TikTok Shop: The ultimate small business guide (updated for 2025)

How many of your customers start their online shopping on TikTok? More and more people are heading to the app instead of Google – and TikTok Shop's early adopters are turning that exposure into sales.

TikTok Shop's been available in the UK since 2021. But TikTok's investments and the rapid growth of the platform mean there's still a big opportunity for small businesses.

Our guide will help you understand whether TikTok Shop is right for you. Along the way, you'll find practical tips on how to get started and increase your sales, and expert insights from Chu Lo Drinks founder Steph Buttery.

What is TikTok Shop?

Think of TikTok Shop as QVC for Gen Z. If you've never heard of QVC, it's a shopping channel where the hosts entertain and offer deals to keep people hooked.

It allows you to sell products through the social media platform in the same way you might use eBay or Amazon.

The key difference is that it's video-based and social. You can build an audience and easily interact with people who are buying your products.

Is TikTok Shop right for my business?

It depends on what you're selling and whether your target customers use the app.

Popular TikTok Shop categories include clothing, jewellery, baked goods, fragrances, skincare and personal beauty.

Looking at competitors' TikTok Shops is an easy way to check whether there might be an opportunity. Steph Buttery uses the platform to sell Japanese-inspired soft drinks.

"If you have a similar wheelhouse, there's a really easy cost-benefit analysis because you'll be able to see their unit sales."

She adds that products that are cheap to ship work best – and the golden combination is cheap to ship and expensive to buy.

TikTok Shop only offers physical goods for sale, not services or digital products like tourism or marketing services, so that does rule out some sectors.

What benefits does TikTok Shop offer?

TikTok Shop allows you to sell directly on the platform. That makes it easier for buyers, who often hesitate to go from social media to sellers' websites.

TikTok is also investing in TikTok Shop's growth and we're still at the start of adoption. That can make it easier to get traction than older marketplaces.

How will my products appear on TikTok Shop?

There are a few main ways customers can discover your products:

• Shoppable Videos: Share videos that include clickable content

• LIVE shopping sessions: Host interactive shopping sessions

• TikTok creators: Work with influencers to promote your products

• The Shop tab: Appears on your profile to showcase your products

How much time do you need to invest?

Getting started on the platform is relatively easy. You'll need to be able to fulfil e-commerce orders (TikTok has started offering a service, which we'll cover in a moment) and promote your products.

The amount of time you invest in marketing is the biggest factor. Steph suggests posting at least three videos a week and there's no real limit to how much promotion you can do. The key is to be consistent:

"If you're posting every day, post every day. If you're posting three times a week, post three times a week. Don't post three videos in a day and then do nothing for a week."

How does fulfilment work on TikTok Shop?

You can fulfil orders using your existing e-commerce set-up and TikTok Shop connects to services like Shopify.

TikTok also launched Fulfilled by TikTok in 2023, which handles storage, packing, shipping and returns.

What's the best way to approach content creation?

People love buying from small businesses when they connect with the founder's story. TikTok creates an opportunity to lean into that, as Steph explains:

"Let people in, be honest, bring them on the journey. Weird stuff happens in businesses every day and people want to see that."

Videos can take anywhere from 30 minutes to a whole day to produce, so find an approach that works for you. That's likely to include a mix of batch filming and recording videos ad hoc when you see an opportunity.

Here are five TikTok Shop-friendly video formats to get you thinking:

1. Day in the life: Give people a look at what it's like to run a business.

2. I bet you didn't know (or public service announcement): Share something about your industry.

3. Behind the scenes: Show people what's going on in your business.

4. Testimonial: Read out customer feedback.

5. Top five best sellers: Tell people about your most popular products.

Here's PERL founder Isobel Perl sharing a day in the life video where she showcases products.

You can share educational content too. For example, a gym wear brand might do exercise tutorials wearing their kit or interview people about their exercise habits.

If you're consistently getting fewer than 200 views a video, it's worth trying something different.

How can we create Shoppable Videos?

Here's what TikTok's marketing experts recommend if you're creating a Shoppable Video, which can include adverts for your products:

1. Highlight product benefits, such as before-and-after results or educational information.

2. Grab attention in the first few seconds of the video, using visual or audio "hook".

3. Take advantage of popular trends on the platform to increase engagement.

4. Include a clear call to action, such as "add to basket" or "shop now".

If you're looking for more advice on building your business on TikTok, we've teamed up with the social media platform to offer a free email course.

You can also watch this webinar with TikTok's marketing director:

How can I partner with TikTok Creators?

One of the benefits of TikTok Shop is that it makes it easy to get other users to promote your products.

This involves collaborating with established influencers – TikTok creators – who promote your products to their audiences for a fee.

You can choose to target specific influencers, partner with an agency who does the work for you or enable open collaborations. Steph explains:

"Anyone who has over 1,000 followers can get a sample of your product and make a video about it and get a commission. They will have it for free. You pay a commission on whatever they sell."

If you set a reasonable commission rate, creators will often come to you. Just make sure you keep in mind the impact the fee has on your profitability.

Check out TikTok's affiliate marketing page for more information.

How do LIVE shopping sessions work?

Going LIVE is also a great way to make sales and build your audience. People watching can find out more about what you do and easily convert through the Buy button.

Do I need 1,000 followers to go LIVE?

No. As a registered and verified TikTok Shop UK seller, you can go LIVE at any point, whether you have 0, 50 or 500 followers.

How long should we go LIVE for?

This is where the QVC analogy really comes into play. Engaging LIVEs tend to include a heady mix of offers, audience reaction, humour and hype.

You need to be prepared to run a LIVE shopping session for at least an hour and some brands will run them for much longer than that. Steph explains:

"For the first hour, TikTok will push it out to your audience. After that it goes to the main LIVE page where you can get a couple of hundred extra viewers every minute. That's potential orders and followers."

Steph also reminds small business owners to be patient. It does take time to build up a following and make these events work.

What makes LIVE shopping sessions successful?

The best way to understand what works is to look at your competitors. Successful channels in other niches are also helpful – try nutritiongeeksofficial and Ridiculously Rich By Alana.

Alana's fulfilment centre is set up to be filmed. She talks through packing orders for people that buy during LIVES and answers questions people ask. Steph says:

"People want to know how the product works and they might want to see their orders being packed. And remember that people might only check in for three or four minutes, so you need to repeat key information."

Other resources to help build your TikTok Shop

• Steph runs daytime and evening courses on building your TikTok Shop (use the code "EnterpriseN10" for 10% off)

• WEBINAR: How to start selling successfully on TikTok Shop

• WEBINAR: Using the power of TikTok 

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