How to win on TikTok Shop by turning discovery into sales

Speaker introductions and agenda

00:01:48 Damian Speck: Good morning and good afternoon given our global audience here. I'm Damian, I'll be your host for today. We have a great session planned, some excellent content being shared from our guest speaker from TikTok Shop.

00:02:02 Damian Speck: We're seeing more and more brands looking to take brand ownership and find new sales channels. The question always is, where do we get set up next? The content around TikTok Shop today should make a pretty strong, compelling case for that next channel.

00:02:21 Damian Speck: We have 45 minutes blocked off. Figure 30 minutes for our session and we'll leave time at the end for Q&A. The call will be recorded, so if you want to come back to it, you'll be able to.

00:02:46 Damian Speck: I am the Head of Channel Partnerships for ChannelEngine, based here in New York City at our US headquarters. In my role, I'm the bridge between our internal teams and our external channel partners, which includes a strong partnership with TikTok Shop.

00:03:05 Damian Speck: TikTok Shop isn't just about content, not just videos, but it's also a marketplace. The power to build brand awareness, build loyalty, and lift up sales on other sales channels is just powerful.

00:03:55 Tony Morales: Hello. Nice to meet everyone. Great to be here and answer your questions.

About ChannelEngine

00:04:09 Damian Speck: For those of you that don't know ChannelEngine, we are a multi-channel management software. We assist with channel introductions, the activation of new channels, and the syndication of content, pricing, offers, inventory levels, and order status in near real time.

00:04:36 Damian Speck: Our solution automates real-time inventory synchronization, so you never have to deal with the nightmare of overselling. We use AI within our mappings and other parts of our software to correctly format your product data for each local audience. Our pricing engine provides dynamic pricing guardrails to make sure that your margins are protected.

00:05:42 Damian Speck: Think of ChannelEngine as your central operating system for your e-commerce operation, one login to access it all. You can unlock over 1,300 channels to global markets.

Why now is the right time to join TikTok Shop

00:06:33 Damian Speck: We've seen TikTok in the news quite a bit, and brands are now really engaged to make things happen with TikTok. So the question to you, Tony: why is now the right time to join TikTok Shop?

00:06:51 Tony Morales: I don't think now is the right time. I think yesterday was the right time. Last week, last month, last year. So if you aren't on TikTok Shop now, I would hurry up.

00:07:13 Tony Morales: In September, we turned three years old. We are still, in many ways, not where Amazon is after 20 plus years of building. The opportunity on TikTok Shop is still so vast. The opportunity to get more buy buttons in the ether and to participate in having another distribution channel is really important.

00:08:07 Tony Morales: If you fast forward 5 or 10 years into the future, as our platform grows and as our technology grows, it's only going to become better. There's only going to be more features, more functions, more customers, and more opportunity as time goes on. So creating your shop today and getting involved now is the right thing to do, and then ride the wave as we grow.

TikTok Shop vs. TikTok and other marketplaces

00:08:46 Damian Speck: What makes TikTok Shop different, not just from other marketplaces, but from TikTok itself? I think sometimes they're confused, TikTok versus TikTok Shop.

00:09:03 Tony Morales: We have over 200 million users in the US, and the average user is on TikTok for over 97 minutes a day. TikTok Shop is where people are purchasing items. We have a storefront, we have the ability for people to purchase items, versus when brands are engaging with the marketing aspect of TikTok for brand awareness.

00:09:47 Tony Morales: On the shop side, there's an opportunity for customers to see a catalog of inventory and a catalog of brands that they can engage with. They are shown things that we believe they're going to like based on their interests.

00:10:09 Tony Morales: When I think about the differences between TikTok Shop and other marketplaces, the vast majority of marketplaces are what I would refer to as search, find, buy. You search for the golf clubs, you find the golf clubs, you buy the golf clubs. It's high shopping intent — you're going to the store to buy something.

00:10:44 Tony Morales: With TikTok Shop, you can certainly go to our shop page and browse and look for items. But typically, we are not necessarily search, find, buy as much as we are discovery shopping. As TikTok users are browsing for entertainment, they're going to be shown short videos of things that we think would be interesting to them based on their preferences. We are the number one source for new customer acquisition — you're getting access to a shopper that isn't looking for you like they would be in another marketplace.

Who is the TikTok Shop customer in 2026?

00:11:51 Damian Speck: Often brands evaluating different marketplaces are looking at demographics. There was a misconception about who is on TikTok — that everyone there is very young. Who is the TikTok shopper in 2026 and how has the audience shifted?

00:12:05 Tony Morales: We've essentially doubled in terms of revenue the last three years in a row, and we're on strong pace to keep numbers close to that. The business is growing substantially, not just in revenue terms, but in geography, in users, and in what we're able to deliver for brands.

00:12:52 Tony Morales: There's a larger variety of shoppers coming to TikTok Shop every day. Could we say that we potentially skew younger and that more people in their 20s and 30s purchase on TikTok Shop than people in their 60s and 70s? That's probably a fair assessment. But as we move forward, the shopper set is becoming more and more broad, and we're seeing people from all walks of life purchasing from TikTok Shop on a regular basis.

00:13:30 Damian Speck: We're seeing these markets pop up for TikTok Shop globally. You have the availability to learn it in one region and then expand from there, especially through our software. Someone who is 25 now — this is what they grew up on. They're going to be 32 with more buying power, and to get set up now is the time.

TikTok Shop as incremental reach vs. Amazon

00:14:07 Damian Speck: For brands already on Amazon, is TikTok Shop genuinely incremental reach or is there some overlap?

00:14:24 Tony Morales: There's always going to be a sliver of overlap as you move into different channels. But it's important to meet customers where they're at, and the more buy buttons you have in the ether, the better.

00:14:54 Tony Morales: With TikTok Shop specifically, you may have a strong Amazon customer base — people that are looking for you on Amazon. But they're looking for you. My question would be, how do you reach customers that aren't looking for you? TikTok Shop is absolutely the best place to do that.

00:15:37 Tony Morales: There's often a halo effect that we see with brands that set up shops. They end up seeing not only revenue through the shop, but also a lift in other selling channels because there's more awareness for their brand with new customers.

00:16:02 Damian Speck: Roughly 65% of shoppers will use three to four different channels before they actually settle where they're going to buy. We call that omnipresence — being in every single channel that's relevant to your brand, because you don't know where that journey is going to start and end.

Buying behaviour and what performs well on TikTok Shop

00:16:46 Damian Speck: Are there buying behaviours that brands wouldn't expect when it comes to TikTok Shop?

00:16:58 Tony Morales: The more unique, interesting, and demonstrable a product is, the more people are into it. We had a product where someone tried to make the hottest tortilla chip possible — a single chip selling for $19.99 or $29.99. There are often strange things like that that happen. TikTok Shop is a fun place to be, and people that are looking for unique, demonstrable things tend to do really, really well.

Content creation and the creator network

00:18:30 Damian Speck: Content creation is something I always make sure sellers are aware of. It's not just a marketplace. How critical is content creation when setting up?

00:18:43 Tony Morales: Content creation is very important. More than half of revenue comes from short video content. It's important for brands to create content on their own, and even more important to work through our creator network and have affiliates that promote and make video content for the brand.

00:19:14 Damian Speck: You're not just coming in and saying, here's my listing, hopefully I get some sales. You're going to have to put some effort in.

00:19:23 Tony Morales: I think oftentimes brands think like in the movie Field of Dreams: if you build it, they will come. If I just put up the listing, then everyone will just show up and buy it. Unfortunately, it doesn't really work that way in any marketplace. We have to build a listing and have the offer, but we need to let people know that the offer exists. Creator-led content is very authentic and it lets people know that the listing exists.

The TikTok Shop shopping journey

00:20:45 Damian Speck: How does a customer actually shop on TikTok Shop, from the moment they see a product to checkout?

00:21:09 Tony Morales: It's relatively simple and straightforward. If someone is seeing a live video or short video content and they click on it, they'll be taken to the detail page for that item. If they're searching for something and they click on the item, they'll be taken to the detail page. Then if they want to check out, they go to cart and it's theirs.

00:21:40 Tony Morales: If they want to post a video about it, they can go on TikTok and talk about their experience with the item. That's one of the things about the platform that I find so magical — there's a level of authenticity of people just sharing what they think. It's almost like a friend recommending a movie. There's something special about being able to say, I liked a thing or I didn't like a thing and here's why and here's how it worked for me.

Top performing categories

00:24:18 Damian Speck: What categories are performing strongest on TikTok Shop right now, and what is it about those categories that makes them really work?

00:25:05 Tony Morales: Any category can do well — we have products and successful brands in every category. But if we want to lean into the themes that really promote success: consumable brands are very successful because you can have repeat purchases and get a customer who continues to come back, versus selling a refrigerator where it's often a one-time purchase and you're continually finding new shoppers.

00:26:03 Tony Morales: Products with higher margin have different opportunities. One is more affiliates, because there's more margin to pay people. The other is sampling. If I'm selling a beauty product where my cost is $4, it's a lot easier to send out 1,000 samples than it is on a $400 product. The ability to sample and broaden the affiliate network makes a big impact on success.

00:26:52 Damian Speck: Affiliates would be the short video creators making content on behalf of the brand?

00:26:58 Tony Morales: Correct. And it's not required. There's a large chunk of our revenue that comes from traditional search, find, buy of the shop, but it's certainly encouraged. Our most successful brands do work with affiliates and content creators.

Onboarding and going live

00:27:33 Damian Speck: What does the onboarding process look like and what is a realistic time frame to go live?

00:27:42 Tony Morales: Onboarding is pretty simple — you just open your shop. You'll have a handful of credentials to put in so we know who you are and what your business is. The roadmap is 60 days, but in reality this is a choose your own adventure. If you want to be moving in a week, you can be moving in a week.

00:28:11 Tony Morales: The most important thing is to get the shop open. Once the shop is open, make sure you have great listings, your pictures look good, your titles and content are strong. Choose a shipping method, participate in our campaigns, and begin to work with creators and put content out there for your brand.

00:28:41 Damian Speck: This is where ChannelEngine can help. Once you're approved and you've signed the terms, we can syndicate your data in the right format to TikTok Shop. We handle orders, syncing, and content. We connect both sides of the tech stack — backend systems like ERPs and PIMs, as well as different fulfillment solutions.

Fulfillment options

00:29:14 Damian Speck: What are the fulfillment options for brands selling on TikTok Shop, and how should an established brand think about which model is right for them?

00:29:23 Tony Morales: First, there's seller shipping, where you do it all yourself. If you have the capacity to pick, pack, and ship, or you're working with a 3PL, you can take full ownership of the entire shipping process.

00:29:47 Tony Morales: We also have TikTok shipping, where you can pick and pack from your warehouse, use our labels, and either take packages to a last mile facility or we can come to you and pick up packages on a daily basis.

00:30:14 Tony Morales: Then there's FBT — Fulfilled by TikTok — which I would encourage everybody to do. You ship your inventory into our warehouses, and we handle everything. We take on the liability for the inventory and making sure it gets to where it needs to be on time. You don't need to worry about any issues from third-party carriers affecting your shop score.

00:30:41 Damian Speck: Most channels will have some type of scoring and KPIs to be aware of. For ChannelEngine, we support all fulfillment options — whether you're doing seller shipping, using FBT, or whatever the native fulfillment option is. Your seller score is something to watch carefully. Depending on the marketplace, you could be delisted or pulled back from being showcased based on that score.

The halo effect

00:32:11 Damian Speck: We've seen data suggesting that TikTok Shop doesn't just drive sales on the platform. It lifts performance across other direct consumer channels and helps create brand equity. Can you walk us through what the halo effect actually looks like in practice?

00:32:31 Tony Morales: TikTok Shop is the number one place for discovery and new customer acquisition. Not every one of those customers buys on TikTok Shop — the average customer looks at four different channels before making a buying decision. So there are times where a shopper may see an item on TikTok Shop and then decide to purchase elsewhere.

00:33:23 Tony Morales: We definitely see that when brands start launching on shop and participating in campaigns and producing content, their other marketplace channels and their DTC website do see a bump. For some of them it's mild, and for some of them it's massive — a multiple of what they're getting. It definitely exists. I would encourage anybody to begin tracking their DTC traffic and branded search traffic in their marketplaces, and they will simply see increases in that as they ramp up on TikTok Shop.

Building the business case for TikTok Shop

00:34:32 Damian Speck: For a brand that's skeptical about ROI and wants to evaluate a business case before committing, what do you typically show them to give them confidence?

00:35:04 Tony Morales: I can go through hundreds of case studies of brands that have been successful and seen great results. But the biggest thing is, I don't think there is a downside. Even if someone didn't advertise, didn't use affiliates, or didn't lean into our campaigns — and I would encourage people to do all of those things — I still believe there's value in simply being on the shop, opening a shop, creating a listing, and just being present.

What successful brands have in common

00:36:06 Damian Speck: The brands that are successful on TikTok Shop — what do they tend to have in common? What are they doing differently?

00:36:42 Tony Morales: They're not trying to reinvent the wheel or figure it out themselves. They're working with partners, they're using technology, they're following our suggestions. We recommend things they should do with different products and they follow directions. We recommend they participate in our campaigns and they do. We recommend that they sample a certain amount and reach out to creators, and they are willing to be coachable and take suggestions.

00:37:26 Tony Morales: It's also important to have good products and good offers. The things that tend to get more virality and that giant boom are the things that are highly demonstrable — something like a glitter patch where in three seconds you can show a clear before and after. There isn't a necessity for long explanation, and those things tend to pick up traction really well.

00:38:52 Damian Speck: Virality is one of the major outcomes. For us, it's important to be prepared — when you go viral, make sure you're not overselling. Nothing is worse than a customer ordering something and having the order canceled a few days later because the item is out of stock. We have tools to track inventory across multiple warehouses in near real time, to the point where you can delist when you're getting low. That's a key thing to watch out for.

Campaigns and promotions

00:40:01 Damian Speck: TikTok Shop has its own campaign calendar — deals for the day, Super Brand Day, seasonal moments. How should brands take advantage of those programs?

00:40:20 Tony Morales: Campaigns happen in a couple of different ways. There are customized brand campaigns where the brand can run their own campaign at times of their choosing. Then we have centralized platform campaigns where we create opportunities for brands to reach customers in a unique way, give the customer a unique offer, and create something special for customers to take part in.

00:41:06 Tony Morales: Not every brand has to do every campaign. I would encourage them to participate in as much as they feel able to. We create a lot of opportunities to showcase their products to customers in a special way.

00:41:24 Damian Speck: Roughly 40% of sellers spend a lot of time on pricing setup and pricing changes. If you're doing promotional periods, it typically involves adjusting pricing. If you've got 5,000 or 10,000 SKUs, that is a huge lift. ChannelEngine's pricing engine lets you schedule pricing promotions and changes in advance to make this simpler.

Final advice and getting started

00:42:28 Damian Speck: For brands seriously considering TikTok Shop, what's the last thing you'd want them to know before they reach out?

00:42:41 Tony Morales: Open the shop. If you haven't opened your shop, open your shop. Upload a listing and just begin, because you can't do any of the things we're talking about unless you open a shop. List the listing, and begin to participate in this experience. It can evolve at your own pace if that's what you need it to do. Get in the game. Join us. Participate. Be in a position to showcase your brand and your products and give our users the opportunity to see what you have to offer.

00:43:35 Damian Speck: We do have an application link for our sellers that does seem to fast track how brands are getting into TikTok Shop and directs them to the appropriate teams. Please let us know if you have questions.

Q&A

00:43:59 Damian Speck: A question came through: how can we find out what the commissions are for TikTok Shop?

00:44:05 Tony Morales: It's super simple. We have a 6% platform fee. That's it.

00:44:11 Damian Speck: That's significantly less than a lot of other channels. There's always going to be some type of commission or take rate, but that is significantly less than most channels. You do have to layer in costs for supporting any agency to help sell, so approach it tactically in terms of how you're deploying. But it's a super exciting channel to be on and be a part of.

00:44:54 Damian Speck: A question from the chat: for sellers in the Netherlands selling in Europe, what would you advise — Germany or Netherlands?

00:45:03 Tony Morales: Those are great questions and unfortunately I am US-based only and only work with US-based sellers. I would have to connect you with our teams in those regions to answer those details.

00:45:22 Damian Speck: There could be differences between regions. We can support you with that — just reach out to us and we can give you information and connect you with the right teams. We have those contacts.