Unlock your Prime Day potential! Month-by-month strategies inside.
Download the complete calendar and playbook for free
Free Download
Are you prepared for 2024 fees? Download our free Amazon Fee
Stack White Paper
for 2024 to protect your business.
Carbon 6
NEW! Download the free Amazon
Fee Stack White Paper
for 2024.
Free Download
Free Download
Take your Seller Central operations off your to-do listHire us for around-the-clock Amazon account management!
Learn More
ManageByStats is now FREE! Get this ultimate, all-in-one tool suite to boost your profit on Amazon.
Learn More
We double our reimbursements efforts
to get you 20% more back from Amazon!
Learn More
Urgent: Amazon sellers take action now!
Amazon reduced the reimbursement window by a staggering 88.89%, from 18 months to 60 days starting October 23, 2024.
Start Your Free Audit
MINUTE READ TIME
Published
September 11, 2022
|
McClain Warren

|
For Your Business

How TikTok Social Shopping Can Expand Your Ecommerce Business

How TikTok Social Shopping Can Expand Your Ecommerce Business

Table of Contents

Years ago, “social shopping” simply meant being dropped off at the mall to shop around with friends.

In today’s technology-driven landscape, though, social shopping — also known as social commerce — looks vastly different. 

Social commerce today happens entirely on social media, from a business promoting a product on a site like Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, to a consumer researching and purchasing the product. Soup to nuts social selling is all about meeting customers through the channels they prefer. 

The newest addition to the social commerce world? TikTok.

Here’s what you need to know about TikTok’s social shopping capabilities — and how they can help you scale your ecommerce business.

SELLING IN UK? TAKE ACTION!
Amazon reduced the reimbursement window by 88.89%, from 18 months to 60 days starting January 9, 2025.
Start Your Free Audit
Take Seller Central operations off your to-do list
Trust our team of experts with 24/7 account management!
Learn More
NEW! Download the free Amazon Fee Stack White Paper for 2024.
Free Download
Unlock your Prime Day potential!
Download the complete playbook for free
Free Download
ManageByStats is now FREE!
Get the complete data suite to boost your profits.
Learn More
We double our reimbursements efforts to get you 20% more back
Learn More
NEW! Free Q4 Playbook to boost your Amazon sales! Your guide to peak-season success with key priorities and timelines.
Download Now

The Evolution of Social Shopping

The concept of social shopping isn’t really all that new. Years ago, platforms like Ebay and Craigslist pioneered the process of connecting, selling, and bartering online. Facebook followed suit in 2016 by launching their Marketplace, which enabled consumers to sell and exchange everything from furniture to clothing to cars. 

Just two years later, Facebook launched their Business capabilities, giving organizations a platform to pay for advertisements. At the same time, Instagram rolled out its “buy button,” which allowed users to purchase directly on-site. That, coupled with their “shoppable” posts, put purchasing power directly into the hands of social media users.

Nearly every social media platform today — Pinterest, TikTok, Reddit, you name it — offers a commerce capability. That’s why social shopping revenue is projected to grow to more than $3 trillion by 2028. And why uber-popular platforms like TikTok are leading the ecommerce charge.

How TikTok Can Boost Social Selling

TikTok was introduced in 2016, but didn’t gain its massive popularity until around 2019. Since then, TikTok has become one of the top social platforms, averaging around one billion users each month, about two-thirds of which are between the ages of 10 and 29.

TikTok’s new Shopping tool brings a whole new dimension to social selling. Sellers can incorporate video tutorials or reviews into their product listings, giving customers a dynamic experience that’s similar to in-store shopping.

TikTok Shopping can also be a boon to customer loyalty and engagement. 

Consider the power of written reviews on your Amazon or Walmart page, for instance. The benefits your business sees from these testimonials are compounded when reviewers can post videos directly to your TikTok product listing. It’s a win-win: Your soon-to-be customers get recommendations from their social circle, and you gain social currency.

The social media giant also offers several other features to amplify product promotion, including:

  • Product tags, which enable users to access product detail pages directly from your TikTok video.
  • Live shopping, which gives customers dynamic, real-time product recommendations.
  • Shopping ads, which are product cards, targeted ads, or lead-generating form-fills that help sellers better understand and reach their customers.

TikTok partners with a number of platforms, including Shopify, Square, Ecwid, and PrestaShop. By adding a shop tab to their profile, sellers can showcase all of the product catalogs that are synced with their storefront or website. 

And the best part? Customers can purchase products from the catalog with just one click.

How To Optimize Your TikTok Shop

To integrate a storefront into your TikTok bio and run shopping ads, you’ll need to download the TikTok app from your ecommerce platform, such as Shopify or Square. From there, you can access the TikTok Shopping feature, along with a host of other built-in tools to help you sell products.

After that, it’s only a matter of connecting with customers. Here are some tips to do just that.

1. Create an Appealing Product Catalog

Product catalog showcasing home goods
An organized catalog appeals to a wide range of customers.

Customers don’t usually walk into a store with an unorganized shopfront or a messy showcase. 

The same goes for your TikTok storefront.

To attract visitors, keep your product catalog and shopping tab organized and up to date. Ensure your product images are visually appealing and consistent with your branding. Make the most of your 34 characters when writing your product titles, and make sure your product descriptions clearly answer the questions your customers might have about the product.

2. Promote Your TikTok Shop and Products

Once your TikTok shop is set up, it’s time to promote. According to SocialPilot, 61% of TikTokers said they buy from brands they see advertised, so it’s crucial that you highlight your products as much as possible.

Create posts that showcase your brand, highlight key products, and direct viewers to your product catalog. Use TikTok’s shopping collection and dynamic ads to drive customers to the checkout page.

Be sure to craft consistent, creative posts that match the vibe of both your brand and the platform itself. You can capture customers by creating click-worthy videos, such as:

  • How-to videos that explain the details of your products.
  • Videos of how your product fits into your daily routine.
  • Q&As designed to share more information about your product.
  • Storytelling videos that put your product at the center of a clever narrative.
  • Videos with tips and tricks for using your product.

3. Leverage the Power of Influencers

The secret to social commerce?

Influencers.

Person recording themselves with a smartphone
Influencers reach new audiences with targeted promotions.

With social influencers using and promoting items, customers get to see the product, watch how it works, and get the social recommendation they need to lock in a purchase. Social influencing is all about gaining trust with a large group. If followers trust an influencer, they’ll likely trust their recommendations, as well.

TikTok’s Creator’s Marketplace is a great place to find and collaborate with influencers, but sellers can also find people on off-platform sites like Collabstr.

SELLING IN UK? TAKE ACTION!
Amazon reduced the reimbursement window by 88.89%, from 18 months to 60 days starting January 9, 2025.
Start Your Free Audit
NEW! Free Q4 Playbook to boost your Amazon sales for peak-season success.
Download Now
Unlock your Prime Day potential!

Download the playbook for free
Free Download
Take Seller Central operations off your to-do list
Trust our team of experts with 24/7 account management!
Learn More

Embracing the Creator’s Economy With TikTok

Selling through social media allows you to directly interact with buyers through the channels they like best. And as more and more ecommerce solutions pop up on social media, there will only be more opportunities to build a successful, high-selling social-forward brand. 

TOOL TIP: Create new revenue streams and boost your Amazon organic rankings with PixelMe’s revolutionary attribution technology

Let’s face it. The burgeoning creator’s economy is poised to be the future of selling. And there’s no better way to take advantage of that trend than by using TikTok to create product-centric content that speaks right to consumers.

Because of the low barrier to entry, though, the social shopping competition can be fierce, so it’s imperative that you find ways to make your products stand out from the crowd. Using TikTok’s Shopping feature, you can get to know your target audience and sell directly to them through creative, eye-grabbing videos.

A digital storefront inside a platform filled with billions of customers already engaging with product-focused videos on the daily? It’s a no-brainer.

Recent Newsletters

Insights: Free resources to boost your Q4
Carbon6 Team
Nov 7, 2024
Amazon Seller News
Insights: Free resources to boost your Q4
November is underway, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming sooner than you think! Make sure your strategies are prepared to deal with any changes to predicted plans, especially with many retailers going off script and launching their Black Friday deals early.
See Article
Insights: PixelMe Amazon integration, Carbon6 named a Top Startup, and new omnichannel solutions
Carbon6 Team
Oct 8, 2024
Amazon Seller News
Insights: PixelMe Amazon integration, Carbon6 named a Top Startup, and new omnichannel solutions
Welcome to our first monthly newsletter of Q4, and happy Amazon’s Big Deal Days! Today is the start of the fall sales event and we wish you the best of luck for your businesses this week.
See Article
Insights: Acquisition alert, the latest in AI, and more
Carbon6 Team
Sep 11, 2024
Amazon Seller News
Insights: Acquisition alert, the latest in AI, and more
With only one month left until Q4, plans and preparations are happening in earnest across ecommerce for this bumper selling season. Make sure you’re ready with the checklists in our latest free resource, the Q4 Amazon Playbook.
See Article

Recent Posts

Unlocking Seller Insights with Amazon’s Product Performance Spotlight
Shannon Curley
Nov 28, 2024
Amazon Seller News
Unlocking Seller Insights with Amazon’s Product Performance Spotlight
Product Performance Spotlight centralizes performance metrics, identifies trends, and provides recommendations – all within Amazon Seller Central.
See Article
Mastering Amazon Vendor Negotiations (AVN): A Complete Guide for European Sellers
Shannon Curley
Nov 26, 2024
EU & Global
Mastering Amazon Vendor Negotiations (AVN): A Complete Guide for European Sellers
An in-depth guide for European vendors on mastering Amazon Vendor Negotiations with strategies, key terms, and data-driven tips for profitable partnerships.
See Article
How Amazon’s New Embedded Third-Party App Feature Will Streamline Seller Experience
Shannon Curley
Nov 22, 2024
Amazon Seller News
How Amazon’s New Embedded Third-Party App Feature Will Streamline Seller Experience
PixelMe by Carbon6 is now part of Amazon’s new embedded third-party app program, aimed to help sellers streamline Seller Central operations.
See Article