Is it worth selling via TikTok?
Every business that has been anywhere near social media in recent years has seen the huge popularity of TikTok Shop and is aware of its money-making potential. And the best part is that you don’t need to be an existing business or retailer to want to start selling items. Influencers or those with popular accounts can register as a business purely to start selling on TikTok Shop.
But is it actually worth the time and effort put into procuring the items to sell and getting them sold, or is it something simply the more viral stars or established businesses should move into?
With over 50 million daily active users and TikTok making over $16.1 billion in 2023 which is a 67% increase year on year, this method of selling has some benefits. With in-built virality for store owners and an already engaged audience, it can be a fast way to promote your goods and make some sales. However, there are drawbacks, including increased competition and limited targeting options.
Selling via TikTok Shop can be alluring, but it’s not a guaranteed sales winner. Those wanting to start their own TikTok Shop need to be aware of the potential and the imitations of in-app selling. But if you’re deciding to move forward, these tips can help you make your TikTok Shop endeavour as successful as possible.
Use a Shipping Partner
The nature of the app is to make trending video content and products flood the feeds to build on the momentum and give you that viral hit. Whether this is your videos or storefront, you have the potential to go viral in the blink of an eye. And with users from across the world potentially interested in purchasing your goods, meeting demand with timely orders and shipping is vital.
Partnering with a fulfillment partner to handle your shipping needs can help you keep those orders flowing and manage your inventory. You just need to ensure you purchase the right quantities of stock to meet demand and promote your goods for maximum sales. Whether you use UK fulfillment centres or opt for ones in your most in-demand locations, being able to lean on an expert shipping partner to handle the logistics of packing and sending your items can be the ideal way to meet demand and be ready for your next product to go viral.
Be Creative
TikTok is all about creativity, and users are encouraged to create fun and engaging content that appeals to their audience base. This is true for sellers, too. You need to be on the pulse of trending topics, content, and customer trends. For instance, challenges, duets, and popular songs are always trending on TikTok. You need to know the next hottest things. Because if you don’t, someone else will, and you might end up lost in the sea of creators who can react quickly with creative content to boost sales.
Run Flash Sales
While it’s good to be careful and considerate when running sales and offering discounts, you need to use these options to keep the buzz around your storefront, especially in the face of an increasingly busy storefront and popularity growth like TikTok Shop has seen in recent years.
Offering flash sales or time-sensitive deals to your audience can help create a sense of urgency, meaning people feel the need to buy it before the price goes up. And if everyone else is buying it, then your audience needs it, too. You need to capitalise on this “I need it” urge to boost sales when using flash sales. And you need to be on hand to create this urgency.
UGC for The Win
People want to see your products in action, in situations they would use them for, and hear what others think of them.
As a TikTok Shop owner, you need to encourage buyers to share their purchases with their audience and tag you so you too, can reshare and use the content to further boost sales.
There’s nothing quite as powerful as allowing others to see how previous customers use your products and how they fit into their lives to help you make a sale, and UGC is something you need to harness.
TikTok SEO
To make sales, you still need SEO, even in the app. You need to create descriptions and titles optimised for searches within the app and use hashtags to help people find your products.
This enables the algorithms to identify and show your products to users searching for similar items to what you sell, as it recognises that you are selling this, too meaning search results will also feature your storefront as an option for people to purchase from.