With its new product Tuck Shop, the content agency is betting on the platform as the future of content-fuelled ecommerce—even with a looming potential ban.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, May 6, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Toronto’s preeminent content and performance agency, Academy Inc.—working with brands like Porter Airlines, Wave Accounting, MilkUP Ontario, Wealthsimple, Mejuri, Saje Wellness, Wattpad & Sleep Country —announced today it’s launching Tuck Shop, a TikTok Shop product offering geared towards US and UK-based brands (for now!).

“Whether TikTok is banned, bought, or continues business-as-usual, the show needs to go on—and social commerce isn’t going anywhere,” says Sabrina Babooram, Head of Strategy at Academy. “It’s our job to help keep brands relevant and bring forth the right solutions that can match the pace of culture.”

Since its launch, TikTok Shop has sold more than $1 billion dollars in merchandise—claiming over 68 per cent of social shopping gross merchandise value by February 2024 (combined, Instagram Cart, Facebook Shop and Flip App’s gross merchandise value is less than 1 per cent). Tuck Shop leverages Academy’s proven e-commerce expertise, performance power, and best-in-class creator network to develop TikTok Shop packages tailored to brands’ needs, from setting up to starting up to scaling up.

“Other social platforms have tried it (Meta, Snap, YouTube), but TikTok has mastered the art of social, community-driven shopping really rapidly,” says Peter Reitano, Partner, Growth and Partnerships at Academy. “I think by now most e-commerce brands recognize the huge opportunity with TikTok Shop, especially for products that seamlessly integrate into the kind of content TikTok loves—think supplements, skincare, beauty products, fashion, cookware & beyond.”

It’s all about harnessing the joy of shopping and meeting customers where they’re spending their down time—marrying the delight of entertaining, aspirational content with a friction-free, in-app shopping experience. But it’s been historically cumbersome for retailers to find their footing on the platform, especially if they’re unfamiliar with TikTok’s nuances and vernacular. Tuck Shop’s scalable approach helps simplify success on TikTok Shop with an all-in-one, or a-la-carte solution:

- Brand Page Content and Management
- TikTok Shop Setup and Management
- An elite creator roster of creators tailored to your industry, vetted for virality potential
- Secondary Profile Strategy
- Spark Ads
- Automated Affiliate System

And early adopters are being rewarded by the algorithm.

“The affiliate system alone is insane,” says Reitano, whose own Dragon’s Den-funded functional gummy brand Mojo has seen a 740% increase in GMV on TikTok Shop. “You can send out hundreds of requests a day to relevant creators, they claim a free sample, the system tracks the fulfillment, lets you know when content is posted for that sample, how many sales have come from that video, and lets creators showcase a library of their favourite products.”

Creators can earn by simply tagging products in their content, and some are making major coin (with some even disclosing real-time earnings on Discord servers, incentivizing more creators to join in). But an effective affiliate strategy is only one part of a much bigger equation—one Tuck Shop is designed to solve.

“Working with a few affiliates and spending a bit on ads… results in poor outcomes,” says Reitano. “You need to create the perception of a tsunami of consensus around your product or brand—the ‘wow this brand is everywhere right now, I need to try it’ reaction.”

For boots on the ground State-side (as of this writing, TikTok Shop is only available for brands based in the US and UK) Academy has partnered with longtime collaborator, Los Angeles-based TikTok expert Ryan Santoyo of One-Off Media. But with TikTok Shop rumoured to launch in Canada in 2025, brands north of the border shouldn’t be turning a blind eye.

“As the trend of social commerce continues to enmesh into our daily behaviors, we are working with our Canadian clients to build a strong TikTok presence in anticipation of TikTok Shop’s debut north of the border,” says Babooram

Are you a brand looking to supercharge your sales with TikTok Shop? Reach out today.

Peter Reitano
Tuck Shop
peter.reitano@madebyacademy.com