentage of each sale to creators who promote branded products. Creators and TikTok executives say sellers set their own commission rates, which typically range from 5% to 20%.
Read on to find out what the TikTok Shop can offer your brand, according to the executives leading the program.
How to start a TikTok shop as a seller
Brands can join TikTok Shop by applying through the platform's website.
Once you agree to the program, you can set up your own product showcase on your TikTok profile and pay creators a commission for promoting their items through affiliate marketing. A seller can set his own commission rate and choose from several affiliate plans.
- “Open” collaboration with all or selected products, and the ability to set different commission rates.
- “Targeted” collaboration. Sellers can choose the creators they want to partner with.
Sellers can access the Seller Center app to manage their shop, inventory, orders, promotions, creator collaborations, and customer service. Merchants can also integrate third-party e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, Square, Ecwid, and BigCommerce.
Is TikTok Shop free for sellers? You can register as a seller for free, but TikTok currently collects a 2% commission fee from sellers and a 30 cents fee per transaction, and will increase to 8% in July. We plan to raise it to .
When setting up a shop on TikTok, sellers must read the company's list of prohibited products. In some cases, originally approved products, such as homemade food products, may be removed because they do not comply with the company's terms and conditions. Also, sellers should be aware that TikTok uses a combination of its AI and manual reviews to track product listings. This has caused headaches for some sellers who have had to file violations that they deem unfair.
Additionally, sellers may violate TikTok's shipping and order fulfillment rules for items sold in the U.S. if the seller does not ship within the required three days. You should also pay close attention to the rules.
Read more about TikTok's 3-day shipping requirements for sellers
What TikTok Shop offers to sellers
In an effort to persuade sellers, TikTok has started offering new sellers benefits such as free shipping and discounts.
Read about how TikTok subsidized shipping and touted a 30% discount to win over U.S. sellers
TikTok encourages sellers to post videos and go live, and from time to time they organize special promotions to hopefully increase sales. In the lead-up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2023, the company ran a series of seller contests and other offers such as coupons for promoting videos within the app.
Read more about TikTok's Black Friday and Cyber Monday strategy
Some independent sellers told Business Insider that Shop has been profitable for them. One creator signed up to sell her self-published book on her TikTok, allowing her to quit her job as a nurse and focus on writing full time.
See how Adam Beswick used the TikTok Shop to become a full-time writer
But not all brands are on board with Shop, making it especially difficult to get the best companies to start selling on the app, BI reported.
Read more about how TikTok is pitching to drive marketers to shop
The company plans to start selling products directly as well as registering third-party sellers. The company launched Trendy Beat, a product page with this purpose in the UK, and reportedly plans to copy the strategy in the US.
How to start making money as a creator
Creators can apply to start selling on the shop if they meet the platform's community guidelines and other criteria, such as being over 18 and having at least 5,000 followers.
Several creators told BI they're making thousands of dollars with their shops and getting millions of views with affiliate content.
There are three ways for creators (and brands) to sell on the TikTok Shop, according to a document the company shared at a recent Web Summit.
- Live broadcast: Creators can live stream on the platform and promote their products to their audience.
- Shoppable videos: Creators can link to products on videos they publish on their profile.
- Product showcase: Creators can list their favorite products in a dedicated showcase at the top of their profile.
TikTok Shop allows creators to earn money through affiliate commissions. If you promote a product in your content, we will receive a share of the sales we make.
TikTok also offers bonuses, perks, and various exclusive programs to encourage creators to use the shop.
Check out the perks TikTok offers to encourage creators to shop
live selling tips
In addition to posting videos and having influencers promote their products, TikTok Shop encourages sellers to sell on livestreams.
The company recommends that sellers be live for at least two hours at a time when promoting their products live.
Some retailers, such as electronics retailer Newegg and luxury goods reseller What Goes Around Comes Around, are aiming for longer streaming periods, such as eight or even 24-hour streams.
“The longer you stay, the more people you can have to comment and so on,” Drew Roeder, Newegg's director of media services, told BI.
Read more about TikTok's recommendations for selling on livestreams
