How to Sell Clothes Online Using TikTok Shop
Discover the simple step-by-step process to launch your TikTok Shop and how to sell clothes online with this short, yet informative article.
Where to Sell Clothes Online: How to Start, Run, & Grow a Successful Clothing Brand on TikTok Shop
E-commerce has revolutionized the way we buy and sell products online. Introducing TikTok Shop, an innovative e-commerce solution fully integrated into TikTok. From discovery to purchase, come check out TikTok Shop's full potential by capturing buyers at every stage of the customer lifecycle.
With over 150 million active users, you'll have direct access to the largest audience in the US.
But before you can build a successful brand and start selling products on TikTok Shop, there are a few things you need to know. In the following article, we'll share the secrets to starting, running, and growing your clothing empire.
Before You Can Sell Things Online, You Need to Start Your TikTok Shop
With TikTok's new E-commerce platform, selling stuff online is easier than ever before.
Thousands of businesses are launching, running, and growing successful stores using some simple techniques and methods. But before we can do that, let's open an account.
Here's how to open your TikTok Shop account:
- Go to the official TikTok Shop website here
- Sign into an existing TikTok account or create a new one (creating an account specifically for TikTok Shop is a great way to separate business use and personal use)
- TikTok will ask several questions regarding your use of the platform. Fill them in as accurately as possible, as this is the basis of your business and operations (including shipping, payments, etc)
Congratulations! You just took your first step to running a successful online clothing store!
How to Sell Clothes Online Using TikTok Shop
After opening an account, there are a few things to consider before launching your store.
To maximize your chances of success, you should follow all the tips and methods we're about to share.
Find Your Niche
A cluttered store is a failing store. Too often, many brands try to sell a wide variety of items or cover a large range of interests, but can not differentiate themselves from the competition. The #1 way to succeed on TikTok Shop is to pick a niche and focus on one area of the market.
The best place to start is where you have a passion or interest. If you like streetwear, focus on that market. If you're more interested in luxury, you could go into the world of jewelry or delicately crafted clothes. Focus on crafting your unique brand voice and value proposition to your end customer.
Do Your Research
Being successful on TikTok Shop is all about staying relevant. You need to know the latest trends, hashtags, viral challenges, and popular sounds.
By first using TikTok personally, you'll see what type of content and topics most users are engaging with. Once you understand that, you can build your content, product choices, and ads to fit the latest trends.
Pick Your Products
Now that you've chosen your niche, identified your market, and researched the latest trends, it's time to pick your products.
A great way to start is to view successful brands within your niche. What types of products are they selling, how much are they selling for, and how do they present them in their store?
If you see a certain product selling like hotcakes, you should try to understand their strategy and find a similar product for your store. If you leverage trends and remain up-to-date, you'll sell clothes with ease!
How to Run Your TikTok Shop
All of the online selling platforms are different. To see success, you need to run your store in a way that fits the platform (in this case, TikTok Shop.)
Here are a few things to look out for:
- Product Presentation - You need to use high-quality images that show your clothes in their best light. A tip to improve sales is to use lifestyle images of your clothes on models of different sizes. This is a great way to show the range in sizes and how it looks on different models!
- Track Your Analytics - The TikTok Shop Seller Center provides an easy-to-use dashboard that tracks your analytics and customer behavior. You should use this data to optimize your product listings, product choices, and marketing campaigns.
- Order Fulfillment - Nobody likes slow shipping times and order fulfillment. A great way to avoid this is to use TikTok Shop's shipping service (they handle all of the fulfillment and shipping processes, allowing you to focus on selling and providing a better, more seamless customer experience.)
- Call to Action (CTA) - You'd be surprised how powerful this is. By adding a strong CTA that encourages conversion like 'Shop today', you'll see an increase in click-through rates (CTR) and sales. Try it today!
The Next Step to Sell Clothes Online is to Grow Your Store
That's easy to say, but how do you do it?
In short, growing your store requires you to stay relevant and up-to-date. You should be constantly refining and optimizing your store and marketing. And here are a few ways to do that:
Post Consistently
Your followers like consistency. You should post consistently in order to stay relevant. For example, don't post one video, call it a day, and forget to post until 3 weeks later - it's best to make a content calendar for you to plan out your videos in advance.
Below are the ideal times suggested by Shopify, a leading eCommerce platform.
- Monday: 6 a.m | 10 a.m | 10 p.m.
- Tuesday: 2 a.m | 4 a.m | 9 a.m.
- Wednesday: 7 a.m | 8 a.m | 11 p.m.
- Thursday: 9 a.m | 12 a.m | 7 p.m.
- Friday: 5 a.m | 1 p.m | 3 p.m.
- Saturday: 11 a.m | 7 p.m | 8 p.m.
- Sunday: 7 a.m | 8 a.m 4 p.m
But most importantly, you should be posting when your target market is most active.
User Generated Content (UGC)
Social proof is one of the largest factors in making a buying decision.
If people see others purchasing and enjoying a product, they're more likely to pull the trigger and buy it themselves. That's where UGC comes in.
You should incentivize your followers (with challenges, discounts, competitions, etc) to post videos featuring your products and brand. One tip is to offer a customer coupon for their next purchase if they do a review and video of your product. That's a win-win because you receive a review and get a repeat customer!
Advertise, Advertise, Advertise!
The TikTok Shop Seller Center has countless tools to help you improve your marketing and launch advertising campaigns. Although it may cost upfront investment, if you strategically optimize your ad, then that ad spend could turn into profit. You're able to boost your videos to your target audience and reach a large pool of people who fall into your interests.
The Biggest Step to Starting a Successful TikTok Shop is Simply Starting One
Most people fail before they start. That's why actually starting a store is the biggest hurdle for most entrepreneurs.
Our advice is to start immediately. It doesn't have to be perfect. In fact, it never will be.
But the sooner you start, the sooner you can succeed. Open an account, launch a store, and chip away at it until you're running a successful 6, 7, or even 8-figure eCommerce clothing brand.