Setting up a TikTok Shops API

We know TikTok as a social media platform, but TikTok opened up a marketplace for external sellers. Users of TikTok can engage with promotions/sponsored content to immediately purchase an item while engaging with content or be redirected to a brand-specific page.

Currently, TikTok Shop is only available in the UK and the US, and Spain & Ireland are invite only at the moment.

Table of contents

• Preparation
• Create a new connection
• Create the API
• Create your product listings
• Creating products and variants
• GPSR and DSA requirements
• Send your products to TikTok
• Check your product listings for errors

Preparation

If you want to sell on TikTok, you need to have at least a TikTok Seller account. Depending on the region that you want to sell in, the requirements differ. For creating a Shop account, you need to meet the following requirements depending on the country:

United States of America

United Kingdom

Spain

Ireland

You also need to have a return address in the country in question so buyers on TikTok are able to return their shipments within their own country.

You can sign up for a TikTok Shop Seller account here for the US and here for the UK. TikTok Spain & Ireland are invite only at the moment.

Selecting our App

After having created a TikTok Seller account, you can create a connection to Channable by going to the TikTok app store. This will lead you to an overview of apps, where you can find Channable’s app in the category ‘Multi-channel management’.

Select the Channable App and follow the next steps.

Step 1: Create a new connection

Currently, it is only possible to connect a TikTok shop account to Channable from within Channable itself. Creating a connection is very similar to how it is done for other Marketplaces. Follow the steps below:

1. Begin by navigating to the API page within your project and click on the "+Add new API" button. This action will redirect you to your company's connections page.
   
2. On the connections page, select "+Add a new connection".
   Note: make sure to select the correct TikTok marketplace, either US or UK, where you intend to sell.
3. Search for the desired 'TikTok' connection (either EU or US) by clicking through the pages, after finding the 'TikTok' connection, provide a label for this new connection.
   
4. Click on "Create" You will be redirected to TikTok for the next step. Once redirected, log in using TikTok credentials.

After successfully logging in, the connection with TikTok is established and available for use! You will be brought back to the API setup.

Step 2: Create the API

To create your TikTok Shops API, go to Channable, open your project, and go to APIs > Add new API. A new screen will open where you can select the TikTok Shops connection you just created.

1. Configure API settings:
   • Name your API
   • Choose the unique ID per item. (we recommend the 'id' field)
2. Create API: Click on "Continue" to create the new TikTok Shops API.

Step 3: Create your product listings in Channable

Once you have created the TikTok API you can set up your product data by following the steps of the API.

To set up your API, follow these steps. Click on each step to expand and view the detailed instructions which will guide you through the process.

1. Categorization

2. Rules

3. Build step

The Build step allows you to configure all necessary attributes for your items, ensuring your product data aligns with marketplace requirements. This step is crucial for successful product listings and avoiding errors.

3.1 Overview

1. Access the Build step: Start by accessing the centralized interface of the Build step. This is where you will manage and map all product attributes.
2. Identify mandatory and optional Fields: Mandatory fields are highlighted in pink, indicating they are essential for listing your products. Optional fields are marked in orange and can be filled based on specific needs.

3.2 Populate Shared Attributes

1. Fill Shared Attributes: Enter common details that apply to all products, such as EAN, prices, and titles. This step ensures uniformity in basic product information across your listings.
   • Use static or dynamic Values:
     • Static Values: Directly input values that remain constant, like brand name or manufacturer.
     • Dynamic Values: Utilize fields that automatically update based on linked data, ideal for variables like stock levels or prices.

After you have filled in the desired values for the Shared attributes, continue to the Category specific attributes below.

3.3 Specify Category-Specific Attributes

1. Select product category: Choose the relevant category for your product, such as clothing or furniture.
2. Input Category - specific attributes: Fill in attributes that are specific to the selected category, such as size for clothing or dimensions for furniture. This step helps in fine-tuning your listings according to category requirements. Here you can again use static or dynamic values.

Read more about the Build step.

4. Quality step

The Quality step provides instant feedback on setup quality, highlighting mandatory and optional errors to ensure your product data meets the marketplaces' standards.

Actions

• View items: See products with specific issues.
• View in build: Redirects to the build step to map missing information.
• Set categories: Directs to the categories step to categorize items.
• Show source: Available for ID fields, directing to the settings step.

Read more about the Quality step.

5. Preview step

The Preview step displays mapped attributes for multiple items, highlighting errors before exporting to the marketplace.

Features

• Search & filter: Find specific products or filter by error message/category.
• Item overview: Shows all items to be exported; it can filter to show only items with errors.
• Detailed product preview: Displays missing information and dynamic actions to correct errors.

Checklist for finalizing attributes

• Review shared attributes: Ensure all mandatory shared attributes are filled.
• Review category-specific attributes: Ensure all mandatory category-specific attributes are filled.
• Check for errors: Correct any red-marked fields.

Read more about the Preview step.

6. Result step

Additional requirements for TikTok Shops

The build step in the TikTok API does contain some notable fields that are specified in this article.

• Syncing with active products already on TikTok
  Products that are not managed by Channable (that is, products that are already in a TikTok shop before you start using Channable) will not be updated or deleted by Channable. It is advised that these products are recreated in the API if you wish for them to be maintained by Channable.
• Rate limits
  TikTok maintains rate limits for our app, as well as a rate limit for each unique seller account.
  For the app-based rate limit, this means that it can only perform a specific amount of requests for all clients. We expect this to play a part in cases where you start creating new products, as this takes more requests than updating already existing products.
  For the user-specific rate limits, you will first have a limit (imposed by TikTok) of uploading 100 products per day. Once your probation period ends, you can upload up to 1000. See this article for more details.

Step 4: Creating products and variants

When listing products on TikTok Shop via Channable, it’s crucial to differentiate between a product and its variants. A product refers to the main item being sold, while variants are the different versions of this product, such as sizes or colors.

For instance, a shirt available in multiple sizes is a single product with each size representing a variant. On TikTok, these variants are termed "SKUs."

During the upload process, Channable automatically groups these variants into a single product listing by assigning a common item group ID to all variants of a product. This identifier helps TikTok recognize and display all related variants under one product on the platform.

Product- and variant-attributes

Products in our catalog are described using two levels of data: Product-Level Attributes and Variant-Level Attributes. Understanding the distinction and purpose of each level ensures accurate data handling and product management.

• Product-Level Attributes
  Product-level attributes are common across all variants of a product. These attributes describe aspects that do not change regardless of the product variant. They include:
  
  • Title: The name of the product.
  • Description: Detailed information about the product.
  • Category: The classification or segment the product belongs to within the store.
  • Images: Visual representations of the product.
  • Package Weight: The weight of the complete package.
  • Package Dimensions: The size specifications of the product's packaging.
  • Size Chart: Provided if applicable, specific to the category to help determine sizing.
  • Any Category-Dependent Attributes: Attributes specific to the product category that are consistent across all variants.
• Variant-Level Attributes
  Variant-level attributes differ between different versions of the same product and are labeled in the category section of Build step as "Variant". These attributes cater to the specific variations that a product can have, For example color or size such as:
  • Color: The color of the product variant.
  • Size: The size of the product variant, applicable in cases such as apparel or accessories.

Deactivating & reactivating products and variants

Removing items from the feed can result in different behaviors within the context of products and variants. Below we explain a couple of cases:

• Deactivating/Reactivating a product
  If all variants which compose a product are removed from the feed, this will also deactivate the product. In this case, the product will be set to the “Seller Deactivated” status. The product will still be visible in the TikTok seller center but the variants will no longer be possible for customers of the shop to view or buy.
  Reactivating one variant in the product will also reactivate the product itself.
• Deactivating variants in a product
  If one or more variants of a product are removed while some remain in the feed, the product on the TikTok shop will be edited such that the removed variants are no longer present. You can send the same variant info to TikTok again to reactivate the variant.

GPSR and DSA requirements

The European Union (EU) has introduced new GPSR and DSA requirements for online platforms, including marketplaces.

For your TikTok Shops API in Channable, fill in the IDs from TikTok Seller Central to match the products in the Shared attributes tab of the Build step:

Relevant for TikTok Shops ES only:

1. Create at least one “Responsible person” profile and one “Manufacturer” profile in your TikTok Shop seller account. You can find this by going to My account > Account settings > Qualification Center > Responsible Person/Manufacturer.
2. Copy the ID of each individual Responsible Person or Manufacturer profile that you have created.
3. In the Build step in Channable, copy-paste the correct ID to each product. You can do this by using a project field, or by using a static value. If you have different manufacturers for different products, use rules to assign a different ID to each product. 
4. If you sell in a category where extra compliance resources are required, fill in the attribute ‘Confirm Any Regulatory Marking Or Label’ with “Yes”. 
5. For all these items where a “Yes” is submitted in the previous step, submit a publicly accessible URL and a certification name in the table “Product Certifications”. This can be found in the Build step in the TikTok Shops API.

Step 5: Send your products to TikTok

Almost there, your product listings are ready to be sent. If you have not activated your project go to Settings > Project settings on the left-hand side of the screen and click 'activate project'. After, go back to the APIs overview and go to "Your TikTok API Name" > Settings where you activate the API by selecting "Activate API". After you have completed this step navigate back to the APIs overview and select the blue "Run now" button to send your product listings to TikTok.

Step 6: Check your product listings for errors

Due to a technical deficiency on TikTok’s side, we cannot reliably display the errors within Channable. This is being worked on by TikTok, but for now, it is more reliable to see the results of your export in your TikTok Seller account.