The TikTok Shop’s Product Listing Policy guide outlines listing rules and is subject to change. Sellers must regularly check for updates and adhere to this policy and TikTok’s Community Guidelines. Non-compliance may result in enforcement actions. Note: This isn’t legal advice; consult a legal advisor for specifics.
Key Elements
- Title, Description, Brand, Images, Variations, Legal Notices
Best Practices
- Clarity in Text, Use of Numbers, Accurate Representation
Not Allowed
- Off-Platform Redirects, Unauthorized Brand Usage, All-Capital Text, Symbols, Unverified Claims, Irrelevant Content
For additional information, visit the TikTok Shop Product Listing Policy page.
Product Categories
In TikTok Shop, product categories serve as a vital organizational tool, helping both sellers and buyers navigate through a wide range of products.
TikTok Shop provides, but is not limited to providing, some of the following product categories:
- Automotive & Motorcycle
- Baby & Nursery
- Beauty & Personal Care
- Books, Magazines & Audio
- Collectibles
- Common
- Computers & Office Equipment
- Fashion Accessories
- Food & Beverages
- Furniture
- Health
- Home Improvement
- Home Supplies
- Household Appliances
- Jewelry Accessories & Derivatives
- Kids’ Fashion
- Kitchenware
- Luggage & Bags
- Menswear & Underwear
- Pet Supplies
- Phones & Electronics
- etc.
More examples of product categories can be found in this TTS Mapping File. Please check out the complete list of product categories available on TikTok Shop through Channel Advisor. For more information, also visit the Product Category FAQ. In addition, there are also two unique types of categories: “Invite-Only” and “Restricted.”
What are Invite-Only Categories?
- These categories are exclusive and require you to obtain special approval from TikTok Shop.
- Both your testing (sandbox) and live (production) seller accounts must receive authorization before you can start listing products in these categories.
- Even after receiving the initial approval, some invite-only categories may still require additional certifications to ensure your product meets all necessary criteria.
- If you are interested in listing products under invite-only categories, ensure that you secure prior approval. This approval is necessary even before you start the syncing process through ChannelAdvisor.
What are Restricted Categories?
- These are categories where additional documentation or certification is necessary to confirm your product’s eligibility to be listed.
- Through ChannelAdvisor’s user interface, you can directly upload all the necessary documents that are required in the TTS Mapping File for each restricted category.
- For restricted categories, always remember to include the required certifications when syncing your products.
For a deep dive into the details of each category and the documents required, make sure to consult the FAQ section.
Product Attributes and Certificates
Product Attributes
Product attributes, also known as variation styles, refer to the specific details that describe a product. These details can include color, size, material, or SKU number and are crucial for product categorization, search functionality, and customer decision-making. To add or edit these attributes, navigate to the TikTok Shop Seller Center and go to Products > Manage Products. Then click on “Edit” and under Basic Information, find the “Product Attributes” section. Here, simply fill in the corresponding information in the available fields.
Product Certification
Products in specific categories must have the appropriate certificates uploaded to comply with quality and safety regulations. Sellers must provide certificates authenticating their products.
How Sellers Can Upload Documents to ChannelAdvisor:
Step 1 – Create a product in ChannelAdvisor.
Step 2 – Navigate to TikTok Shop Seller Center > Products > Manage Products > Add New Product. Under the category, select the desired one. If applicable, a banner stating “You need to upload product certificates to list a product in this category. This information will not be publicly displayed” will appear. Click on the “example” link to view an image of the expected upload.
Step 3 – After confirming the required certificate, proceed to upload it within ChannelAdvisor (not TikTok Shop). TikTok Shop will only guide you to the expected product certification for upload in ChannelAdvisor. See images below for how to find certificate information in the TikTok Shop Seller Center.
Product Information Update Schedule
- Changes to product attributes on ChannelAdvisor will be updated every 8 hours to ensure your listings remain current in TikTok Shop.
- For price and quantity, updates are more frequent and will occur every 30 minutes.
Product Catalog Workflows
Full Product Sync
- Initialize Product Creation or Updates in PIM: Initiate the creation or modification of products within the Product Information Management (PIM) System, which will then be sent to ChannelAdvisor (CA).
- ChannelAdvisor Scheduled API Call for Catalog: Every 8 hours, an API call is executed by ChannelAdvisor to retrieve the most up-to-date product catalog from TikTok.
- API Call to Update TikTok Shop Catalog: ChannelAdvisor makes an API call to create new product listings or update existing ones in TikTok Shop.
- Review of New and Updated SKUs by TikTok Shop Governance Team: The TikTok Shop governance team reviews all new and updated SKUs for compliance and appropriateness.
- Automatic SKU Publishing: Once approved by the governance team, the new and updated SKUs are automatically published on TikTok Shop, making them available to buyers.
- Waiting Period for Under-Review Products
- Why Wait: After SKUs are published, they may be flagged for further review for various reasons such as non-compliance, inaccuracies, or inconsistencies. Pushing a new feed/sync while products are still under review may cause conflicts or delays in the approval process.
- How Long to Wait: It’s recommended to wait for a complete cycle of review and response from the TikTok Shop Governance Team before initiating a new Feed/Sync. This time frame can vary, but it is usually completed and might take up to 72 hours. Note that there is a timeout window of 7 days for receiving a response. After that, the product sync will fail.
- Status Checks: Monitor the status of your submitted SKUs in the ‘Under Review’ section of the TikTok Shop dashboard or through ChannelAdvisor’s monitoring tool.
- Proceeding: Once all SKUs have been approved or issues have been addressed and resolved, it’s safe to push a new Feed/Sync to TikTok Shop (TTS).
Important: Restricted categories will need to have required certification documents included as part of sync. Creating products for invite-only categories (children) requires authorization prior to syncing. For restricted categories where certifications are required (ex Beauty and Personal Care), you can provide the required documentation through the ChannelAdvisor mapping interface. View FAQ section for complete details.
Partial Product Sync
The Partial Product Sync between your Product Information Management (PIM) System, Channel Advisor (CA), and TikTok Shop is a synchronization process that focuses exclusively on updating product pricing and quantity. It occurs at 30-minute intervals.
- Quantity or Price Update: Once the quantity and/or price of products are updated in your PIM, it will serve as the main source for inventory and pricing details.
- API Call Frequency: Channel Advisor will initiate an API call every 30 minutes to pull the updated product information (quantity and pricing) from your PIM.
- Data Verification: Channel Advisor will compare the newly received product information with its existing records, identifying any differences in pricing or inventory levels and flagging them for further action.
- Automatic Update: Upon successful receipt of the updated data, TikTok Shop will automatically revise its product listings. These changes will be immediately visible to buyers, ensuring a seamless and accurate shopping experience.
Unpublish Products and SKUs
- Terminology: The terms ‘Parent’ and ‘Child’ are commonly used to describe the relationship between a main product and its SKUs. The ‘Parent’ is the main product listing, while ‘Child’ refers to the SKUs or variations tied to that product.
- Unpublishing a Product (Parent): When you unpublish a product, you’re removing the entire item listing from your online store. This means that the main product, along with all its variations or SKUs (child items), will no longer be visible or available for purchase by customers.
- Unpublishing a SKU (Child): On the other hand, unpublishing a SKU refers to removing a specific variation of the product. For example, if you have a T-shirt listed in multiple colors and sizes, each combination (e.g., red, medium) is a different SKU. Unpublishing a SKU makes that particular variation unavailable, but the main product listing and other SKUs remain active.
- Removing Label: Both unpublishing actions can be done by removing a specific “published” or “active” label from the Product or SKU within ChannelAdvisor to initiate the removal process in TTS.
- ChannelAdvisor API Call to Set “NotLive” Status: An API call is executed by ChannelAdvisor to update the status of the unpublished product or SKU to “NotLive.”
- Review of Other Variants by TikTok Shop Governance Team: The TikTok Shop governance team evaluates any other variants or SKUs related to the unpublished item for compliance and appropriateness.
- Deletion of Unpublished SKUs on TikTok Shop: Once the review is complete, the unpublished SKUs are deleted on TikTok Shop, making them unavailable to buyers.
Important: TikTok Shop will set the inventory for “unpublished” products to zero, rendering them unsalable while the Governance Team completes their review. For additional information, please refer to the FAQ section.