Traditionally, new businesses would have to open a brick-and-mortar store in the middle of their city to begin selling.
But the world has changed significantly since then and there are more opportunities than ever to establish a brand.
One such route is the TikTok Shop, which can be incredibly successful for some brands but also difficult to understand.
Here I will discuss how businesses can succeed with TikTok Shop in 2025 and successfully grow their brand.
Do you have little time? Here are the key takeaways
- Promote urgency: Try to capture your audience’s attention before they decide to swipe and move on.
- Don’t be afraid of discounts: Exclusive TikTok discounts are a great way to drive action from your viewers.
- Limit volume: By limiting the volume, you ensure that viewers act out of fear of missing something.
- Interact with your audience: Audience engagement is crucial to making your viewers feel heard and seen.
- Focus on visuals: Your background and setup need to be eye-catching since TikTok is a video-first platform.
- No dead air: The more dead air there is on your page, the more chances you give your audience to consider moving on.
What is TikTok Shop?
TikTok Shop is a feature within the TikTok app that allows users to make purchases while browsing the social media app.
It’s well known that TikTok Shop is one of the most popular social media apps, especially among the younger generation, and reaching them where they already are is much easier than convincing them to come across your website or social channels.
If you use TikTok yourself, you’ll notice that TikTok Shops rarely pop up when you scroll, popping up between the content you follow and what the algorithm recommends and sends you.
The videos often show a very passionate salesperson confidently communicating and interacting with the chat while simultaneously promoting products, regularly with some sort of urgent discount.
For those of you old enough to remember, it’s the closest thing to a modern version of TV shopping channels you’d come across when flipping through terrestrial TV channels.
The statistics
That all sounds great, but what’s really impressive are the numbers behind TikTok Shop. In 2024, there were already 264,500 TikTok shops, whose gross merchandise value was just over $11 billion!
The main winners are fashion and beauty brands, with beauty and personal care (22.50%), women’s clothing and underwear (12.56%) and men’s clothing and underwear (8.06%) dominating the market.
But other sectors such as healthcare (5.42%) and the telephone and electrical industry (3.88%) also have large market shares.
Lots more insights and data can be found in this great report from AfterShip.
This is how you become successful in the TikTok Shop
Now that you know some of the incredible numbers behind TikTok Shop, let’s discuss how you can be successful on the platform. Simply setting up a TikTok shop is no guarantee of success. You need to make sure that your shop is well positioned and that you are doing everything you can to attract new customers.
Promote urgency
The first tactic to keep in mind is the need to promote urgency when selling on TikTok. The user’s interaction time per post is so short that you need to grab their attention immediately by alerting them to the need to take urgent action.
Not only that, the more time you give your viewers to weigh and consider whether they should buy from you, the greater the chance they have of choosing to swipe and move on without buying from you.
Of course, I’m not saying you should lie to convey urgency to your audience, but you should use incentives to motivate quick action.
Don’t be afraid of discounts
One of the best ways to achieve this is to offer a “here and now” discount that is not available on your website. This tactic is common on TikTok and motivates viewers to act now instead of waiting or leaving your store.
Additionally, you could occasionally host giveaways for those who comment on the live video. People love the idea of winning free stuff even if they don’t need it! By doing this through the comments section of the video, you are also pleasing the TikTok algorithm gods with your consumer engagement, which in turn means your store is shown to more potential customers and the cycle continues.
Limit volume
Another way to encourage action is to limit volume. You’ll find that most of these suggestions are aimed at not only retaining your audience longer, but also getting them to take action.
By limiting the quantity (i.e. saying you only have three left in stock), you increase people’s fear of missing out. This approach will push some people who were unsure about buying to buy, fearing they’ll miss out if they don’t act now.
Here too, it is important to keep the ethical aspect of your company in mind. If you say you only sell 10 items at a certain price, it’s important that you stick to that and don’t expand the offering or lie about the quantity.
Not only is this unethical, but your audience will quickly recognize what you’re doing, move on, and not trust you in the future.
As a small business founder, trust is key and building a loyal customer base is the first step to long-term, sustainable growth.
Interact with your audience
Another important tip for success on TikTok Shop is interacting with your audience. Keep an eye on incoming comments as they are likely questions about your product, similar to answers on an FAQ page.
Not only does this convert these potential customers into paying customers, but it also shows other viewers that you are listening and engaging, which ensures authenticity and trust – two essential signals for new brands trying to break into the market.
Focus on the visuals
Next, it is important not to forget the importance of the visual elements in the TikTok Shop. According to DigiDay, Up to 75% of social media users scroll through their apps with the sound muted.
Therefore, the only way to capture their attention is to provide them with an interesting and appealing image.
This means that you need to be aware of the background you are live streaming against, as well as the lighting situation and your position in the image.
These may all seem like small things, but they all contribute to getting more people to stay with your video for longer.
It is also important to provide physical copies of the product you are selling. Not only will this delight viewers, but it will also make them more trustworthy that you will deliver the product if they make a purchase.
No dead air
After all, any dead air is an opportunity for your audience to move on. Practice speaking to the camera by doing the same in the mirror, cutting out any blank spaces in your text and trying to avoid any mumbling or filler words like “um.”
Unfortunately, this comes more naturally to some people than others! But it’s also a skill you can work on.
Because practice makes perfect!
Final thoughts
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