TikTok Dropshipping is a rising trend among eCommerce businesses. In fact, it has recently gained widespread attention from millennials and Generation Z users—two groups that are known for spending more money online than other generations.
According to Apptopia, TikTok dropshipping searches have increased exponentially since 2017, increasing by over 300% within just 2 years!
In this comprehensive guide on how to start your own TikTok dropshipping business in 2023, we will discuss all aspects of starting an ecommerce business with TikTok.
In short: here is everything you need to know about getting started with TikTok dropshipping in 2023 (or any year really). So let’s get started!
What is TikTok Dropshipping?
TikTok is a mobile app that allows you to create and share short video clips. The app includes an ad platform, so you can make money by adding ads to your videos. This means that if you’re not interested in shooting high-quality footage with your own camera or editing software, TikTok might be the perfect place for dropshipping.
Nowadays, TikTok has over 1 billion users, and it’s especially popular in Asia—mostly China, where it was launched in 2016 by Chinese company ByteDance.
How does dropshipping on TikTok work?
Dropshipping on TikTok is a pretty straightforward process. Dropshipping works well on TikTok because it targets a younger age group and teens are more likely to buy viral products from TikTok ads. Also, since many people use TikTok to promote their social media presence, you will be able to attract active followers with higher lifetime value.
TikTok also has a large user base, which means you will have a lot of potential customers to enter the market.
Before you open a TikTok dropshipping store, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- Be creative. TikTok users tend to follow creative and funny people. By following influencers with similar audiences, you can find out what drives TikTok users. Try different posts, videos, filters, tiktok apps, etc. until you find what your followers are interested in.
- Focus on engagement and retention. Since TikTok is basically a self-promotion platform, you need to focus on engagement and retention. Think about how you can encourage people to follow your page, comment on your posts, and interact with the products you sell.
- Focus on influencer marketing. As mentioned above, TikTok users tend to follow other users to gain popularity and improve their social position. This means that influencer marketing is a great way to get your products in front of potential customers. Look for people who have the same audience as you and create posts inviting their followers to check out your business.
Benefits of TikTok Dropshipping
There are many benefits to dropshipping on TikTok, and it's a great way for new sellers to start their business without going through the process of building up an inventory, managing shipping and handling returns.
Here are some of the main advantages of using TikTok as your dropshipping platform:
- No initial investment required. The only thing you'll need to get started is an account with a shipping provider. This means that you don't have to pay for anything upfront, which can be helpful if you're just starting out with little capital.
- Ease of use. The interface is simple and easy-to-use, so there aren't any technical barriers if this is your first time selling online or in general. You can also use templates provided by Tiktok as well as other third party apps/tools that make listing items even easier!
- Increase brand awareness. Brand awareness refers to how well a person knows a particular brand. Consumers who repeatedly see a company logo are more likely to remember it. Social media advertising is based on the same concept. This is more effective with short video ads where users are watching a short video. If a company posts multiple ads on social media, consumers may begin to associate that company with those logos. Over time, consumers will become more familiar with the brand, which will increase the likelihood of purchasing the product.
Since TikTok uses a wide variety of ad formats, viewers are more likely to get to know your brand over time, which will surely build a strong relationship with it. - Provide customer service. Providing customer service on TikTok is straightforward. For example, we can constantly engage with our viewers by addressing their comments or queries.
In this way, we can maximize engagements, leading to more potential buyers. Remember that when users know that we’re real and responsive, they will put their trust in our business. - Expand your audience reach. Another advantage of TikTok is its wide audience reach. With billions of users from all over the world, we can easily establish and expand our market presence on this platform.
In addition, TikTok allows us to reach out to users who do not have active accounts on other social networks. Hence, we can only enjoy the exclusivity of access to this specific audience on TikTok.
How to Start?
And now let’s dive in key steps to start TikTok dropshipping in order to increase brand awareness.
- Choose a niche. The first step is to figure out what types of products you want to sell on TikTok. Keep in mind that the ideal product should appeal to teen users as well as be something they can use or wear For example, you can check Alibaba Dropshipping section to get an idea of what types of products are trending.
- Find a supplier. Once you've figured out what types of products to sell, find a supplier that offers wholesale pricing on those items. For those who don't know where to start, look for suppliers that work with AliExpress or Amazon.
By the way, with the Trackr order tracking app you’ll be able to hide the carrier. Unfortunately, there are a lot of customers who are still afraid of the "Made in China" mark.
For such cases, our best tracking app offers the "Hide carriers" feature for dropshippers. This feature is used to hide the names and locations of all carriers as a part of delivery status information, while the package is in China. As soon as the order arrives at the destination country, all tracking information becomes available to the customer. - Set up your TikTok account. Once you install the app, you need to create your TikTok account. Make sure to create a business account rather than personal. In case you need detailed instructions, please find them here.
- Set up your TikTok dropshipping store on the Shopify App. Once you've found a product and supplier, it's time to set up your TikTok store. To do this, search for “TikTok” in the Shopify app catalog. From there, choose your template, enter your content and pricing information, and create your products.
5. Start promoting your TikTok online store. Once you've created your store, start promoting it on social media. You can use TikTok-related hashtags or popular hashtags to get more attention for your page. Try promoting your tiktok account on instagram.
Participation in social networks will make it easier to attract new subscribers or customers for your online store.
The best TikTok Dropshipping Strategy for Beginners
There are several main ways to advertise products on TikTok. Each one is quite similar to other marketing methods you may be familiar with. Let’s see how you can use these common marketing strategies to make your TikTok dropshipping business more visible:
- Live Streams. The TikTok algorithm works in a weird way and you never know which video it might choose. Therefore, conducting constant live broadcasts can be a great way to attract the attention of the audience. Just make a plan of what you will do to entertain your audience.
- Influencer Marketing. Influencer marketing is one of the most effective ways to market your dropshipping business these days. Especially if the influencer has a huge fan base and a lot of followers. They can help you promote your products and get instant traffic by producing quality content. It might even be better than launching your own advertising campaign.
Moreover, influencers know how to capture the attention of the audience and help you make your brand more recognizable. - Paid ads. Paid TikTok ads are a great achievement in their offerings. And with a simple setup process and a familiar interface, you can quickly introduce your brand to billions of people. In addition, you can set up, launch and manage your advertising campaigns.
According to the TikTok website, users can access the privilege to enjoy the following benefits:
- 5-60 second, full-screen vertical video with sound-on;
- Optimization for traffic and conversion goals; app installs and events;
- Range of billing options, CPM, CPV, and CPC;
- Precise targeting options include interest, event-based behaviors, custom, lookalike
audiences, etc. - Giveaways & Contests. Giveaways and contests are an effective way to attract the attention of users. Who is ready to lose the chance to get something for free?
Combine exciting giveaways with hashtags and you have a recipe for going viral. Your rules for participating in TikTok giveaways should be simple. Discuss the rules in your TikTok video and briefly describe them in the video captions.
TIP: Ask people to follow you, use your hashtag, comment on your video, tag someone, duet or stitch your video. You will also need an input deadline with an end time and time zone.
Conclusion
If you want to start selling on TikTok, it’s not rocket science. You just need a few things: an account, some products to sell and a strategy for getting exposure. The best thing about this platform is that it has tons of users who love new content so if you can find the right product for them then there’s no way they won’t buy from you!
