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How to Dropship on TikTok Shop Step by Step
If you already own an e-commerce store or are thinking about launching one, TikTok has become a massive platform for finding and selling products. I’m sure you’ve seen viral TikTok products via TikTok ads, in-feed videos, lives, product showcases, or the shop tab. The hashtag #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt has over 60 billion views, and as we know, users feel more confident buying products that others are talking about. Many shop owners are taking advantage of the dropshipping model on TikTok to sell their products without incurring major fees. But, what is dropshipping on TikTok?
The ability to sell products directly from the app opens ample opportunities for brands, entrepreneurs, and e-commerce businesses. In this post, we will explain how to dropship on TikTok shop step by step, so you can continue to sell your products while boosting profits.
If you aren’t familiar with TikTok shop, we recommend following this guide to understand how you can shop on this platform and where to find products:
What is TikTok Dropshipping?
First of all, let’s break down what dropshipping is, and how it works on TikTok. Dropshipping includes promoting and selling products via TikTok shop while not holding any inventory and buying products as needed from other suppliers. Once an order is placed, you work hand in hand with another supplier to complete the shipping process.
This allows drop shippers to use TikTok to promote their products, while not needing to hold mass stock or ship products themselves. By utilizing a third-party supplier, these shop owners act as the middleman between sellers and consumers.
This business model is attractive for those wanting to build an e-commerce business without having to hold or ship products on their own. This model combined with the ease of shopping on social media platforms like TikTok, is a drop shippers dream.
How to Use TikTok for Dropshipping
Okay, so you’re sold on dropshipping on TikTok shop. Before diving into selling, you should follow these steps to set up your TikTok shop dropship for success.
Know the rules
To set up a TikTok Shop, there are a few requirements. These include:
- The store needs to be located in the United States and have a verifiable address
- Have an online store
- Must have a TikTok for Business account
- Need to display a return policy page on your store
- Products need to be TikTok’s product guidelines
If you meet this criteria, you can create your TikTok Shop. However, you will need to link your e-commerce store to TikTok Shop, so make sure you do this first through a third-party retailer such as Shopify.
The other important element of owning a TikTok Shop is the incurring fees, which include the referral fee, shipping fee, and sales tax.
The referral fee is the total fee TikTok Shop collects from completed orders, which will increase to 6% on April 1st, 2024, and increase again to 8% on July 1st, 2024.
The shipping fee is only applicable to those using TikTok Shop’s 4PL service, meaning the seller ships the products on their own. For drop shippers, this fee will not be collected.
Sales tax is calculated on all TikTok Shop sales in states that apply. There are currently 48 US jurisdictions that are subject to sales tax. The only ones not included in this list are Delaware, Montana, and Oregon.
Find the right supplier
After reviewing the rules and regulations, it’s time to find the right supplier for your shop. You want to make sure you create a trustworthy and reliable relationship with the supplier, to ensure your orders are completed efficiently. When coming in contact with these partners, make sure the products align with what you want to sell, and that they are a reputable supplier.
Examples of dropshipping platforms
While there is a wide variety of dropshipping suppliers, here are some that have high reviews and a positive reputation:
- AliExpress
- CJDropshipping
- Spocket
- EPROLO
- SaleHoo
- Doba
- Wholesale2B
Establish your dropship store
Did you know that you can integrate an AliExpress dropshipping tool called Dsers directly into Shopify? If you are wondering where to set up your store, this may be your solution. Because to set up your TikTok Shop you need to link an e-commerce store.
You can also set up your drop ship stores on other sites that are compatible with TikTok such as Wix, WordPress, Weebly, and Amazon, to name a few. Whichever platform you choose, make sure it’s intuitive and easy to use for you.
As mentioned above in the rules, TikTok Shop requires you to have a return policy page on your page. You can also add your terms and conditions, refunds, and other policies to avoid complications and legitimize your store.
Link store to TikTok Shop
Now it’s finally time to set up your shop! Remember that you need to have a TikTok for Business account to set up a shop. If you don’t have a TikTok account, you can sign up with the link below:
To set up your TikTok Shop, navigate to the Creator tools inside your TikTok profile. From here you can sign up or link your current account. Fill in the business details, verify your identity and once you’re approved you will have access to your TikTok Shop dashboard. Lastly, you will integrate your TikTok Shop with your e-commerce store.
Inside this dashboard, you will be able to manage all of your orders, products, analytics, ads, finances, and more.
Promote your products
Now that you have set up your e-commerce store and TikTok Shop, it’s time to promote your products! How can you sell your products?
- Utilize the “Product Showcase” feature, which is a tab located in your profile so users can easily find your products.
- Create TikTok Ads campaigns to boost your content’s visibility and reach a larger audience.
- Stream LIVE Shopping videos, where you can showcase and sell your products via pins links during live streams.
- Consider working with influencers to gain loyal customers and continue to grow your following.
Of course, you can also add product tags to regular in-feed videos, which is a great way to continue to sell and promote your products.
As always, it’s important to create quality content for your audience, ensuring you are addressing your audience’s pain points, including keywords in your caption, and selecting an appropriate thumbnail.
Complete your orders
The last and most important step is to ensure your orders are completed and your customer is satisfied. While TikTok dropshipping takes a lot of weight off the seller’s shoulders, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t continue to check in with your customers and create those trustworthy relationships.
You can also manage your messages and comments to respond to followers if they have any questions, concerns, or doubts. Fostering these relationships will not only help you grow your business but increase the likelihood that customers will continue to stay.
TikTok Management with Metricool
Creating content on TikTok while running an e-commerce business can be a lot of work, especially if you choose to do everything manually. However, with Metricool you can save time, energy, and money in social media management. Schedule and auto-publish TikTok videos directly from the Metricool platform, measure content performance, analyze TikTok Ads campaign results, and manage all your social media messages in one place.
Not only will this automate your tasks, but give you insight into what content is working and which areas are falling behind so you can continue to improve your strategies. Because it’s all connected, isn’t it? Plus, you can do this all for FREE! Social media management doesn’t have to break the bank and we prove that:
Happy TikTok Shop dropshipping!