What is TikTok Shop?

TikTok Shop is TikTok's in-app commerce layer, letting sellers list products and buyers complete a purchase without leaving the app. Sales arrive through several distinct surfaces — product links attached to organic videos, LIVE shopping sessions, a product showcase on the seller profile, an in-app shop tab, and the affiliate marketplace where creators earn commission for driving sales.

The affiliate channel is what most distinguishes it from other marketplaces: sellers can open products to thousands of creators who produce their own content, which shifts the constraint from media budget to the volume of creative in circulation. Content requirements follow from the format. Listing imagery must read at thumbnail size in a vertical feed, video must work without sound, and creative that looks like advertising underperforms creative that looks like a person showing something they bought. Sellers are also subject to category restrictions and commission structures that differ by market, and the platform's own labelling rules apply to both paid promotion and AI-generated media used in listings or ads.