One of the questions I get asked most often is: What is TikTok Shop? TikTok Shop is a marketplace similar to Amazon Seller Central, eBay, and Walmart Marketplace.
TikTok Shop is a social commerce platform that allows businesses and creators to sell products directly to TikTok users. This gives TikTok a competitive advantage compared to Amazon, eBay, and Walmart Marketplace.
Based on my observations, TikTok Shop combines three core components, which I’ve listed below:
- TikTok’s social media platform (creators and viewers)
- TikTok’s e-commerce marketplace (products, ordering, and customer service), which helps sellers tap into video viewers who are interested in buying
- TikTok’s affiliate program, which supports sellers and helps creators monetize product promotions
By integrating these three components, TikTok creates a more engaging ecosystem for creators, viewers, and sellers.
How Do You Get Started?
Getting started is relatively simple, and creating an account with your company information can take around ten days.
Link to get started: https://seller-us-accounts.tiktok.com/
Once you are approved to sell on TikTok Shop, make sure your banking details, warehouse setup, and shipping options are fully configured before uploading products. As the seller, you also need to decide which app connection you will use to pull product data and push order information into Shopify. As of 9/24/2023, you can use the official TikTok Shop app or a private app.
- This applies to sellers using FBA (Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment) or another 3PL to fulfill orders.
- If you ship from your home or warehouse, you can buy shipping labels directly from TikTok Shop, similar to how it works on eBay, Amazon, or Shopify.
For step 1.1, I highly recommend the CedCommerce Shopify Connector. The cost is $39.99 per month, and in my opinion, it is worth it. Setting up products and fixing all issues can take anywhere from 5 to 30 hours, depending on the number of SKUs.
How Do You Get Traffic to TikTok Shop?
You have two main options. The first is the affiliate program, where creators are paid around 10% to 20% to go live or create content featuring products linked to their TikTok profiles.
The second option is to connect your TikTok Ads account to TikTok Shop and run ads directly for your store. In many cases, this approach has produced a better ROI than sending traffic to a brand’s external website.
Over the last year, I have noticed that as e-commerce becomes more competitive, social media platforms are trying to keep users inside their ecosystems. They appear to reward advertisers more when traffic stays within their own shops, such as Facebook Shop and TikTok Shop.
FAQ
How long will it take to set up my TikTok Shop?
If you have 1 to 5 SKUs, you are likely looking at around 5 to 10 hours.
Is there a monthly TikTok Shop fee like Amazon’s $39 monthly fee?
Currently, there is no monthly fee, but that could change over time.