Announcement: TikTok Shop US connection is live!

The age of social commerce is well and truly upon us. Since launching last month, TikTok Shop has given millions of global consumers instant access to the hottest trending products. The US is now the latest to get direct access to this popular social commerce platform.

We’re pleased to announce that brands can now use the ChannelEngine platform to list and manage their products on TikTok Shop in an  efficient way. This makes it even easier to serve a huge customer base around the globe.

What is TikTok Shop?

TikTok Shop is an ecommerce solution that’s now a built-in feature of the wildly popular TikTok app.

TikTok users have 3 main ways to buy products from TikTok Shop. This means you have multiple ways to get exposure and make a sale.

The first method is buying directly from a LIVE, by tapping on pinned products. The second way is via Shoppable Videos, which appear directly in the feed. And third, brands and creators can offer products with a Product Showcase, which gives consumers a wider view of potential purchases.

TikTok has a varied user-base, but has a particularly strong following in the younger demographic groups. As a way for brands to reach younger consumers (including GenZ), TikTok Shop is uniquely effective.

It’s estimated that 70.2% of users are under the age of 35, and 37.8% are under 24 years of age. This makes TikTok a great way to build brand loyalty among Gen Z shoppers and younger millennials.

The potential for driving sales is also huge. According to research, about two-thirds of TikTok users are likely to make a future purchase while using the app, and 55% of users have already done so.

How important is TikTok Shop for brands?

With over 1 billion monthly active users globally (that’s over 20% of all internet users), brands have a unique opportunity to use TikTok Shop to forge a stronger bond with consumers. Many brands already leverage TikTok Influencer Marketing to expose fresh audiences to their products. Now, it’s even easier to convert these interactions into sales.

And there are plenty of ways you can boost product visibility too, using various kinds of ads and promotions.

Social commerce: how younger consumers discover and purchase

As a way of gaining greater exposure for your brand, this is a tremendous opportunity.

TikTok users actively use their feed as a way of getting inspiration. In fact, some 39.1% of users explicitly use it for finding new products to buy. This is broadly in line with the fact that younger consumers use social media to search for and discover new products and learn more about them.

Social media is a powerful way to connect with customers, but social commerce takes this to the next level.

With the opportunity to buy directly from the influencers and brands they love, consumers get a seamless experience that instantly connects their wish with your fulfillment center.

What makes social commerce (and TikTok in particular) so successful is the authentic human connection that user-generated content can create. This builds trust and familiarity with brands - and this drives instant (and future) sales.

What ChannelEngine’s TikTok Shop integration means for brands

To become a seller on TikTok Shop, you’ll need to go through an onboarding process. You may need to confirm that you’re authorized to sell branded products, and you can determine if you qualify as an ‘invite only’ seller for restricted products.

You need to be aware that there are key differences regarding product content requirements and categorization. This makes it essential to easily manage content, and update it whenever needed.

For brands and multi-brand retailers, the best way to manage your TikTok Shop is with marketplace integration software like ChannelEngine. This will save you a lot of time thanks to ChannelEngine’s extensive tooling and advanced capabilities that streamline and automate ecommerce management processes.

One of the greatest benefits comes from the simplicity: consolidating multiple marketplace connections (and social commerce platforms like TikTok Shop) into a single integration. This gives you a single point of access and control for all product listings, content, orders, logistics, and returns management.

And, of course, you also gain access to the smart tooling within the ChannelEngine platform. This can effortlessly take care of price calculations, help with translations, ensure optimal margins, and currency exchange rates (to name a few).

You can see an overview of the ChannelEngine platform features here.

Grasp the opportunity of social commerce today

Social commerce presents an unmissable opportunity for brands. Without being able to physically hold products or get advice from a shop assistant, consumers can view social content instead. This gives them realistic expectations and helps illustrate how they can get the most from their purchases.

The result: more brand confidence, and more sales.

It can be useful to partner with a content creator once you’ve launched on TikTok Shop. People often build an affinity with content creators, who have a regular presence in their lives – like a trusted friend. So, your products can gain wider exposure, in combination with the trust that comes from a ‘friend’s recommendation’. But choose partners carefully; it’s helpful when they align with your brand and audience.

This kind of collaboration should only come later, though – once you already have a handle on how to manage selling on TikTok Shop and promoting products with your own content and ads.