The TikTok Shop: Redefining Social Commerce

All social media platforms evolve over time. Instagram has its shop, Facebook has its marketplace, and now TikTok has its own social commerce feature.

It was barely a few months ago when business happened organically on TikTok. Creators referred to products on their feed and endorsed different brands. After months of testing with Shopify, TikTok launched the ‘TikTok’ shop earlier this year. Let’s take a look at how you can use it to start or grow your business.

Understanding the Shop

The Shop transforms TikTok from a content creation platform to a one-stop shop for anything advertised on it. Considering the Chinese version of the app, Douyin, offers a dozen other features and both are owned by the same company, it was only a matter of time before TikTok expanded its mandate.

TikTok boasts the most advanced algorithm out of all social media platforms with the fastest-growing user base in the world. They can leverage these advantages to make an extremely user-friendly and seamless shopping experience. You can buy anything you see on your feed, on the LIVE feature, or on the new product showcase tab.

Seamless Shopping

Businesses have been working to reduce friction in the customer journey for years. One-click buying, dedicated landing pages, and in-app purchases all pale in comparison to the convenience of TikTok shopping. As a business owner, you want to encourage impulse buying. The more people think between finding and buying a product, the less likely you are to convert that sale.

The TikTok shop lets users complete the entire journey with just a few taps in the same app. You can transition between watching your favorite influencer use a product to checkout instantly. Fashion brands can set up virtual shows to market their entire product line and drive sales. This makes e-commerce more accessible to everybody. Small companies that couldn’t even afford websites can sell directly on the shop.

Expanded Reach

One of the biggest advantages of selling on social media platforms, but especially TikTok, is the existing user base. Millions, if not hundreds of millions, access the platform every day for at least a few minutes. This is a golden opportunity for businesses of all sizes to find their niche.

Sellers experience compound benefits from influencer marketing when they use the shop. For example, it’s better for a cosmetics branch to sponsor a beauty influencer on TikTok than any other marketing opportunity. Even if they can reach more eyeballs through a billboard or a paid advertisement, TikTok makes sure that the people you reach are actually interested in your product.

Drive with Data

You’ve seen praise for TikTok’s algorithm above, but what does that really mean? It’s the efficiency with which TikTok collects data on its users and the AI they use to recognize trends based on said data. The addictiveness of endlessly scrolling TikTok is a testament to how good they’re doing their job.

Now brands can also access this treasure trove of customer information. You can leverage metrics like views, clicks, bounce rates, and conversion rates. Brands have used this information to improve their products, their websites, their advertising strategies, and much more. It’s like a much more numerical and raw form of customer reviews. They’re more honest too. A user may give you an average review for a bad product because they don’t want to be rude, but the numbers will never lie.

Enhance User Engagement

Customers don’t just want their favorite brands to throw ads at them. They want to engage with the brand, give their feedback, and feel like they’re being heard. One of the biggest advantages of social commerce is that users can directly leave comments and reviews. They can reach out to sellers themselves or report complaints to the influencers recommending the product. It creates a much more direct link between brands and customers that, if used right, can boost brand image and loyalty.

On the other hand, social commerce presents a vast array of interesting new content creation opportunities. The platform’s crafty tools help you create authentic and attention-grabbing content for very little investment. You can stay relevant on users’ feeds by pumping out reactions, thought pieces, and jokes or by following the latest trends. What matters is that you engage with the platform and its users.

TikTok is the home of viral challenges. If you can start a trend, you’ll get millions of bits of free marketing. User-generated content is one of the leading strategies for organic reach. People see a challenge and tell their friends, generating word-of-mouth marketing for you. For example, make-up brands can start glow-up challenges that promote their product and engagement from users.

Shoppable Ads and Product Tags

As you strive to engage with your customers and improve your conversion rates, you’ll come across the Shoppable Ads and Product Tag features. They enable brands to tag specific products within their videos. If you see something you like, click it in the video, and they’ll take you to where you can buy it. Reviews of the new feature are very positive: users love the immediate gratification of seeing something and being able to buy it with zero research.

It doesn’t matter what kind of business you run. You could be a small company looking to grow, a large corporation flexing its muscles, or somebody just starting out. TikTok shop has benefits for everybody. Make sure you take advantage.

For more similar blogs, visit EvolveDash today!