Building on the TikTok community’s appetite to shop the latest trends, the platform has become a hub for brands both large and small to build connections with consumers and reach new audiences. It launched its TikTok Shop marketplace in 2021 and since then #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt has become a national phenomenon, driving sales and enabling products to find viral success.
At the same time, household names like CocaCola, Burberry, Loewe and L’Oreal have embraced creating content on TikTok to offer their customers a fully integrated ecommerce experience, where they are able to purchase on TikTok without ever having to leave the app.
Despite this, TikTok Shop may still be an unknown to some, but with thousands of brands and small businesses listed on the platform, covering numerous different categories, it might be time to consider your own TikTok Shop.
With that in mind, we’ve spoken to three of TikTok Shop owners who, by achieving significant growth in revenue and sales in record time, have earned the moniker ‘Shop Legends’:
- Daisy Kelly, founder of make up brand, Glow for it, who used the platform to achieve £68,000 sales in one month
- Richard Gallant, co-founder of eFones which has increased its revenue by 290% and seen a 200% increase in sales month on month through TikTok Shop, and;
- Charlene Nevin, founder of toy business, H2B, which has utilised Shop to deliver £300,000 sales in one month
We sat down with them to find out how other businesses can benefit from TikTok Shop, build a strong customer base and, most importantly, increase sales.
What led to starting an e-commerce business and launching on Shop?
For all of the Shop Legends, personal experience helped them to identify a gap in the market. For Richard of eFones this meant experiencing a lack of market supply for cost effective mobile handsets, Daisy, of Glow For It, wanted to help others find ways to invest in their own natural beauty, while Charlene, founder of H2B Toys and a devoted mother, started making toy accessories for her daughter before realising there was an interest and demand online.
Richard noted that “the decision to launch an online [TikTok] Shop was driven by the desire to reach a new audience”, while the ease of setting up a shop on platforms like TikTok meant low startup costs compared to opening a physical shop.
Of course, as with every business, it requires investment. For Daisy, this meant convincing her mum to invest a small sum in her idea, which would help fulfil her first purchase order. However, after her journey gained a rapid following on TikTok, she identified Shop as a way to turn those already engaged in her content into customers.
What are the best tools that other entrepreneurs and retailers can use to drive sales on Shop?
These entrepreneurs all believe that going LIVE on TikTok – a livestreaming function that allows viewers and creators to interact in real-time – is a great way to build connections and loyalty with customers. Daisy told us that she goes LIVE daily, in an effort to “answer questions and educate her customers without the need for a high ad spend”. Similarly, Richard found that LIVE can boost engagement across the platform, giving the team a chance to showcase products and resulting in increased sales.
Both founders also recommend Shop’s affiliate programme, meaning merchants can use TikTok creators to sell their products via links on the TikTok content they share. eFones in particular said that working with creators “has helped to build trust and reach new customers.”
Why should e-commerce businesses consider TikTok Shop as well as or above other alternatives?
For the founders, organic customer acquisition through TikTok is a big draw, with users often coming to the platform for entertainment but then also being able to access the marketplace in the same app. When it comes to Glow for It, Daisy believes that “there is no question that this one stop shop approach has directly boosted sales”.
Beyond customer acquisition, Charlene, told us that “TikTok Shop is a great place to get customers to buy into your brand before they buy the products, using video content to let your personalist shine through as well as being able to highlight your brand message and ethos”. From the H2B Shop page, it’s clear to see that Charlene’s personality is a great selling point.
How do you pick products for your TikTok Shop? Which products do particularly well?
As our readers will know, having the right product selection is crucial and according to the Shop Legends that doesn’t change when it comes to TikTok. However, Richard recommends that Shop merchants should focus on “products that are visually appealing and can be displayed in videos”, suiting the TikTok format. Similarly, Charlene opts for “products that can be demonstrated on the app”, helping to engage with customers.
Given the team at eFones are already working with content creators to promote their products, Richard told us that they ask those same creators about their audiences’ preferences, which products get the most engagement, so that they can understand which are most likely to sell well.
Do you have any tips for other aspiring business owners looking to emulate your success?
First and foremost, the business owners told us that consistency is key. On TikTok Shop, eFones founder Richard and Glow for It founder Daisy, stressed that means regularly posting and engaging with your audience, be it through comments, messages or LIVE sessions. Daisy added that having these various touch points had “helped to build a community rather than customers, each having a personal bond with the brand and being engaged with the larger Glow for It journey.”
Charlene of H2B Toys believes that success on TikTok Shop is simple, stating that the combination of engagement with the “unique features that the platform has to offer will lead to an enhanced shopping experience will see sales increase”.
In the words of Daisy, “just glow for it”…
