TikTok Shop Launch Checklist

TikTok Shop works differently from search-led marketplaces. On Amazon, most shoppers arrive knowing what they want. On TikTok, a sale usually starts with a video or a LIVE stream showing someone a product they weren't looking for. That changes what you need to prepare: as well as stock and listings, you need content, creators and a shop that can pass the strict performance checks applied to new sellers.

This checklist covers what to put in place before you launch in the UK or the US, and how to run your first 30 days. Rules, fees and ad products change often on TikTok Shop, so treat Seller Center and TikTok Shop Academy as the final word on anything time-sensitive.

1. Registration and documents

Each country needs its own Seller Center account, and TikTok expects you to be based in the country of the shop you open. Use an email address and phone number that aren't linked to another TikTok Shop, and make sure the name on every document matches exactly. A mismatch between your ID, company records and bank account is an easy way to get stuck in verification.

UK

• Sole traders: government photo ID (passport or driving licence), National Insurance number, proof of address and a UK bank account.
• Companies: an active Companies House registration number, photo ID for the director or representative, proof of address or a bank statement, a UK VAT number if you are registered, and a UK bank account in the company's name.
• Logistics: decide where UK orders will ship from and have a UK returns address ready.

US

• Individual sellers verify with a Social Security number, photo ID and a personal bank account. This route suits testing rather than building a brand.
• Business sellers need a registered entity such as an LLC or corporation, an EIN, formation documents and a US bank account in the business's exact legal name. You may be asked to record a short video holding your ID.
• Non-US companies usually join through a separate cross-border route with its own requirements, such as a US-based representative and arrangements for US stock and returns. Check the current criteria in Seller Center before you commit inventory.

Before you list

• Have your trademark registration ready if you sell your own brand, and authorisation letters if you resell other brands.
• Check whether your category needs approval. Beauty, health, food and electronics often need extra documents.
• Gather product compliance files: safety testing, labelling and any certificates your category requires in each country.

2. Understand shop health before your first order

New shops go through a probation stage with limits on daily orders and on the number of products you can list. You move up by completing the tasks on the probation page in Seller Center and meeting performance standards, so your first few weeks decide how quickly you can grow.

Two measures matter most:

• Shop Performance Score (SPS) is a 0–5 rating built from metrics such as negative review rate, seller-fault cancellations, on-time delivery, chat responsiveness and after-sales handling time. You are compared with sellers in your category. The score affects your visibility, your eligibility for campaigns and, in the US, your access to affiliate tools.
• Account health. In the US, the Account Health Rating replaced the old violation-points system in July 2026. It runs from 0 to 1,000 over a rolling 180 days, and new shops start at 200. Policy breaches and missed standards cost points. As the score falls, TikTok blocks new listings and campaign sign-ups for set periods, and a shop that reaches zero can be closed. UK sellers should check Seller Center for the account health rules that currently apply in the UK.

UK sellers should also know about the inactivity policy introduced in June 2026. A shop with no qualifying activity loses product visibility after 120 days and becomes dormant, unable to take orders, after 180 days.

Practical rules for launch:

• Set a handling time you can always meet, and upload valid tracking for every order.
• Answer customer messages quickly, including at weekends.
• Only list stock you physically have.
• Keep every claim in your listings and videos accurate and provable.

3. Listings built for video shoppers

Most shoppers reach your product page from a video, already interested. The listing's job is to confirm the decision quickly.

• Title: brand, product type and the key detail (size, quantity, scent or compatibility). Keep it readable and avoid keyword stuffing.
• Images: a clean main image, then the product in use, a sense of scale, what's in the box and a size chart where relevant.
• Variations: group sizes and colours under one product so reviews and sales build in one place.
• Description: short paragraphs that answer the questions people ask in comments.
• Price and margin: work out profit after the referral fee, affiliate commission, ad spend, shipping and any discount you fund. TikTok Shop fees have changed several times, so check the current fee schedule in Seller Center for your country and category.
• Promotions: plan a launch offer you can afford to hold for the first month, rather than a single day of deep discounting.

4. Creators, samples and affiliate plans

Creators are central to how products get discovered on TikTok Shop, and you work with them through Affiliate Center in Seller Center.

• Open collaboration makes products available to any eligible creator at a commission rate you set, per product, per group or across the whole shop. You can require approval before creators contact you.
• Target collaboration invites specific creators, usually at a higher rate. If a product is in both, the target rate applies for that creator.
• Free samples can be offered product by product. Treat them as marketing spend: budget for them, check each creator's audience and past content before approving, and track whether a video actually goes live.

Write a one-page creator brief covering what the product does, the two or three points that matter, claims they must not make, how to demonstrate it, and any launch price or offer. Leave room for the creator's own style, because content that feels like an advert is easy to scroll past.

Start with creators whose audience matches your buyers rather than those with the biggest following. A steady flow of videos from smaller, relevant creators gives you more content to test, and more for your ads to use, than one expensive post.

5. LIVE shopping

LIVE lets viewers ask questions and buy without leaving the stream, which makes it a strong format for products that need demonstrating. Plan it as a regular show, not a one-off event.

• Link your official account to the shop and do a test run for sound, lighting and pinning products.
• Pick a consistent schedule and mention it in your videos.
• Script the running order: products, offers, demonstrations and answers to common objections.
• Use only music from TikTok's Commercial Music Library, and show each product exactly as it is listed.
• Have a second person moderate chat, pin products and handle questions.
• Creator accounts that want to host LIVE selling must meet TikTok's eligibility thresholds, which can change, so check them in the app before you book hosts.

6. Advertising with GMV Max

Since July 2025, GMV Max has been the default and only supported campaign type for TikTok Shop Ads in TikTok Ads Manager. Product Shopping Ads can no longer be created for TikTok Shop, and the older Video Shopping and LIVE Shopping formats can no longer point to your shop.

There are two versions:

• Product GMV Max promotes your products using your own videos, product images and authorised creator content.
• LIVE GMV Max promotes LIVE sessions on your official account.

You set the budget and an ROI target, and TikTok's system decides audiences, bids, placements and which creative to show. Only one ad account per shop can run GMV Max, and it must be set as the shop's primary ad account in Seller Center.

To get the most from it:

• Connect the ad account and authorise creator videos before launch.
• Set an ROI target based on your real margin, not a hopeful one.
• Give a new campaign time to learn before making big changes.
• Keep adding fresh content, because creative is the main input you still control.

7. Fulfilment

There are two main routes:

• Seller fulfilment, from your own warehouse or a third-party logistics provider. You keep control of packaging, but you must meet TikTok's handling time and delivery standards on every order.
• Fulfilled by TikTok (FBT), available in the UK and the US. You send stock to a TikTok-run warehouse, which stores, picks, packs and ships it. FBT products can earn delivery badges, but there are storage and fulfilment fees and limits on custom packaging and inserts.

Many brands use both: FBT for fast sellers and their own network for bulky or slow-moving items. In the US, TikTok published packaging rules in September 2026 that ban inserts asking for reviews, unauthorised marketing materials and dropshipping straight from other retailers, so check your packing process against them.

8. Your first 30 days

By day 30 you should know which products and creators drive sales, what each order really costs you, and whether your operations can handle more volume. That is the point to raise budgets and add products, not before.

How Ain One Group can help

We run TikTok Shop launches end to end, from registration and listings to creator outreach, LIVE planning and GMV Max advertising. See how we support sellers on TikTok Shop UK, or contact us to plan your launch.