# TikTok shop integration Human Guide

## What This Is For
TikTok Shop transforms TikTok from a discovery channel into a direct commerce platform where users purchase without leaving the app — via shoppable video posts, LIVE shopping events. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for social content: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the TikTok shop integration agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for TikTok shop integration.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the TikTok shop integration guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- When launching TikTok as a native commerce channel (not just a traffic referral)
- When your products are suited to impulse purchase via short-form video
- When enabling creators to tag and earn commissions on your products
- When running LIVE shopping events for product launches or flash sales
- When needing to sync inventory and orders between TikTok Shop and your primary platform
- Go to `seller.tiktokshop.com` and create a seller account
- Complete identity verification (government ID + business registration)
- Connect your TikTok Business Account to the Seller Center
- Wait for seller approval — typically 1–3 business days; some categories require additional documentation (food, supplements, electronics)
- Go to **Shopify Admin → Sales Channels → + → TikTok**
- Under **Catalog Sync**, Shopify syncs your product catalog to TikTok Shop automatically
- Shopify also syncs TikTok Shop orders back to Shopify Admin so you manage fulfillment in one place

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Overview, When to Use This Skill, Core Instructions, Step 1: Register on TikTok Shop Seller Center, Step 2: Connect your platform to TikTok Shop, Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Custom / Headless, Step 3: Set up product listings for TikTok Shop.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- | LIVE Shopping products not showing on stream | Products must be "Active" status before going LIVE; review takes 24–48 hours, so activate products in advance |
- | High return rate | TikTok buyers expect products to match the video exactly; avoid over-editing product images and ensure LIVE demos are accurate |

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the TikTok shop integration human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the finsilabs/awesome-ecommerce-skills skill entry for `tiktok-shop-integration`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# TikTok Shop Integration

## Overview

TikTok Shop transforms TikTok from a discovery channel into a direct commerce platform where users purchase without leaving the app — via shoppable video posts, LIVE shopping events, product showcase tabs, and creator affiliate programs. For Shopify and WooCommerce, official TikTok integrations handle catalog sync, order management, and inventory updates automatically. The strategic work is applying to TikTok Seller Center, structuring your affiliate program, and running LIVE shopping events.

## When to Use This Skill

- When launching TikTok as a native commerce channel (not just a traffic referral)
- When your products are suited to impulse purchase via short-form video
- When enabling creators to tag and earn commissions on your products
- When running LIVE shopping events for product launches or flash sales
- When needing to sync inventory and orders between TikTok Shop and your primary platform

## Core Instructions

### Step 1: Register on TikTok Shop Seller Center

Before any integration:

1. Go to `seller.tiktokshop.com` and create a seller account
2. Complete identity verification (government ID + business registration)
3. Connect your TikTok Business Account to the Seller Center
4. Wait for seller approval — typically 1–3 business days; some categories require additional documentation (food, supplements, electronics)

**Note:** TikTok Shop is currently available in the US, UK, Southeast Asia, and select other markets. Availability changes — check TikTok's current supported markets before starting.

### Step 2: Connect your platform to TikTok Shop

---

#### Shopify

1. Go to **Shopify Admin → Sales Channels → + → TikTok**
2. Install TikTok for Shopify and connect your TikTok Seller Center account
3. Under **Catalog Sync**, Shopify syncs your product catalog to TikTok Shop automatically
4. Shopify also syncs TikTok Shop orders back to Shopify Admin so you manage fulfillment in one place
5. Go to **TikTok → Products** to review which products were approved and which have issues
6. Products that fail TikTok's content review (image quality, prohibited categories) appear in **TikTok → Products → Rejected** with the reason

---

#### WooCommerce

1. Install **TikTok for WooCommerce** from the WordPress plugin directory
2. Go to **WooCommerce → TikTok → Seller Center** and connect your TikTok Seller Center account
3. The plugin syncs your WooCommerce products to TikTok Shop and pulls TikTok orders back into WooCommerce
4. Go to **WooCommerce → TikTok → Products** to monitor sync status and resolve any rejected products

---

#### BigCommerce

1. Go to **BigCommerce Admin → Channel Manager → Add a Channel → TikTok**
2. Connect your TikTok Seller Center account
3. BigCommerce automatically syncs products and inventory to TikTok Shop
4. TikTok orders appear in **BigCommerce → Orders** for unified fulfillment management

---

#### Custom / Headless

Use the TikTok Shop API directly for custom catalog management and order handling:

```typescript
const TIKTOK_SHOP_BASE = 'https://open-api.tiktokglobalshop.com';

async function syncProductToTikTokShop(product: Product) {
  // TikTok Shop API requires HMAC-SHA256 request signing
  const timestamp = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000).toString();
  const body = {
    title: product.name.substring(0, 255),
    description: product.description.replace(/<[^>]*>/g, '').substring(0, 5000),
    category_id: product.tikTokCategoryId, // find IDs in TikTok Seller Center → Products → Categories
    images: product.images.map(img => ({ url: img.url })),
    skus: product.variants.map(v => ({
      sales_attributes: v.options.map(opt => ({ attribute_name: opt.name, value_name: opt.value })),
      stock_infos: [{ available_stock: v.stockQuantity, warehouse_id: process.env.TIKTOK_WAREHOUSE_ID }],
      seller_sku: v.sku,
      original_price: v.price.toFixed(2),