Being an ecommerce seller means constantly updating your strategy to fit the changing needs of your clients. And where and how you sell your products, is part of that strategy.
Today, we will look at social media shopping, in particular, TikTok Shop. We will explore TikTok Shop from the perspective of:
- sellers who sell on other platforms and marketplaces and are considering expanding to TikTok;
- sellers who earn money on TikTok already and are thinking of signing up for TikTok Shop.
We will show you how to set up TikTok Shop and how to manage your TikTok transactions.
Struggling to find a solution that would automatically sync all your TikTok Shop orders and payouts into your bookkeeping system? Check out Synder software for reliable, accurate, and automated data management for TikTok Shop.
TL;DR
- TikTok Shop allows merchants and creators to sell products directly through the app, integrating ecommerce seamlessly into the TikTok experience.
- Setting up TikTok Shop is free, but transactions incur a referral fee and an additional fixed fee per order.
- TikTok Shop supports 3 selling methods: Livestreams, pre-recorded video content, and a Showcase feature that acts as a virtual storefront.
- Synder software simplifies bookkeeping for TikTok Shop by automatically syncing and managing transactional data from TikTok.
What is TikTok?
If you’re not a TikTok user, here is a short description.
TikTok is a vibrant and buzzing social media platform where people share short videos, ranging from funny sketches and dance challenges to quick how-to guides and product reviews.
When you show off your products, you’re not just selling; you’re telling a story, sharing an experience, or solving a problem. It feels personal. This connection can make viewers more inclined to check out what you’re selling.
What can TikTok offer ecommerce businesses?
TikTok has rolled out a program specifically designed for businesses and advertisers called TikTok Commerce. This consists of TikTok Shop and TikTok Shop Ads.
In this article, we will concentrate solely on the TikTok Shop.
This program is available in selected countries only, namely, the United States, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
What is TikTok Shop?
TikTok Shop is designed to let both people selling stuff (merchants) and those making content (creators) dive into the world of ecommerce without ever leaving TikTok. Basically, it’s a one-stop shop where you can sell, promote, and manage products right there on the platform.
TikTok Shop lets you integrate your ecommerce products directly into your TikTok account, making it easy for viewers to jump from watching a video to making a purchase without ever leaving the app.
So if you sell on Shopify, for example, you can integrate your Shopify store with your TikTok Shop. It will pull in your products, SKUs, descriptions, photos, etc. This makes for an easy setup without the need to create a completely new product inventory for this platform.
Find out what products to sell on Shopify and if you sell personlized products, how to do it well on Shopify.
How much does it cost to set up a TikTok Shop?
If you’re an ecommerce seller, setting up a TikTok Shop doesn’t cost anything, it’s free. But as you probably already suspect, to sell products, TikTok Shop charges fees.
We will be talking in detail about fee cost and order and payout management later in the article, so stay tuned or head straight to that section.
What does shopping look like on TikTok Shop?
If you’re already using TikTok you might be familiar with some of those ways, for those new to TikTok, let’s review what options individuals and businesses have to sell on TikTok.
Livestream
As the name suggests, merchants can go live, showcase their products in real-time, and talk to the audience online. It’s an interactive session where viewers can ask questions, get answers on the spot, and even grab special deals being offered during the livestream.
If you remember those commercial TV channels where people would call to buy the products being shown – it’s kind of like that. However, on TikTok, they are trying to offer a more engaging and authentic feel to the livestream.
Video content
This is where merchants get to tell their product’s story through short, captivating pre-recorded, and usually edited videos (so no live content here). Whether it’s a tutorial, an unboxing, or a creative showcase of what the product does, these videos are all about demonstrating value and appeal.
The goal here is to not just sell but to connect with the audience by highlighting the product in a way that feels personal and engaging.
Showcase
The Showcase feature is very different from the above 2 ways of selling. Here, merchants set up a virtual storefront right on their TikTok profile. The products are laid out in a catalog style, making it easy for users to browse, learn more, and buy in a more conventional ecommerce way.
Find out more about TikTok Shop, learn how to access TikTok Shop as a buyer and seller.
How many followers do you need to open TikTok Shop?
That’s an important question to answer as there is some confusion for those who are new to selling on TikTok. If you are setting up a TikTok Shop as a seller, there is no requirement for followers at all. Meaning, you can just open a fresh TikTok account, and have 0 followers – that’s totally fine.
However, if you are opening a shop on TikTok as a creator, that’s when the followers requirement comes into place. For TikTok creators in the US, the current minimum is 5,000 followers. But bear in mind that each country will have its own quota.
How do I create a shop on TikTok?
Let’s now dive straight into our main topic. Setting up a TikTok Shop is a relatively easy process. But be prepared to have your key documents at hand, you’ll need them while opening up a TikTok Shop.
1. Choose the right type of business and region
First things first – choose the right route to sign up for TikTok Shop. This platform serves:
- Sellers;
- Creators;
- Affiliates;
- Partners.
On their main page, you can select the right category for your business. Here, we will take the route of an ecommerce business, which usually falls under sellers.
Once you click on Sellers it will prompt you to choose your region. There are 3 main categories:
- North American Seller;
- European Seller;
- Asian Seller.
That will then take you to the right TikTok Shop Seller Center.
2. Register for an account with TikTok Seller Center
This step is the usual filling out of the application that you can see on similar sites. Here you will need to provide:
- Basic business information (business type, name, address, TIN, etc);
- Primary business person details;
- Shop information (Shop name, primary product category, etc).
3. Verify your account with documents
After signing up, you’ll go through a verification process. TikTok will ask for some documentation to verify your business. Upload documents for the verification process such as personal ID, and business documents. The exact list of documents depends on the business type (or an individual seller) you chose in the previous step.
Once you hit Submit, your application will become pending. Even though it says it can take up to 48 hours to review, it’s usually much faster.
4. Provide tax information
Here you fill out the standard tax information, as usual, this info will depend on the type of business you have – whether you sell as an individual, sole proprietorship, corporation, or partnership.
5. Set up your shop
At this stage, you will need to add products, set up shipping (add all the details regarding how your products will be shipped), and connect your shop to a TikTok account (it’s best to connect it to your TikTok Business account if you don’t have one, you can easily open it).
There are a few ways that you can add products to your shop on TikTok.
If you don’t have an ecommerce store on other platforms or marketplaces, you can add your products manually or through a bulk upload option. However, if you already have an online store on Shopify, BigCommerce, or Magento you can use direct integrations to link those shops together, and this way, you can upload your inventory too.
If you use the multi-channel model to run your ecommerce business, Synder software lets you sync transactions from 25+ sales channels and payment gateways into your accounting software.
6. Connect your bank account
Last but not least – money.
To get paid for your products, you need to connect or, as TikTok calls it, bind your bank account.
In the TikTok Seller Center, look for an option that says Link Bank Account. After you click that, tap on a button that says Link Account. Now you’ll need to enter some details about your bank account. If you checked all the boxes and filled in all the fields, hit Submit. And that’s it! You’ve linked your bank account to your TikTok Shop.
Learn more and find out is TikTok Shop safe and what measures TikTok takes to ensure safety of its users.
How to manage your payments on TikTok Shop?
Like with other ecommerce sites or marketplaces, TikTok will be depositing money into your bank account but that’s just part of the transactions that are being processed by TikTok. There are shipping charges, sales tax, and of course – the fees. This takes us nicely to this question:
How much does it cost to sell on TikTok Shop?
Is it free to have a TikTok Shop?
As we mentioned before, it’s free to set up a TikTok Shop, however, it’s not free to have a TikTok Shop in terms of selling products.
TikTok Shop charges sellers a referral fee of 6% on all qualified transactions (except for pre-owned categories of products which are set at 5%). This fee is a percentage of the order’s value, excluding shipping and tax.
Starting July 1, 2024, the referral fee will increase to 8% per order. The pre-owned categories will remain the same.
There is also a fixed transaction fee of $0.30 per order.
How to accurately manage your books for TikTok Shop?
If you’re using QuickBooks Online, there is an easy way to sync all that complex transactional data straight into your accounting system. No need for manual data entry, even reconciliation comes pre-matched with Synder software.
This tool supports over 30 different platforms, marketplaces, payment gateways, point-of-sale systems (POS), and other solutions. So if you sell on TikTok Shop, Amazon, Shopify, and eBay and get paid via PayPal, Stripe, or Square, for example, Synder can automatically sync all transactions neatly into your books.
Essentially, you can create your own ecosystem of platforms and have detailed transaction data allocated to the right accounts.
How Synder helps with bookkeeping for TikTok Shop?
Ecommerce bookkeeping is a maze of platforms, payment processors, sales taxes, shipping, and fees. Oh and let’s not forget about returns, refunds, and discounts. But that can be accurately managed with the right software.
Here is how Synder can help take care of all these elements:
- Automatically syncs all transactions into your books.
- Allocates discounts, sales tax, shipping charges, TikTok Shop fees, payouts, etc, into the right accounts, automatically.
- Let’s set up classes and sync modes to tailor them to your business needs.
- Pre-matches transactions from your bank statements to your books – making a reconciliation just a 1 click affair.
- Offers a historical import of all your previous TikTok Shop orders into QuickBooks in bulk. There’s no limit on how far back you can go.
Since TikTok Shop is relatively a new sales channel, there aren’t that many integrations on the market yet. That’s why, it’s good to rely on established integration solutions that prioritize innovation, like Synder.
To learn more about Synder book at seat at the Weekly Public Demo, or try Synder for free with the 15 day trial.
How to set up TikTok Shop: Closing thoughts
For ecommerce sellers interested in video content, TikTok offers a dynamic and engaging platform to showcase products, connect with a broader audience, and drive sales in a way that feels organic and entertaining. Plus, it’s a chance to get creative with marketing.
As you’ve seen, setting up your TikTok Shop involves a few straightforward steps: choosing the right type of business, registering and verifying your account, setting up your shop, and linking your bank account for seamless transactions. Remember, while setting up your shop is free, there are fees associated with transactions that you’ll need to account for.
Managing the bookkeeping for your TikTok transactions doesn’t have to be a headache. Tools like Synder software simplify the process, allowing you to focus more on creating great content and less on the nitty-gritty of numbers.
We hope that this guide helped you get a good overview of what TikTok Shop can do for your business and how to set it up if you choose to venture into this social media platform.
Want to learn more? Find out how to sell on TikTok Shop with our guide.
Share your experience
Have you started your own TikTok Shop? We’d love to hear about your journey! Whether it’s been smooth sailing or you’ve hit a few bumps along the way, your stories are invaluable. Share your tips, challenges, and successes in the comments below to help inspire and guide fellow entrepreneurs on their TikTok Shop adventures. What worked for you? What lessons did you learn? Join the conversation and let’s learn from each other’s experiences!
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