TikTok Shop is the in-app commerce surface inside the TikTok feed — products are discovered through algorithmic For You Page recommendations, creator affiliate links, and Live Shopping streams, not through search ads. The 60-character algorithmic title preference is more aggressive than any other channel FeedArc supports — short, punchy product names outperform descriptive ones in the For You Page card UI. FeedArc emits TikTok-compatible CSV with the `video_link` recommended field, validates 600×600 minimum image dimensions, and applies the channel's preferred 60-char title TRUNCATE rule by default.
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TikTok Shop ingests a CSV (UTF-8, comma-separated, header row) uploaded via the Seller Center dashboard or polled from a hosted URL. FeedArc emits this format directly with TikTok's required and recommended column layout. The `currency` field is REQUIRED as a separate column (not embedded in `price`), and `video_link` — pointing to a TikTok-native short-form video — is the field that unlocks the highest-converting placements.
id,title,description,availability,condition,price,currency,link,image_link,video_link,brand,category,color,size
SKU-3142,"Nike Air Force 1 Low",,"in stock","new","109.95","USD","https://example.com/shoes/af1-low","https://example.com/cdn/af1-low.jpg","https://example.com/cdn/af1-low.mp4","Nike","Footwear > Sneakers","White","9"
SKU-3143,"Stanley 40oz Quencher H2.0","Iconic insulated tumbler keeps drinks cold 11 hours, hot 7","in stock","new","45.00","USD","https://example.com/drinkware/stanley-40oz","https://example.com/cdn/stanley-40oz.jpg","https://example.com/cdn/stanley-40oz.mp4","Stanley","Drinkware > Tumblers","Charcoal","40oz"idUnique product or variant identifier — stable across feed updates. Max 100 chars.
titleProduct name. Absolute max 255 characters, but FeedArc auto-truncates to **60 characters** by default per TikTok's algorithmic preference — short titles get more For You Page impressions.
descriptionProduct description. Max 5,000 characters. Optional for some category templates but strongly recommended.
linkProduct landing-page URL. Must be HTTPS. TikTok Shop in-app checkout overrides this; the link is for off-platform redirects.
image_linkPrimary image URL. Minimum 600×600 pixels. Square (1:1) ratio strongly preferred — the For You Page card crops landscape images aggressively.
priceNumeric price without currency symbol (e.g. `109.95`). Currency is a separate REQUIRED field.
currencyISO 4217 currency code (USD, GBP, IDR, VND, THB, MYR, PHP, SGD). REQUIRED as a separate column — unique among the channels FeedArc supports.
availabilityOne of: `in stock`, `out of stock`, `preorder`. TikTok ignores listings marked out of stock for new For You impressions.
titleabsolute max 255 / algorithmic preferred ≤60description5,000 charactersimage_linkmin 600×600 px (1:1 preferred)video_linkrecommended — short-form vertical video unlocks Live Shopping eligibilityid100 charsTikTok Shop is not search-driven — discovery happens through algorithmic For You Page recommendations, creator affiliate promotions, and live shopping streams. The mechanics are fundamentally different from Google Shopping (search intent), Meta Catalog (social proof + retargeting), or Amazon (consideration-stage browsing). Five capabilities make TikTok Shop strategically different:
Product listings appear in users' personalised For You Page based on watch time + engagement signals, not search queries or paid bidding alone. A product with strong creator-generated content can reach millions without any ad spend. Optimising your catalog's `title` for short engaging copy and `video_link` for native vertical video is what drives algorithmic reach.
TikTok Shop's Affiliate program lets creators earn commission on products from your catalog without any direct outreach. Once your products are listed, creators can self-discover them in the Affiliate Center and promote via in-feed videos. FeedArc-managed catalogs surface to the Affiliate Center automatically — no separate affiliate-network integration.
TikTok Live Shopping lets sellers livestream product demos with a tappable shopping cart overlay. Products from your catalog can be pinned to the live session and viewers complete checkout without leaving the stream. The `video_link` recommended field improves Live Shopping eligibility — TikTok's algorithm favours catalogs with existing video assets.
Unlike Google Shopping or Meta Catalog which redirect users to your store, TikTok Shop completes the checkout inside the TikTok app via TikTok Pay. Conversion rates are dramatically affected by this — there is no abandoned cart on a separate site because the checkout flow stays in-stream. The `link` field in your feed is a fallback for off-platform discovery, not the primary purchase path.
US Shop, UK Shop, and Southeast Asia markets (ID, VN, TH, MY, PH, SG) are separate platforms with separate seller accounts, separate catalogs, separate currencies, and different category restrictions. Mainland EU does not have TikTok Shop as of 2026. FeedArc treats each as a distinct channel so you can ship region-specific catalogs from one product source.
TikTok Shop does not currently support a generic OAuth flow for third-party feed tools — integration is via Seller Center direct: you generate a feed URL in FeedArc, paste it into TikTok's Catalog Manager, and set a fetch schedule. This is different from Google Shopping (OAuth-bound to Merchant Center) or Meta Catalog (Commerce API).
In Seller Center at seller.tiktok.com, navigate to Products → Catalogs. Create a new catalog (one per region — US Shop and UK Shop are separate catalogs even under the same seller account). Choose the catalog's default currency and country.
In FeedArc Dashboard → Channels, click Configure on the TikTok Shop tile. Select target marketplace (US, UK, ID, VN, TH, MY, PH, SG), currency, and language. FeedArc generates a hosted feed URL like `https://feedarc.com/api/feeds/{id}` that TikTok's catalog poller will fetch.
FeedArc auto-applies a 60-char title TRUNCATE rule plus a FILTER excluding products with empty `image_link`. Add a SET rule populating `video_link` if your store has short-form product videos — TikTok prioritises catalogs with video assets in the For You Page algorithm.
In Seller Center → Products → Catalogs → Data Sources → Add data source → Scheduled feed, paste your FeedArc feed URL. Choose fetch frequency (TikTok supports hourly to daily). First fetch typically completes within 30 minutes; subsequent refreshes apply your price + inventory + content updates.
End-to-end setup from a fresh TikTok Seller account to your first live catalog. Typical timeline: 3–7 business days for Seller Center approval (longer than Amazon's 1–3 days), then 30–60 minutes for steps 4–7 once you reach FeedArc connect.
Sign up at seller.tiktok.com in your target market (US, UK, ID, VN, TH, MY, PH, SG). Each market has a separate registration. You will need: business registration documents, local bank account in the target market, tax ID, and a Personal Identification document for the legal representative. Approval typically takes 3–7 business days.
In Seller Center → Finance → Withdrawal Account, link your business bank account. TikTok Pay processes customer payments and disburses to sellers on a weekly cycle in most markets. Without bank verification, the catalog can be created but no orders can ship.
Go to Seller Center → Products → Catalogs → Create. Name the catalog, choose default currency + language. Newly-created catalogs have zero products until a data source is connected. Each market requires a separate catalog (US catalog cannot serve UK shoppers).
In FeedArc Dashboard → Channels → TikTok Shop, click Configure. Select the target market matching your Seller Center registration. Choose currency, language, and the source product collection. The TIKTOK preset auto-applies TRUNCATE title at 60 chars + FILTER on empty `image_link`. Add `video_link` mapping if you have product videos in your CDN.
In Seller Center → Products → Catalogs → Data Sources → Add data source, paste the FeedArc-hosted URL (`https://feedarc.com/api/feeds/{your-feed-id}`). Set fetch frequency (hourly recommended for stock-sensitive categories; daily for stable inventory). First fetch typically completes within 30 minutes; you will see your product count populate in the Catalog dashboard.
After the catalog ingests successfully, enable the Affiliate Center in Seller Center → Promotion → Affiliate. This makes your products discoverable to TikTok creators who can promote them via in-feed videos with affiliate commission. For Live Shopping eligibility, ensure each product has a `video_link` populated and apply for the LIVE feature in Seller Center → Promotion → Live.
After 24–48 hours, check Seller Center → Analytics → Performance for GMV, units sold, video CTR, and conversion-rate-from-FYP. The TikTok algorithm rewards catalogs with strong creator engagement — partner with niche creators via the Affiliate Center or run TikTok Ads (separate ad surface) to amplify product reach. Iterate on `title` brevity and `video_link` quality based on which products break out.
The five most common TikTok Shop catalog rejections — and how FeedArc prevents them. Every check below corresponds to a real validation routine in our source code (see lib/feed-generators/validation.ts). Once the catalog syncs, product feed optimization — complete attributes, sharp titles, mobile-first imagery — decides which products TikTok surfaces in feeds and search.
Cause: TikTok requires square (1:1) images at 600×600 minimum for the For You Page card UI. Landscape product photography common on e-commerce sites is cropped aggressively, sometimes hiding the product entirely. Below-minimum images are silently rejected.
FeedArc solution: FeedArc batch-checks image dimensions with HEAD requests and warns on sub-600 images or non-square aspect ratios. Use a CDN transformation rule to serve square crops to TikTok specifically (e.g. `image_link = cdn.example.com/{id}.jpg?w=600&h=600&fit=crop`).
Cause: TikTok's For You Page card UI truncates titles in a fixed-width area; titles over 60 chars get cut off mid-word, hurting click-through. Titles over 255 chars are hard-rejected at catalog import.
FeedArc solution: FeedArc applies a 60-char TRUNCATE rule by default (TikTok-specific override of the longer 255 absolute limit). Use AI Optimization to rewrite long titles to TikTok's preferred punchy format — "Brand + Product + Key Attribute" with no marketing fluff.
Cause: TikTok requires `currency` as a separate column — embedding "USD" inside `price` (e.g. `109.95 USD`) like Google or Meta accept does not work. Catalogs imported from generic Google-compatible CSV often lack this column and fail validation per row.
FeedArc solution: FeedArc emits `currency` as a separate column for every TikTok feed, populated from your store's default currency or per-marketplace override. The channel-specific TikTok preset enforces this by default.
Cause: TikTok Shop requires sellers to fulfill within target country SLAs (typically ≤2 business days for US/UK). Cross-border sellers without local warehouses get flagged after the first 10-20 orders and demoted in algorithmic surface.
FeedArc solution: FeedArc supports per-marketplace catalogs so you can ship country-specific subsets of your store inventory. Combine with availability rules that filter out products without local stock to avoid late-shipment penalties.
Cause: TikTok Shop has category restrictions that vary per market — US prohibits firearms, certain supplements, and adult products; UK additionally restricts age-restricted SKUs without verification. Catalogs with restricted categories trigger account-level warnings.
FeedArc solution: FeedArc surfaces TikTok's category restrictions during catalog setup. Use a FILTER rule to exclude restricted categories before export, or a tag-based whitelist that only allows pre-approved product types into the TikTok feed.
TikTok Shop enforces different rules per market with stricter category restrictions than Google or Meta. The following requirements are documented in TikTok's Seller Center policy and apply at the product or account level.
Launched September 2023. Sellers must have a US business entity + US bank account + Tax ID (EIN or SSN). Restricted categories include firearms, ammunition, certain supplements (FDA-flagged), CBD products, and adult content. Sales tax handled by TikTok Marketplace Facilitator across all US states with nexus laws.
TikTok Shop UK launched 2021. Sellers need a UK business entity + UK bank account + UK VAT number. Age-restricted SKUs (alcohol, tobacco, certain electronics) require verified merchant onboarding via the gated category program. Online Safety Act applies to product descriptions and creator-generated content.
Each SEA market has separate seller registration. Indonesia is TikTok Shop's largest SEA market by GMV — sellers need a local PT or CV entity and local bank account. Cross-border SEA sales are supported via TikTok's logistics network but with longer shipping SLAs and category limits.
TikTok Shop is NOT available in mainland EU markets (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Romania, etc.) as of 2026. EU sellers can still produce TikTok content for advertising and creator partnerships, but cannot list products for in-app checkout. UK is the only European TikTok Shop market.
TikTok bans firearms, ammunition, certain supplements, weight-loss claims, adult content, gambling, cryptocurrency, and live animals across all markets. Health products require pre-approval. Age-restricted SKUs (alcohol, tobacco, knives) need market-specific verification. Counterfeit detection is aggressive — Brand Registry equivalents apply.
Sellers are responsible for monitoring creator-generated content promoting their products. Misleading claims by an affiliated creator can trigger seller-side penalties even if the seller did not commission the content. The Affiliate Center provides moderation tools for opting out specific creators.
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