There is no doubt that Southeast Asia is one of the regions where online shopping is becoming one of the most preferred options for purchases. With eCommerce platforms such as Shopee and Lazada getting increasingly popular among shoppers in the region, it does not come as a surprise that TikTok shops prove themselves to be the next big thing in online shopping among Southeast Asian buyers. Just recently, the Shopify-TikTok integration options were introduced in Southeast Asian countries after its pilot runs in Europe and North America.

In April 2022, China’s Douyin TikTok Shop opened its Southeast Asian counterpart, aptly named TikTok Shop Southeast Asia. This functions as a cross-border selling platform for small online stores, initially catering to four countries in the region namely Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Aside from these cross-border stores, more online sellers have opened up their country-based TikTok shops which cater to their respective domestic markets. And some of these shops are already making waves, making use of the promotional and advertising components of TikTok Shop and utilizing the power of the live selling capabilities of TikTok Live. 

But seeing as it is relatively new, how do we tell if a TikTok shop can deliver? What is the perfect formula for turning your video views into online store visits and ultimately cold, hard sales? How do you ensure that your TikTok shop will transform itself from being just an add-on to being an established, and stable source of sales and income? These are questions that linger on the mind of would-be and those who already ventured into the world of TikTok shops. But don’t worry, TikTok Shop is on its crusade to train a larger number of TikTok sellers, and potential ones with its TikTok Shop: Seller University.

TikTok Shop: Seller University

The TikTok Shop: Seller University functions as a training hub aiding TikTok sellers in carrying out business processes on the platform. The Seller University offers a wide range of articles and how-to guides concerning seller tools, policies, and updates on the shop experience. 

Currently, the Seller University site has three main tabs – Policy Center, which keeps you updated on topics such as Seller Onboarding, Product Listing and Sharing, Creator and Content, and Order Management. Meanwhile, the Feature Guide gives you some lessons on Registration, Promotion, and Operation Preparation. Another special section called Affiliate Guide is specifically targeted toward Tiktok’s affiliate sellers.

Best TikTok Shops in Southeast Asia 

How-to guides and tutorials can sometimes be pretty abstract. And sometimes, although you get a general idea, these cannot show you the full potential of what can be done. So, we made it our task to compile some of the best examples of TikTok shops that are currently operating in Southeast Asia. For this list, we give you examples from different countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines. We discuss briefly what they sell and how they have maximized TikTok Shop’s built-in tools to their business success.

Colourette Cosmetics (Philippines)

Colourette is a local cosmetics brand that prides itself on its mantra “Beauty in All Ways.” Colourette, more than a beauty product store, presents itself with clear and solid advocacy. Along with its aim of providing the best beauty products to all of its customers, regardless of shape, size, and skin color, it ensures that all the products that the store sells are cruelty-free, safe, and affordable.

In the Philippines, Colourette, and also its sister company Fresh Formula, owe their promotion and popularity to their owners’ use of social media. The founder and CEO, Nina Ellaine Dizon-Cabrera, utilizes her social media accounts and maximizes her online influence to promote her store and products.

If you visit Colourette’s TikTok shop, you may find yourself amused with the well-curated TikTok video content categorized into Product Guides, Fun Stuff, and Swatches. Video content on TikTok is also used to launch new products, present promotional kits, and announce promotional offers on specific red-letter days. What’s more exciting is that TikTok videos are being utilized efficiently to show actual life instances where the products are used and are weaved into certain advocacies such as women empowerment, and LGBTQIA+ rights. 

You can also see the entire product catalog of the store which is synced right at the shopping tab. Just a click at your product of choice’s listing will let you order and check out the item right from the TikTok shop itself. 

Mobot (Singapore)

Mobot prides itself on being one of the most trusted e-mobility product providers in Singapore. Mobot’s product line focuses on foldable bicycles and e-bicycles. The shift to bicycles began when the scooter and e-scooter, Mobot’s first product offerings, were heavily affected in terms of sales due to a nationwide ban by the government. After some time treading into their new market, Mobot is admittedly one of the Singaporean brands impacted by the Covid-19 crisis. When retail outlets were put on lockdown, Mobot unlocked a new arena: online selling.

To date, Mobot offers its products through its website, on iPrice, Ekolife Asia, and its TikTok shop. Mobot takes the greatest lessons of eCommerce and applies them as guiding principles in their TikTok content. When you visit their TikTok feed, you would that it provides prospective buyers with a variety of video content ranging from flash sale announcements, new product and variant introductions, and a preview of their physical stores.

Instead of the usual photo and video slideshow TikTok content, Mobot goes out of its way to present videos of real people using their product, further establishing the value and benefit they bring to the buyer’s lives. In these videos, Mobot attempts to showcase the full extent and the huge number of situations where their products can be deemed very useful. Aside from the testimonials, the TikTok shop also makes it a point that their customers are well-informed about promotional prices and discount coupons that are available at certain periods.

Max Value (Thailand)

If you’re feeling extra thirsty after a full day’s work on an afternoon run, Max Value can prove to be valuable in your life. Based in Thailand, Max Value is an online store that sells tumblers for your hydration needs. Besides being colorful, the store assures its customers that these tumblers are durable. Another prime advantage of their offerings is their large storage capacity perfect for travel and long physical activities. Aside from tumblers, Max Value offers other home and kitchen equipment such as knife sets, funnels, cookware, organizers, and storage equipment.

In their TikTok shop, Max Value makes sure to test each of the products they offer through a dedicated TikTok video. Here, they demonstrate how their affordable product offerings become useful in the day-to-day lives of their potential buyers. Using the popular concept of home styling in TikTok videos, Max Value makes the trend work for their business. 

Max Value also does not miss the periodic 6.6, 7.7 (and so on) sales periods and keeps the public informed whenever they participate in such promotions. Aside from using TikTok to promote the products themselves, Max Value uses their TikTok feed to address frequently-asked questions about other aspects of their online store such as fulfillment and payment options among others. The store also regularly holds Live Selling sessions on TikTok where they offer combos, bundles, discounts, and the like to let you maximize the value for your money.

Erigo Apparel (Indonesia)

Erigo Apparel is one of the most popular clothing apparel go-to places in Indonesia. As a fashion brand, Erigo positions itself as a clothing company with high-quality products and visually-appealing designs suited for your traveling and daily needs. Being an established brand when it comes to fusing streetwear and traditional Indonesian garb, Erigo was recognized by the international fashion community even making it to shows in New York, for example. 

Erigo has a multi-channel online selling approach offering their clothing on Instagram, Shopee, Tokopedia, and their website, alongside their TikTok Shop. Erigo maximizes TikTok features such as Live events, which are held regularly, for its advertising and promotion efforts. To date, their TikTok shop has more or less 900,000 followers and over 8.3 million likes. They also had their TikTok profile verified, which is a good move for online sellers to add more legitimacy to their online store.

Their TikTok video content revolves around promotional videos on monthly promo periods such as the 8.8 or 11.11 sales followed by many online selling platforms. Erigo also has a group of models they aptly call the Erigo squad, who star in their TikTok videos to draw attention to their promos, Live Selling events, and physical store outlets. Erigo’s TikTok feed also gives the customers a glimpse at their warehouse and fulfillment centers. There are also videos showing their product in real-life scenarios such as camping, raves, sports activities, and the like.

Odoso Store (Malaysia)

Odoso Store, which is based in Malaysia, sells a variety of items that consist of different categories. Think of your well-loved local shopping mall, but make it online. Odoso sells a wide selection of products ranging from furniture and appliances, food items, tech products, cooking and kitchen equipment, and cleaning products. 

Odoso is a premium online store run by shopping mall Sokano. Aside from Tiktok, Odoso also offers its products via its counterpart stores in Shopee and Lazada. 

Odoso uses TikTok to bring its customers how-to videos and unboxing videos. They also make content to illustrate how their products would fare in actual use. They also make special content whenever a certain product is on a big price drop or sale. The store also uses the video platform to give buyers instructions on how to use the TikTok Shop tab’s interface for easy checkout, payment, and shipping options. 

The online store also makes use of TikTok Live to further promote its products, usually announcing its live events in advance allowing its loyal customers to schedule notifications so they wouldn’t miss the Live. In Live Events, the store offers special promotional prices and discount coupons. Celebrities and specific brands are also invited per episode to help promote the products and increase viewer traffic. As of August 2022, the Odoso store has 55,000 followers and 250,000 likes on Tiktok, which signifies a strong customer base that they can activate for greater sales revenue. 

Shin Case (Vietnam)

Shin Case is a small startup business in Vietnam that offers customizable phone cases mainly suited for the Apple iPhone series. Aside from cases, the shop also offers other accessories mainly targeted at young audiences in Vietnam. Although admittedly a small business with the owner doing most of the work, that did not stop Shin Case from being noticed by TikTok Shop Vietnam to be on the list of the pilot online businesses to be using TikTok Shop. It was also featured alongside other Vietnamese businesses in a TikTok Shop event for the launching of the feature in Vietnam.

A cutesy feel will welcome you once you visit Shin Case’s TikTok profile. In the product catalog, you may view the standard products the shop has to offer. Aside from the wide selection of cases with different designs, the owner also makes customized cases by request. The creation videos of these requests are filmed and then compiled in a playlist for future customers to see. The online store’s aesthetic perfectly complements its physical store located in the Vietnamese city of Hanoi. 

Whenever they have time, the shop owners also accept challenges from customers by replying with a video to their TikTok comments. Once you view their “Case Challenge” tab, you would find some masterfully created cases featuring designs based on K-pop idols, TV characters, and even food items. Shin Case also periodically holds Live Events to sell their products and accept orders, requests, and challenges from their loyal customers. 

The future of TikTok shops

TikTok is steadily presenting itself as a viable platform wherein smaller businesses and even established brands can grow bigger and more popular. So if you are thinking of signing up for a TikTok for Business account, we leave you with our little piece of advice to take that chance. There are already a considerable amount of lessons and practices available from TikTok Shop: Seller University and of course, it wouldn’t hurt to take a note or two from the successful TikTok shops we’ve just looked at. We wish you the best of luck and the best of sales!