After a year of trials, TikTok has rolled out TikTok Shop, its hottest offering in the world of social commerce. This is a full-on entry into the world of eCommerce by TikTok. Social commerce sales are rapidly picking up, with eMarketer predicting that they will reach $68.92 billion in the U.S. alone in 2023, a 29.8% increase on 2022's $53.10 billion. eMarketer believes that U.S. retail social commerce sales will reach $107.17 billion by 2025, so it is no surprise that TikTok would want to be part of that mix.

TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social platforms, with over 1.53 billion users worldwide. It consistently adds new features to keep its users interested and engaged. TikTok Shopping adds additional opportunities for businesses to market and sell on TikTok.

TikTok Shop

TikTok’s Gen Z and Millennial users are leery of marketing. The absolute worst mistake would be to post anything resembling a traditional advertisement, particularly one using scripted dialogue. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t use TikTok to market and sell to its young audience. They are still shoppers, who still take a real interest in many products. Brands just need to be savvy with their marketing and ensure that their customers get value from their TikTok channels.

TikTok Shopping provides a way for TikTok users to buy products in the app without opening a web browser to go to a separate eCommerce store. According to the company, "TikTok Shopping is the suite of solutions, features, and tools that give businesses the opportunity to tap into the power of commerce on TikTok." When a business sets up TikTok Shopping, it will have a dedicated Shopping tab on its profile. This is represented by a shopping bag icon. Customers can then browse through and select products within TikTok and then buy the product, either within TikTok or transferred to the company's online store for checkout. 

Kylie Jenner's store, Kylie Cosmetics, was one of the first to let their customers shop directly on TikTok. It made sense to them, as they have nearly 3.5 million TikTok followers. Jenner observed at the time, "I built my business on social media; it's where my fans go first to look for what's new from Kylie Cosmetics. I have so much fun creating TikTok videos, and I love sharing posts of my fans using the products. That's why I'm excited for Kylie Cosmetics to be one of the first to let customers shop directly on our TikTok!"

Link To Products

TikTok Shopping has the ability to link to tag products in your videos. This way, you can refer to products in your videos, and your viewers can click through the tagged products to learn more about them. At this point, TikTok will either direct people through to your storefront to complete the process or finish it within TikTok if you prefer. You can tie in live shopping offers, real-time demos, and live-streamed product showcases with relevant links to buy products and services.

Setting Up A TikTok Shop

You need to have a TikTok Business account to set up TikTok Shop. If you have a Shopify business, you should download the TikTok Shopify app. You can use the app to create video ads, track results, and manage your orders all from within Shopify. As well as making it possible for you to manage your TikTok Shopping tab, the Shopify app also integrates with TikTok For Business Ads Manager.

Shop Tab IS Your Storefront

You need to treat your Shopping tab as an extension of your eCommerce storefront. Therefore, you want it to look as appealing as possible to potential customers. So, ensure your product pictures are as attractive and clear as possible. Ideally, they should be recognizably yours, not just some generic pictures you've sourced from a supplier's site.

Keep your product titles under 34 characters to ensure they remain fully visible; however, you can write fuller descriptions and include all necessary details about your products likely to answer your customers' questions.

Use Branded Hashtags

People aren’t going to use your shop if they don’t know about it. You need to promote your TikTok activities and opportunities to as many people as possible. One way to do this is with a Hashtag Challenge Plus, which allows users to shop for products related to a sponsored hashtag. You tie together a paid-for hashtag with a particular challenge you set for TikTok users. 

TikTok Shop Doesn’t Replace Influencer Marketing

As powerful as the new TikTok Shopping feature is, influencer marketing remains one of the most successful ways to market on TikTok. The ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants), a leading international accounting body, chose to become involved with TikTok influencer marketing. They worked with TikTok influencers who visited accountancy firms to create killer ‘day in the life of an accountant’ content to share with their huge followings. These received 1 million+ views and over 100,000 hearts.

While you may sell a pair of jeans or a new makeup product via TikTok shop- you won’t capture the audiences attention like a tried and true influencer marketing campaign will.