You don’t even need to be on TikTok to know the app popularizes products and inspires purchases. In fact, two out of three shoppers are inspired to buy something on TikTok, and 50% of users have made a purchase after seeing it in a TikTok Live.
It’s no wonder it’s become the hot new sales channel for ecommerce merchants who are making use of TikTok Shop and other features within the platform to drive sales.
However, it’s not enough to simply sell your products on TikTok. To turn it into a sustainable source of revenue, you should be equally focused on optimising TikTok fulfilment. This can be particularly challenging if you don’t have the resources, workforce, and facilities to keep up with the spike in demand resulting from TikTok.
Fortunately, new solutions such as Fulfiled by TikTok (FBT) are helping sellers to fulfil their TikTok orders directly with TikTok Shop. In this guide, we explain how you can fulfil your TikTok Shop orders and how to leverage solutions such as Fulfiled by TikTok. Let’s get into it!
TikTok Shop gets into the fulfilment game with Fulfiled by TikTok (FBT)
With the introduction of dedicated shopping features, TikTok has ramped up its efforts to get into the ecommerce market. Solutions like TikTok Shop have allowed those on the platform to sell their products directly within the app. This means that customers don’t have to exit the app and complete their purchases on a seller’s website. Instead, purchases happen right within TikTok.
Now, TikTok has made it even easier for ecommerce merchants to sell on the platform with the introduction of Fulfiled by TikTok. With this new fulfilment solution, TikTok Shop will take care of storing, picking, packing, and shipping orders placed on TikTok on behalf of sellers. This means creators and brands that sell on TikTok Shop won’t have to worry about fulfiling the orders themselves, plus they get other FBT-specific benefits.
Sellers on the platform are able to guarantee a better, more reliable fulfilment experience. Meanwhile, their customers enjoy fast and reliable deliveries that might compel them to make repeat purchases.
What does Fulfiled by TikTok mean for ecommerce?
With its Fulfiled by TikTok offering, TikTok aims to make it even easier for merchants to sell on the platform. In addition to providing them with a platform to sell, FBT also helps merchants outsource their entire fulfilment process to TikTok. In other words, TikTok essentially serves as a one-stop shop for ecommerce merchants that want to sell their products through the app.
Ecommerce businesses that wants to grow can expand to additional sales channels such as TikTok. However, this can be extremely complicated since they may not have the resources or expertise to handle the increased demand coming from these added sales channels. Their existing space may not be enough to store more inventory, and their existing warehouse staff may already be working at capacity to meet their current fulfilment requirements.
Since TikTok Shop will handle everything from storing inventory to picking and packing orders under FBT, ecommerce sellers won’t have to worry about the added strain on their fulfilment operations. They won’t have to make space for additional inventory or dedicate valuable fulfilment resources to cater to orders coming from TikTok. This allows them to seamlessly expand their sales channels to include TikTok Shop.
With a reliable fulfilment solution to count on, ecommerce businesses can dedicate more time and energy to focus on content and growth. Meanwhile, they will experience significant improvements in fulfilment metrics such as on-time shipments and shipping lead times. This allows them to enhance the customer experience, resulting in repeat purchases and a better bottom line.
Examples of ecommerce brands succeeding with Fulfiled by TikTok
Despite it being a fairly new offering, many TikTok Shop merchants in the UK and US have already seen massive improvements in performance thanks to Fulfiled by TikTok.
Take, for example, Nature Spell, a personal care brand that was drowning in orders from TikTok Shop. This kept them from focusing on what they did best: manufacturing. Fulfiled by TikTok resulted in a monumental shift as it took care of all the complicated aspects of fulfilment and freed up time for them to get back to manufacturing.
Similarly, brands like The Beauty Crop have witnessed measurable improvements in their performance after using FBT. The brand is a small independent company, which means efficiency is an important factor for operational effectiveness. Since using TikTok Shop’s new logistics offering, the brand has been able to reduce shipping lead times by 36% and late dispatch rates by 45%. Moreover, their order volumes grew by a whopping 30%.
As virality goes hand in hand with TikTok, brands always have to be ready to keep up with sudden surges in demand. Fulfiled by TikTok empowers them to do just that. Brands like I Love Chamoy have found FBT powered by ShipBob to be a game-changer for this very reason.
“They can keep up with our virality on TikTok and surge in orders, and make sure our customers get their sugar free chamoy in a timely manner.”
Annie Leal, CEO and founder of I Love Chamoy
3 ways to fulfil TikTok Shop orders
Sellers have three options to fulfil orders placed on TikTok Shop. So even if the Fulfiled by TikTok offering isn’t yet available in your market, there are still other options to fulfil your TikTok Shop orders.
1. FBT (with an official TikTok partner like ShipBob)
Sellers have the option to leverage Fulfiled by TikTok, which would allow them to send their inventory to TikTok and have their TikTok Shop orders fulfiled that way. TikTok has partnered with ShipBob to be their first Fulfiled by TikTok partner in the US to facilitate order fulfilment for brands leveraging TikTok Shop.
With this fulfilment option, TikTok, through ShipBob, will handle inventory storage, picking and packing, and shipping so you won’t have to lift a finger to fulfil any orders placed through your TikTok Shop. Besides reliable fulfilment, you get to enjoy several benefits with FBT, which include uncapped sales, faster delivery speeds, and shorter fulfilment times.
TikTok also offers subsidized storage and shipping so you can enjoy reduced fulfilment costs. Additionally, customer service for shipping inquiries will be handled by the TikTok team so you don’t have to dedicate your valuable workforce to TikTok order support.
Here’s how you fulfil your TikTok Shop orders using Fulfiled by TikTok:
- After signing up to FBT, you send over your inventory to TikTok. Keep in mind that you don’t necessarily have to hand over your entire inventory. For example, you can dedicate a portion of it for TikTok so there’s still some inventory left to fulfil orders for your ecommerce store. Or you can also send over just your top-performing items that tend to see high demand on your TikTok Shop.
- The inventory will be stored in the warehouses or fulfilment centres of TikTok’s FBT partners such as ShipBob.
- Once a customer places an order on your TikTok Shop, it will be picked, packed, and labelled in the warehouse or fulfilment centre.
- A shipping partner will pick up the packages and transport them to the end customer’s doorstep.
2. A 3PL (for non-FBT TikTok Shop orders)
Another option is to not use FBT but fulfil your TikTok Shop orders with the help of a third-party logistics partner. Here, a 3PL will handle storage, picking, packing, and shipping for orders placed on your TikTok Shop. It’s important to note that with this fulfilment option, you won’t get the same perks as Fulfiled by TikTok.
You may need to use middleware solutions such as SkuIQ, Aftership, Pipe17, and Silk to connect your TikTok Shop to your Shopify Store.
ShipBob can also handle this TikTok fulfilment method.
3. Seller direct (self-fulfilment of TikTok Shop orders)
Finally, you can also fulfil your TikTok Shop orders independently without using a third-party. Here, TikTok will provide the shipping labels from your account. But you’ll have to handle everything else yourself. This includes storing your inventory, packing orders, getting them ready for shipping, and handing them off to the carrier for final-mile delivery.
This can be a viable option if you want to fully keep fulfilment in house.
How merchants can get ahead with TikTok Shop
If you’re interested in leveraging Fulfiled by TikTok, here are some tips on how to use it to get ahead with TikTok Shop.
Provide express shipping options
FBT gives you the perfect opportunity to delight your customers with fast fulfilment. Sellers who leverage this offering can enjoy expedited fulfilment options such as same-day fulfilment and next-working-day premium delivery service. So get ahead of the competition by offering express shipping options that will allow your customers to get their orders as soon as possible.
Run a flash sale
With FBT, you have the resources needed to fulfil large volumes of orders even with sudden spikes in demand. That means you have the capacity to run flash sales and drive plenty of orders in a short amount of time. This is a great way to attract new customers and quickly ramp up your sales.
Stand out with customised badging
Sellers using FBT have access to customisable badging. This gives you the opportunity to stand out from the competition by highlighting perks such as free shipping, express shipping, and flash sales.
ShipBob’s FBT partnership with TikTok
ShipBob is the first Fulfiled by TikTok partner in the US. This partnership allows sellers to enjoy best-in-class order fulfilment for their TikTok Shop orders. Sellers using FBT in the US will be able to leverage ShipBob’s AI-driven fulfilment engine and expansive network of fulfilment centres to enhance the customer experience.
Get started with Fulfiled by TikTok, powered by ShipBob, to enjoy the following benefits:
Nationwide inventory distribution
FBT sellers can take advantage of ShipBob’s expansive fulfilment network across the United States. This allows them to strategically distribute their inventory and store them closer to their customers so they can enjoy lower shipping costs and reduced transit times.
Reduced delivery times
With ShipBob facilitating fast delivery and strategic inventory distribution, sellers can get orders delivered to their customers in significantly less time than before. This means they can offer express shipping options and create more opportunities to delight their customers.
Endless scaling opportunities
ShipBob can seamlessly handle increased order volumes, allowing FBT sellers to keep up with sudden spikes in demand due to viral videos and flash sales. There are endless opportunities to scale your TikTok Shop sales with this logistics solution.
Additionally, Fulfiled by TikTok offers the following perks for sellers using the solution:
- Next working day premium delivery service
- Same-day fulfilment (for orders placed by 7 p.m. from Monday to Saturday)
- Instant messaging service for customer support
- Dedicated customer service employees
- Competitive pricing for shipping, fulfilment, and storage
TikTok fulfilment FAQs
Below are answers to a few common questions about TikTok.
Why is TikTok hiring fulfilment staff?
TikTok is partnering with fulfilment experts like ShipBob to fulfil its FBT orders.
Does ShipBob integrate with TikTok?
Yes, TikTok Shop and ShipBob are integrated.
Does TikTok have warehouses?
TikTok partners with third-party logistics companies that operate warehouses to store inventory for Fulfiled by TikTok sellers.
How can I make money with TikTok Shop and FBT?
You can make money with TikTok Shop and FBT by listing your products for sale on your TikTok Shop and fulfiling them through FBT or other fulfilment methods.
Is TikTok planning to build its own product fulfilment centres in the U.S.?
TikTok is currently working with third-party fulfilment partners to leverage their fulfilment centres, with ShipBob being the first official FBT partner in the US.
Is TikTok going to be banned in the US?
Although federal and state employees in the US are prohibited from using TikTok on government devices, there’s no nationwide ban for personal use on personal devices. However, certain states have begun legislation to ban the app.
Who owns TikTok?
TikTok is owned by ByteDance Ltd.
