TikTok Shop in Italy: what it is, how it works and why your business should be there

On 31 March 2025 TikTok Shop officially arrived in Italy, after being tested for years in the United States, the United Kingdom and South-East Asia. More than a year on, TikTok Shop in Italy is no longer an experiment: it’s a sales channel that sits alongside traditional e-commerce and marketplaces, with its own logic that’s worth understanding before investing time and budget in it.

Since 8 January 2026 the standard commission for Italian sellers on TikTok Shop has been 9%, and there’s no minimum number of followers needed to open a shop. A brand with zero followers can start selling through the affiliate programme or by combining the shop with TikTok Ads. This lowers the barrier to entry considerably compared with a year ago, when stricter requirements had to be met to be accepted as a seller.

This article explains what TikTok Shop in Italy is, how it works in detail, how to open a seller account step by step and which businesses it really makes sense for, with the limits to be aware of before you start.

What TikTok Shop is and why it’s different from TikTok Ads

TikTok Shop is the social commerce feature built into the app that lets people complete a purchase without leaving TikTok. It isn’t a banner that sends users to an external site: the product is tagged in the video or live stream, the user taps it, opens the product page and pays directly in the app.

That’s a substantial difference compared with TikTok Ads, which remain an advertising tool designed to drive traffic to a website or landing page. TikTok Shop, on the other hand, removes the external step: less friction, less abandonment, but also a catalogue and logistics logic that has to be managed directly inside the app. Conversion rates for native videos linked to TikTok Shop are 40% higher than those of equivalent Meta ads campaigns, a figure that explains why more and more Italian brands are testing it.

Anyone already running advertising campaigns on the platform knows the two things complement each other: TikTok Ads bring visibility and new audiences, TikTok Shop turns that visibility into an immediate purchase, with no intermediate steps.

How TikTok Shop works: the three sales formats

Anyone wondering how TikTok Shop works needs to start from three distinct formats, each with a precise role in the sales funnel.

Video Shopping. The product is tagged directly in the organic or sponsored video. The user sees the tag, taps the screen and opens the product page without leaving the app. It’s the format most like a digital shelf inside content the user is already watching for entertainment.

Live Shopping. This is the closest thing to assisted selling in a shop. During the live stream the seller shows the product, answers questions in real time, handles objections and creates urgency with time-limited offers. Brands that do live shopping consistently build a direct relationship with their audience, and the data confirms that live streams convert better than a static video precisely for this reason.

Product Showcase. This is the permanent shop window on the profile, the one a user checks after seeing a viral video to find out what else that brand sells. It’s mainly useful for anyone working with creators and affiliates: without a showcase, a user intrigued by an affiliate’s video has nowhere to continue the shopping experience.

How to sell on TikTok Shop: the steps to open a seller account

Opening a shop on TikTok Shop involves a few technical and strategic steps. Here’s the right sequence to do it without wasting time.

Step one: check the product is suitable. TikTok Shop works best with low-to-mid-priced products with strong visual impact and impulse appeal. Cosmetics, fashion, accessories, niche food, home accessories: all categories that lend themselves well to video. Complex services, B2B products or items that require a long evaluation before purchase find less fertile ground.

Step two: register as a seller. The procedure requires company details, an Italian VAT number, a linked bank account for receiving payments and acceptance of the commission terms, currently 9% on the Italian market. You don’t need a TikTok profile with thousands of followers: you can start from zero.

Step three: upload the catalogue. Each product page needs good-quality photos, a clear description, price and availability. A well-kept catalogue is what holds up when traffic suddenly arrives from a video that’s gone viral, a situation that’s far from rare on this platform.

Step four: choose the distribution channel. You can sell through organic content, through TikTok Ads combined with tagged products, or through the affiliate programme, which involves creators promoting the products in exchange for a percentage of the sales they generate, with no fixed upfront costs.

Step five: handle logistics and after-sales. Shipping times, returns and customer service remain entirely the seller’s responsibility. TikTok Shop provides the shop window and the payment system, not the logistics: these need to be integrated with your own tools or a third-party partner.

What it costs to sell on TikTok Shop in Italy

The 9% commission isn’t the only cost to consider when planning an entry into TikTok Shop in Italy. You need to factor in the time or budget to produce video content consistently, because a shop with two tagged products and no recent videos won’t generate traffic on its own. Anyone who chooses to pair TikTok Ads with their product pages adds a media budget on top of the commission on sales.

The affiliate programme works differently: you only pay an agreed percentage on the sales actually generated by the creator, with no fixed upfront budget. For a brand starting from scratch on TikTok Shop in Italy, it’s often the most sustainable way to test the channel before investing in in-house video production or structured paid campaigns.

Compared with opening a shop on a traditional marketplace, the cost of entry into TikTok Shop in Italy remains relatively low: there are no fixed monthly fees, and the commission is only paid on an actual sale. The real investment is in the quality of the content, not in the technical structure of the shop.

TikTok Shop for businesses: when it makes sense and when it doesn’t

Not all businesses get the same return from TikTok Shop, and it’s better to know this before allocating budget and time.

It makes sense to invest when the product lends itself to a visual demonstration in a few seconds, when the price allows an impulse purchase, and when there’s already at least some organic content presence on the platform. Cosmetics, clothing, accessories and artisan food brands find fertile ground because TikTok’s audience rewards authentic content more than glossy productions.

It makes less sense for B2B companies, professional services or products that require a long evaluation phase before purchase. An industrial machine or business consultancy can’t be sold with a product tag in a 15-second video: for these sectors it remains more effective to work on LinkedIn or on content strategies designed for a longer decision cycle. B2B businesses that still want to be on TikTok can be, but with goals other than direct sales, closer to brand awareness.

Then there’s an interesting middle ground: artisan producers, wineries, breweries and food brands that sell online. For them TikTok Shop can become a channel that complements traditional e-commerce, especially if the sales funnel is already set up to welcome new traffic and turn it into repeat customers.

Social commerce on TikTok: why live shopping is growing

Social commerce on TikTok differs from that on Instagram and Facebook for a simple reason: the algorithm distributes content based on interaction rather than on the follower network already built. This means a small brand with a good video can reach a huge audience without having built a fan base over the years, something much harder on platforms where distribution rewards those who already have an established following.

Live shopping streams are growing because they recreate an experience online commerce had lost: assisted selling. A customer watching a live stream can ask about the fabric of a garment, the texture of a cosmetic product or the origin of a food item, and get an immediate answer from the person selling it. It’s the same principle that makes a trade fair or a market effective, brought inside an app.

For brands selling food products, this format opens up alternative channels to traditional marketplaces: a winery doing a live stream of the grape harvest, or a brewery telling the story behind the recipe for a new limited edition, builds trust much more directly than a static product page on a website.

Action checklist for getting started with TikTok Shop in Italy

Before opening a shop on TikTok Shop, it’s worth checking these points:

• Is the product priced for an impulse purchase, or does it require a long evaluation?
• Is there already at least a minimal organic presence on TikTok, even just a few published videos?
• Can your in-house logistics handle fast shipping and a growing flow of returns?
• Is there a budget, however small, to put into TikTok Ads to speed up the visibility of the first product pages?
• Have you considered the affiliate programme as an extra lever, to have industry creators promote your products with no fixed costs?

Anyone who answers yes to most of these points has a solid base to start from. Anyone who answers no to more than one should fix that point first, rather than opening a shop that risks staying empty.

TikTok Shop in Italy and the rest of your digital strategy

TikTok Shop doesn’t replace a structured digital marketing strategy: it completes it. Anyone already running advertising campaigns on the platform, as described on our TikTok Ads page, already has the targeting and creative infrastructure needed to make direct in-app sales take off too. Likewise, anyone working across several advertising channels with an integrated approach to PPC campaigns has an advantage: they can decide at which stage of the funnel to place TikTok Shop compared with Google Ads or Meta ads.

The organic side matters too. A carefully managed social media strategy, with content published regularly on TikTok and the other channels, is what feeds the TikTok Shop showcase with free traffic, reducing dependence on advertising budget alone.

For anyone selling food products online, TikTok Shop is one of the alternative channels to add alongside an existing e-commerce store, not a replacement. The funnel stays the same: awareness, consideration, conversion, loyalty. Only the point where the purchase happens changes, moved inside the app instead of onto an external website.

The metrics to monitor on TikTok Shop in Italy

Anyone opening a shop on TikTok Shop in Italy should monitor a few indicators from the start, beyond the simple number of sales. The click rate on the product tag compared with video views tells you whether the content is really driving purchases or only generating passive entertainment. The in-app checkout completion rate should be compared with that of the external e-commerce store, to see whether friction has really been reduced as the format promises.

It’s also worth watching which content generates the most sales: often it isn’t the videos with the most views overall, but those that show the product in real use, without excessive filters. On TikTok Shop in Italy, as on TikTok in general, authentic content counts for more than technical production quality.

The right time to get into TikTok Shop in Italy

TikTok Shop in Italy is still a relatively young channel compared with established marketplaces, which means less competition than you’ll find today on Amazon or the other traditional marketplaces. Anyone getting in now, with a suitable product and a minimal content strategy, has the chance to build a solid position before the channel becomes saturated.

It should be approached with the same method as any other sales channel: the right product, a well-kept catalogue, content designed for the platform rather than adapted from other channels, logistics ready to cope with sudden traffic peaks. Anyone who treats TikTok Shop as an isolated experiment, without integrating it into their overall digital marketing strategy, is unlikely to get stable results over time.

If you want to understand whether your product suits TikTok Shop and how to integrate it into your digital marketing strategy, book a call with our team.

FAQ

Is TikTok Shop in Italy right for every business?

No. It works best for low-to-mid-priced products with strong visual impact and impulse appeal. B2B companies or those selling complex services find more value in other channels, such as LinkedIn or Google search campaigns.

How much does it cost to sell on TikTok Shop?

Since 8 January 2026 the standard commission on sales has been 9% for the Italian market. There are no fixed setup costs, but you need to consider the cost of producing content and, if you choose to use them, the budget for TikTok Ads.

Do you need followers to open a shop on TikTok Shop?

No. A profile with zero followers can register as a seller and start selling by using the affiliate programme or combining TikTok Ads with the products tagged in the catalogue.

What’s the difference between TikTok Shop and TikTok Ads?

TikTok Ads is an advertising tool that drives traffic to an external website or landing page. TikTok Shop lets people complete the purchase directly inside the app, without leaving the platform. The two tools work well together: Ads bring visibility, the Shop turns it into an immediate sale.

How can I sell on TikTok Shop if I’ve never done e-commerce?

You start by choosing the right product, registering as a seller and uploading a well-kept catalogue. Then you choose whether to focus on organic content, TikTok Ads or the affiliate programme to generate the first sales. External support can shorten the learning curve in the first few weeks.