TikTok Shop

Nine warning signs in a TikTok Shop agency pitch, each with the one question that tests it on a live call.

Thirteen questions that separate agencies that run TikTok Shop for profit from agencies that report activity, each with what a strong answer and a weak answer sound like.

The agency fee is the smallest line on the bill. The real cost is the fee plus samples, creator commissions and ad spend, judged against cost per incremental order and contribution margin.

In-house wins when TikTok Shop is a large, permanent share of revenue and you can hire and manage specialists. An agency wins when you need several specialisms at once and speed. Here is the decision rule.

A TikTok Shop agency runs the commerce engine around your shop: setup, catalog, creators, content, paid amplification and reporting. Here is each function, what good output looks like and what you still own.

It can, through specific mechanisms, but you have to measure it. Brands often credit or blame the wrong channel. Here is how to test the effect for your own products without fooling yourself.

You have already proven the product on Amazon. What you add on TikTok Shop is a creator-led distribution system. Here is how to launch it without disturbing what already works.

TikTok Shop search ranks products on relevance first, then sales, content engagement, shop health and price. Here is how to make a listing easy to match and easy to buy, and how creator content feeds it.

GMV Max is TikTok's automated campaign type for promoting Shop products. You set a budget and a target return, and the system handles the rest, so what you feed it decides the result.

The affiliate program lets creators promote your products in videos and LIVE and earn a commission you set. For a brand it is a distribution system you design, not a media buy.

TikTok Shop is profitable when your contribution margin after commission, fees, returns and discounts is high enough to fund creators and ads. It is a loss when it is not. You can calculate which before you launch.

The referral fee is the small line. The true cost of a TikTok Shop sale is that fee plus affiliate commission, fulfillment, returns, discounts, ad spend and samples. Here is the stack, in order, with the math.

Amazon captures demand that already exists. TikTok Shop creates demand through creators, then captures it at checkout. Here is how to decide which one leads for each product.

Launching on TikTok Shop is eight steps in a fixed order: economics, account and compliance, catalog, offers, fulfillment, creators, content, then paid. Here is the sequence, the checklist and what each step needs before the next one starts.