TikTok has become one of the most popular social networks worldwide, with over 1.5 billion users. It regularly introduces new tools to maintain user engagement. Can you shop on TikTok? Previously, shopping on TikTok occurred as creators mentioned products and viewers purchased them elsewhere.
However, TikTok has now officially launched a new shopping feature called TikTok Shop. This anticipated social shopping service lets people browse and buy items within the TikTok app itself.
So, what is TikTok Shop? LitCommerce will give you a quick review of the TikTok Shop and its main features. We’ll cover:
- What is TikTok Shop?
- Who can access TikTok Shop?
- What TikTok shopping features can sellers use?
- Is it worth selling on TikTok?
Read these following reviews to seize the chance and start your business with TikTok Shop now!
What is TikTok Shop?
TikTok Shop is an eCommerce feature of TikTok, which serves as an online marketplace. More detailedly, TikTok Shop allows merchants, brands, and creators to display and sell items directly on this short video platform. People can shop with TikTok via video feeds, live streams, and product pages. All items and services are promoted in video format on TikTok. Accordingly, this makes shopping more fun and casual on this platform.
How to make a TikTok shop? Check out our How to Set Up TikTok Shop article now for a detailed guide with easy steps!
Who Can Access TikTok Shop?
Not everyone can sell or shop with TikTok. When TikTok Shop first launched, it was only available for certain Shopify retailers in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. The company wanted to test the shopping feature with a smaller group before expanding more broadly.
In September 2021, TikTok announced at their first TikTok World event that they were expanding TikTok Shopping to more countries. These include some other Asian countries like Vietnam and Thailand and European one such as The UK. You can check TikTok’s website for all eligible locations.
When signing up for TikTok Shop to earn money, you can choose to be in one of these four categories:
- Sellers: Companies or individuals that directly sell products through their TikTok profiles.
- Creators: Influencers or content producers who promote products and items to their followers.
- Partners: Businesses assist sellers and creators with eCommerce services on TikTok Shop. If you have an eCommerce solution to ease the selling process on TikTok, you can sign up as a partner.
- Affiliates: Affiliates refer to marketing channels for sellers to find influencers or creators to earn a commission by referring sales. If you already have a seller account or creator account, you can sign up to this program.
Here is a small note for anyone who will sell on TikTok soon:
- If you are a licensed business, you can start selling on TikTok Shop as a seller. You can learn more TikTok Shop guides for business via this article about how to use TikTok Shop for business.
- If you want to become a TikTok creator, you need to have at least 1,000 followers and 50 videos posted within the last 28 days.
What Tiktok Shopping Feature Can Sellers Use?
TikTok Shop provides sellers, influencers, and partners with shopping features and ad tools to connect with customers. This “What is TikTok Shop” guide will show you what TikTok shopping feature you can use to successfully sell on TikTok. Below are nine main features that this social commerce feature currently offers to its sellers:
- In-feed videos
- LIVE shopping
- Product page
- Shop shopping center
- Affiliate program
- TikTok Shop ads
- TikTok fulfillment
- Secure Payment
- TikTok shopping app and service
1. In-feed shoppable videos
In-feed videos are common things you can find on the TikTok app. When TikTok launched its TikTok, it launched a new feature called shoppable video. They are videos with product links. That means TikTok shop merchants and creators can add links to their videos. Then, users can click to those links and shop right from their watching content.
2. LIVE shopping
As its name suggests, LIVE shopping means customers can shop your products directly on the live site. When you go live on TikTok, you can display your products and answer customer questions. Like Amazon Live, TikTok allows merchants to highlight products within the user interface using the pin feature. So, those interested in your products while watching can add items to their TikTok shopping cart. They can instantly pay or wait until after the live video ends to complete their purchase.
3. Product page
What is TikTok Shopโs product page? This is where viewers can access your product selection within your TikTok profile by tapping the shopping button shaped like a bag. This TikTok shopping feature opens up a showcase displaying your products with photos, titles, and customer reviews. As a TikTok shop merchant, you have the ability to feature custom collections of merchandise directly on your profile page for customers to easily browse.
Some profiles on TikTok may feature item selections without being an official TikTok Shop. These are usually affiliate accounts where the user does not own the brand or products themselves. Instead, they showcase products and earn commissions if viewers make purchases through affiliated links.
4. TikTok shopping center
In 2023, TikTok recently launched a new shopping feature called the TikTok shopping center. When users tap the Shopping icon, they can view products from multiple brands all in one place, like a marketplace. Note that this marketplace is currently only available to certain TikTok audiences.
5. Affiliate program
What is TikTok Shopโs affiliate program? This new feature allows influencers to monetize their creativity while giving sellers flexible options to promote their brands. Creators are able to earn money by featuring sellers’ items in their videos and livestreams. At the same time, TikTok shop merchants have a way to reach wider audiences in an engaging format. It provides a win-win solution for all involved parties.
6. TikTok Shop ads
TikTok is introducing new ad types to help businesses on the platform. These ads allow people to discover products and purchase directly on the TikTok shopping app.
TikTok offers different types of ads to promote products:
- TikTok video shopping ads: allow brands to create engaging ads that people can watch and immediately add their favorite items to TikTok shopping cart.
- TikTok catalog listing ads: present collections of related items organized in an easy-to-browse list format.
- TikTok LIVE shopping ads: help attract more users to tune into the brand’s live stream and conveniently shop featured goods without leaving the platform.
7. TikTok fulfillment
Next on our “What is TikTok Shop” topic, let’s talk about its fulfillment. TikTok Shop offers a logistics solution to help merchants streamline order fulfillment. With this TikTok shopping feature, businesses can concentrate on selling their items while leaving the storage, order picking, packaging, and shipment tasks to TikTok Shop.
Compared to other top online marketplaces like Amazon or Etsy, the fulfillment feature of TikTok Shop is more advanced. This is because those marketplaces require their sellers to handle fulfillment. Although Amazon has Fulfillment by Amazon, sellers still need to send products to an Amazon fulfillment center. In contrast, TikTok Shop merchants don’t need to do anything except promote their products on the platform and prepare the products to be picked up.
For more information about Etsy, check out our detailed Etsy review with 6 key factors!
8. Secure payment
TikTok collaborates with reliable third-party payment systems like Credit/Debit Card, Paypal, or Apple Pay to make transactions on TikTok Shop swift and secure.
Plus, user data from TikTok Shop is safeguarded, stored, and managed within the United States by USDS. This ensures data protection and efficient checkouts.
9.TikTok shopping app and service
As more companies utilize TikTok’s services, the platform expands its offerings to help these businesses. Let this “What is TikTok Shop” guide tell you about new partners with which this selling feature currently works.
- eCommerce platform partner
TikTok understands businesses use various platforms to promote their online sales. Therefore, it provides integrations and connections between TikTok Shop and other popular eCommerce systems. Shopify merchants, for example, can access and control their TikTok store directly through Shopify’s interface, thanks to the TikTok shopping app.
In addition, TikTok allows direct integration with other platforms like WooCommerce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, BigCommerce, and Magento. If you’re using a different commerce platform, you can still integrate your TikTok Shop using connector apps such as AfterShip, Silk, or SKUIQ.
- Multichannel partners
Many companies sell through multiple online venues. To help these omni-channel sellers, TikTok collaborates directly with major multi-platform management services like LitCommerce, Channeladvisor, Feedonomics, Productsup, and more. You can find these apps right on the TikTok Seller Center.
- Additional service partners
TikTok also partners with various application providers experienced in supporting eCommerce needs. These include:
- Customer service apps like Zendesk, Gorgias, and 1440.
- Print-on-demand merchandise platforms like Printful, Printify, and NovaTomato.
- Shipping services like WeeBee, Flowspace, and Easyship.
These apps contribute to a seamless and efficient eCommerce operation, catering to various aspects of the business. What is TikTok Shopโs app working best for your business? It depends. However, if you find a solution for multichannel selling, you can consider our LitCommerce solution.
Is it Worth Selling on TikTok?
To fully answer if selling on TikTok Shop is worth it, you should consider your business goals, targets, products, and many other aspects. However, we believe the advancement of TikTok Shop opens up new possibilities for eCommerce businesses with various advantages. We cannot tell what is TikTok Shop’s best benefit for sellers, but below are some that you can consider:
- Expanding reach and high brand visibility
- Increasing customer engagement
- Having higher conversion rates
- Gaining insights from data-driven marketing
- Delivering a seamless shopping experience
1. Expanding reach and high brand visibility
A major benefit of TikTok Shop for eCommerce businesses is access to TikTok’s enormous customer pool. With billions of users using the platform worldwide, TikTok Shop presents an unparalleled chance to increase brand exposure.
Being on TikTok Shop helps introduce the store to a wider audience than other types of ads. Once a TikTok shop merchant adds its products to TikTok Shop, more potential buyers can learn about the brand and what it sells.
2. Increasing customer engagement
TikTok has become very effective at driving customer engagement. Unlike other social networks, TikTok understands human attention spans are limited. So, the platform focuses on short, entertaining videos. And, this TikTok shopping feature helps viewers immerse in continuous cycles.
For businesses, this high engagement makes TikTok very effective for converting interested customers into sales. If you are a seller or creator, you need to catch up with TikTok shopping trends that users often search for. You can make use of the TikTok tool and create something interesting with trending filters, effects, and soundtracks. That will help with connection with desired viewers.
For example, a clothing store can create videos showcasing how their items can be mixed and matched in style. These videos can feature trendy and catchy songs along with captivating transitions. This approach will help attract users to engage with the brand and its products.
3. Having higher conversion rates
If you already have ideas for viral TikTok products to sell in mind, you may wonder how to get sales from it. Here are three effective TikTok features that can help you get higher conversion rates compared to other platforms:
- Immersive content experience: TikTok Shop’s power lies in leveraging videos for higher conversion rates. Videos are more emotional than photos or words. So, selling on TikTok helps merchants make sales because customers feel more involved.
- Shoppable ads and product tags: As mentioned previously in this “What is Tiktok Shop” guide, brands can tag specific products right on their in-feed videos and shop ads. That means if viewers love the products they showcase in the videos, they purchase right away with just a click. This convenience generates higher sales compared to other ad types.
- Personalized recommendations: Understanding individual profiles and behavior, TikTok uses algorithms to recommend personalized product suggestions that are highly relevant to each user. This relevance surely drives up conversion.
4. Gaining insights from data-driven marketing
TikTok Shop gives ecommerce brands useful customer insights. Companies can access metrics like views, clicks, and sales to predict the TikTok shopping trends. This data allows brands to understand customer behavior and preferences and see which products or ads perform best. Then, they can enhance their campaigns and customize their products to match their audience’s desires.
5. Delivering a seamless shopping experience
TikTok Shop makes shopping easy, removing any obstacles for customers who shop with TikTok.
If the seller can make an informative video that convinces the user to buy, an order can be made within a couple of minutes. With a few taps, viewers move quickly from entertaining content to exploring, purchasing, and promoting products.
What is TikTok Shop: FAQs
- Is it free to have a TikTok Shop?
The most appealing part of the TikTok Shop is that it is required at no cost for any business or brand to get started. You can list your products for free and pay nothing for a business plan. However, TikTok does deduct a 5% fee from the proceeds of items sold, which is much lower than 6.5 % of Etsy or 8-15% of Amazon Marketplace.
- How do the TikTok online stores work?
TikTok Shop provides sellers with various features to showcase and promote their products. Businesses can customize their storefront right on the platform and tag products on videos and TikTok video shopping ads to encourage users to purchase.
- What is the difference between a TikTok Shop and a TikTok seller?
TikTok Shop and Seller Center differ in their functions. TikTok Shop focuses on promoting and selling products. Meanwhile, Seller Center provides an online management hub accessible via TikTok Shop. Through this interface, merchants control store operations and product inventory.
- Is TikTok shop available in US?
Yes, absolutely. TikTok started its eCommerce feature in the United States first. Hence, there is no doubt that you can find TikTok Shop USA on the platform. If you want to open a TikTok Shop US, you can visit the TikTok shop seller center USA to register an account.ย ย ย ย ย
Don’t Miss a Chance to Sell on Tiktok Shop!
TikTok Shop shows promise as a potential selling platform for any business of all sizes. We hope that this guide has helped you answer the question: “What is TikTok Shop?” and learn more about its features. If you need some tips to thrive on this platform, we also have suggested some useful ones that any TikTok online store can make use of.
Should you require any assistance with your TikTok Shop or want to integrate it with other top marketplaces for selling products, contact us anytime.
Besides, we have a Retail Blog section where retailers can access valuable eCommerce guides and strategies. You can also join our elite eCommerce community for learning and sharing experiences with other sellers.