In 2024, it has become clear that while Google is still the common starting point for shopping online or looking for product recommendations, consumers are increasingly turning to their favorite social media apps to shop. And if up until now the retail and e-commerce industries were mainly talking about Facebook and Instagram as the leading social commerce channels, things have changed in 2024 with TikTok Shop.
TikTok is on its way to becoming one of the biggest global sales channels. In fact, a recent study suggests that 68.1% of social commerce sales happened on TikTok – far more than on Instagram, Facebook, or other rival platforms. Combine that with the fact that TikTok users have proven that they’re willing to engage with a brand for a hashtag challenge, for example, as long as the topic interests them – and you get a heavyweight platform that redefines social commerce to some extent.
What is the TikTok Shop?
After a successful “trial run” for their TikTik Shop in the UK, the trailblazing social platform has expanded and made its store available in the US, in late 2023. Purchasing has become fully integrated into TikTok, with “Shop” now a tab at the top of the app. Marketers can even create Shop Ads that refer viewers directly to your product listing on TikTok.
TikTok Shop offers its own checkout system and an extensive in-app affiliate program. When brands list products on the app, third-party creators can then promote them and get a cut of sales, sometimes without the brand’s direct involvement – creators can simply promote any product they see listed on the platform’s shop.
The potential of TikTok is not so much about selling to the brands’ pre-existing audience; It’s about content creators recommending products to their followers while brands add a rapidly growing sales channel to their arsenal while harnessing the key selling point of TikTok: a personalized shopping experience based on the platform’s user behavior.
Social commerce is clearly the leading sales channel for younger generations, and the addition of TikTok Shop as an avenue for sales in the US presents a new opportunity to maximize sales, increase brand awareness, and reach new audiences. Moreover, selling on TikTok Shop is a perfect opportunity to adopt the dropshipping sale model, just in case a brand is still contemplating it.
How to Sell on TikTok with Cymbio
Selling on a global social channel like TikTok offers opportunities, but also new challenges to face when adopting a new platform. Cymbio connects brands with retailers, social commerce channels, and marketplaces, enabling seamless integrations and automated operations. This way, selling is streamlined across multiple channels, making it easier to focus resources on other aspects of a brand’s business, like strategy, sales, and customer service.
Cymbio has just launched the TikTok Shop 2.0 App, ensuring automated and streamlined sales processes and operations, from top to bottom. This allows brands to confidently know that sales are running on autopilot, with better customer experience, and just in time for the upcoming holiday season.
What can the Cymbio TikTok Shop App do for brands?
- Inventory management
- Order Management
- Collections and Reconciliations
- Product Data Management, according to TikTok Shop’s specifications
- Automate imagery editing, specifically to TikTok Shop’s specifications
- Pricing Control
- Reporting and Analytics
By leveraging Cymbio’s capabilities on the TikTok US Shop, brands can easily scale their business while eliminating the need to exponentially increase budgets or workforce, enabling sustainable growth – all while making informed decisions and optimizing their TikTok Shop strategy.
The Bottom Line
TikTok envisions a bright future for social commerce on its platform. It continues to broaden its collaborations with various e-commerce platforms and brands, introducing new ad products and features, while continuously expanding its influencers and users pool. A brand that wishes to stay ahead of the curve and leverage every potential sales channel should definitely start selling on TikTok US Shop – Click here to get Cymbio’s TikTok Shop US.