Online book and media seller increased productivity – and sales – by automating how it sells on TikTok Shop from application process to going live in less than a day.

TikTok Shop is an opportunity for online sellers to reach customers through social commerce – and reach the social media app’s nearly 1 billion active users worldwide.

U.S.-based online retailer Book & Mortar Record Store LLC began selling products directly through TikTok Shop in August 2023. Owner Eric Auth had to manually fill in product attribute fields for each SKU. This proved to be difficult as Book & Mortar sells thousands of products but could only add a few each day.

Further complicating the process, he also had to track each SKU’s stock levels and map out suppliers himself. Each supplier has different ways to submit orders to them, Auth said.

“It was a pain to manage everything manually via Excel,” he said.

The painstaking process of filling out each field for many products costs sellers time – and potential sales. He learned this first-hand after “going viral,” he said. Within a few days, Book & Mortar sold about 1,600 copies of Taylor Swift’s “Reputation” vinyl record. He couldn’t keep up and as a result, oversold.

Is it easy to sell products on TikTok Shop?

In October, Auth turned to Rithum’s TikTok Shop marketplace integration to automate the process. Auth downloaded the app through Rithum on Oct. 5. By noon the next day, he was live and orders rolled in.

“Now, I’m able to add up to 1,000 new products per day and have Rithum’s integration handle the quantity management between all channels. This includes mapping all orders through my suppliers,” Auth said. “It’s like I’m taking a plane instead of walking to my destination.”

TikTok Shop requirements

The integration process was easy, said Auth. Previously, he had to fill in multiple fields for each individual product. This includes information such as category, product themes, images, and other attributes. The online retailer sells thousands of SKUs.

“Now I can upload that information in bulk,” Auth said.

Auth went from adding about 30 separate products a day to 1,000.

Book & Mortar can now confidently sell products trending on TikTok, he said.

When starting, U.S.-based TikTok Shop sellers can publish 100 products per day. Sellers can “graduate” from the New Shop Probation Period. If they qualify, they can add more products to sell per day.

Rithum’s marketplace integration solution allows brands to connect to TikTop Shop. Through onboarding tools and APIs, brands can reimagine the future of social commerce, said Pete Elmgren, Rithum CRO.

“TikTok Shop has the potential to demonstrate the mass appeal of in-app shopping,” Elmgren said. “We’re generating a lot of excitement from brands across our network that want to sell on their platform.”

If you would like to know more, please contact your account executive or contact info@rithum.com. Or fill out a form here.