Remember back in the day when TikTok was just a quirky social media platform in Lockdown with people doing silly dances? It’s definitely not that anymore. TikTok is now a legitimate social shopping platform with buyers spending millions of pounds a year through TikTok Shop. But many brands still aren’t using it. In the UK,
Remember back in the day when TikTok was just a quirky social media platform in Lockdown with people doing silly dances? It’s definitely not that anymore.
TikTok is now a legitimate social shopping platform with buyers spending millions of pounds a year through TikTok Shop.
But many brands still aren’t using it.
In the UK, only about 200,000 sellers are registered for TikTok shop, compared to 330,000 selling on Amazon, and many more using Google Shopping.
That means there’s a chance to get a foot in the door on a fast-growing social selling platform that’s being used by more young people who are more open to buying products directy from their social feeds.
That’s not to say you should just dive into TikTok Shop.
In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about TikTok Shop, from what it is and how to works, to how to set one up and start selling profitably.
TikTok Shop is TikTok’s native eCommerce platform. It allows brands to sell to customers directly in the app, rather than using ads to push buyers to a website.
Within your shop you have a number of features to help promote products and complete purchases:
Customers can browse, add products to their cart, and pay, without leaving TikTok.
You can upload products directly to TikTok Shop for customers to find and browse.
You can create affiliate programs for creators and influencers, who earn commission for sales they drive.
Use content like videos, live streams, and showcases as storefronts that allow people to buy directly from your content.
You can ship orders yourself or use TikTok Fulfilment UK to handle it for you.
TikTok Shop provides a great opportunity for brands to remove friction from buying by putting product discovery and purchase directly into their customers’ feed as they’re scrolling.
It’s pretty simple to open a TikTok shop, but getting approved can be more complicated depending on what you’re selling or your product category, and you may need some additional documentation and proof to get approved.
Register via TikTok Seller Centre with UK company or sole trader documents, plus ID.
TikTok will check your eligibility and either approve your shop or ask you to provide additional documents (some categories just aren’t allowed). You should be aware that listing ineligible products risks rejection, account suspension, and reputational damage.
TikTok Shop allows you to upload products with pricing, descriptions, and inventory just like any other online shop.
You can either ship and fulfil orders yourself or use TikTok’s fulfilment service to do it for you.
| Category | Documentation Required |
| Beauty, cosmetics & personal care | Cosmetic Product Safety Report (CPSR), ingredient list, product labels/packaging images, manufacturer authorisation (if reseller) |
| Electronics (with lithium batteries) | CE/UKCA certificates, IEC test reports, Safety Data Sheet (SDS), packaging photos showing marks |
| Jewellery, watches & accessories | Proof of authenticity (invoices, hallmark certificates), supplier authorisation, detailed product descriptions |
| Pet food | Ingredient/nutrition labelling, manufacturer licence, feed safety compliance |
| Media (books, CDs, DVDs, games) | Proof of distribution rights, ISBN/barcodes/serials |
| Teeth whitening & bleaching products | Ingredient list with concentrations, safety/test certificates, manufacturer compliance |
| Invite-only/unsupported (e.g. food & drink, diapers, live plants, luxury resale) | Direct TikTok approval, health & safety certificates, transport/storage docs, supplier invoices |
Believe it or not, the UK was the first Western market for TikTok Shop, ahead of the US.
And think of the number of users on TikTok.
In the UK, there are about 23 million registered users, most are Gen Z or Alpha, who are more digital natives than older audiences, and more likely to make purchases through social media apps (or less likely to have objections).
Users of TikTok spend about an hour a day on the app, and with the most popular categories being beauty, fashion and more
affordable “lifestyle” products, it’s a prime place for impulse purchases as users scroll.
And, because TikTok Shop is still relatively new, there’s a lower cost for entry and higher potential visibility before more brands start to see the potential.
TikTok Shop is legitimate and safe for brands to sell on and users to buy from.
But there have been some concerns raised by brands from both an ROI and brand reputation perspective relating to:
So while there is plenty of opportunity to be had from TikTok Shop, it is worth monitoring your brand and planning discounts and sales effectively, so you stay profitable and a trusted brand for customers.
Like any online selling, your success isn’t just going to come from your listings, but your marketing strategy.
For TikTok Shop this means focusing on things like:
TikTok prefers (and is more suited to) impulse-friendly products with visual hooks. For example, a beauty brand could launch an affordable, demo friendly item (like a lip gloss or blush) that can be easily demonstrated in a few seconds, and feels like an impulse buy.
TikTok is a fast paced sociak platform, and authentic, creator-led content beats polished ads that might work better on Google. Instead of investing in fancy equipment, a simple “before and after” example filmed on a phone could work better. Or a user could talk about why your product works or how they use it in their daily routine.
Users on TikTok love personalities and people they can relate to (compared to brands) so working with affiliates and micro-influencers as a smaller brand could outperform bigger-name campaigns.
For example, working with 6-12 small creators, with around 5-10k folloers each can create a steady stream of product demos. Just be careful who you work with, because your brand inevitably become tied to the people promoting you.
How are you going to get your products to your customers? For smaller brands, or those selling fast-moving, trending items, TikTok’s Fulfilment with next-day delivery can work great for completing orders quickly. If you’re a more premium brand (like you have unboxing experiences, like cake sellers) you might be better handling fulfilment yourself.
Although you don’t need them to sell on TikTok, ads can be a good way growing something that’s already working. Say you had an organic post that’s getting lots of interest, you could put some ad budget behind it with Spark Ads to grow awareness even more.
The thing to remember about TikTok is you need to be agile and be ready to stand out. While it’s not dance videos anymore, it’s still hard to get attention so you need to think about what type of content your audience will like on TikTok, and focus on creating it.
Selling on TikTok is about one thing, making money.
Views and likes are great, and can be a sign that your content is popular, but if you’re not selling, then your campaigns aren’t doing their job.
So these are the things to pay attention to in your account:
TikTok shows you key data on sales, traffic, and affiliate data (although attribution to specific affiliates is a bit limited).
Use this information to spot trends for popular products and types of content that you can reuse in the future.
Check your conversion rate to see which campaigns or content are driving the most action and sales.
Look for any repeat purchase and think how you can use this to create loyalty schemes away from TikTok (like email marketing).
CAC vs LTV tell you whether your campaigns are profitable in terms of acquiring a single customer, or whether your profits are coming from the overall lifetime value of a customer.
Lastly check creator ROI to see how much revenue and profit you’re generating from your affiliates and creator partnerships.
As we’ve said, TikTok Shop’s analytics is a bit limited in terms of seeing which affiliates or content partners are bringing in the most revenue, but you can get an overall view of whether you’re partnerships are profitable or not.
TikTok can be great for sparking demand, and even getting sales.
But it’s still only one sales channel.
So don’t use it on its own. Instead, bring it into your wider eCommerce marketing and use it also as a demand generation tool for your other channels.
TikTok Shop content isn’t a “create once and leave it” platform.
Instead you should constantly be testing content types and style to see what resonates with your audience so you can focus more on doing what works in the long run.
There are already brands (big and small) that are getting results with TikTok Shop:
This Manchester-based cosmetics brand became one of TikTok Shop UK’s biggest success stories.
Its “Blursh” cream blush repeatedly sold out after going viral, with sales driven by creator content and TikTok’s affiliate programme.
L’Oréal was actually one of the earliest large corporate brands to use TikTok Shop, using it across multiple sub-brands running live shopping events and partnering with influencers to combine product education with flash discounts, boosting awareness among younger audiences.
Starting small lets you test products and campaigns to make sure TikTok is worth it, because commiting more stock, budget or marketing resource. If a product doesn’t work, at least you’ve tested it. If a product starts to prove popular, it’s easier to scale up activity.
The best content on TikTok is human talking to humans. So try and build partnerships with smaller creators who have an authentic brands and engaged audience who will trust them.
TikTok Shop will promote discounts and sales, but going too far before you understand profit margins can damage profitability in the long run. Be sure on your margins, and stick to prices that work for you.
Like I’ve said, TikTok Shop can be a great additional channel to your marketing, but you don’t want to rely solely on one channel. If something goes wrong, your entire sales pipeline is at risk. Balance TikTok Shop with other eCommerce channels like Amazon or Google Ads.
TikTok has changed how customers find and buy products. And for brands there’s a huge opportunity.
Using TikTok as both a sales channel, and a channel to test content ideas with your audience can not only bring in sales in the short-term, but help you improve your marketing and performance long-term.
For more information about getting started with TikTok Shop or need help from an expert social media agency, get in touch.
Speak to a member of our team and start your project today!
Our experts will be more than happy to help you!
Speak to us today!1. Let’s Talk
Book a 30 minute consultation call with one of our team so we can understand your goals for digital marketing and what services you need within your budget.
2. Let’s get strategic
Once we know where you want to get to, we’ll put a plan in place to get you there. You’ll get a clear outline explaining all the costs and what results you can expect.
3. Let’s start growing your business
Once we’re all pointing in the right direction our expert team will get to work delivering what we’ve promised and getting you the best ROI possible.
