Struggling with high effort but low sales on your livestreams? In 2026, relying on organic reach is a losing battle. Enter TikTok LIVE Shopping Ads, your brand can now reach TikTok audiences and immediately bring them to the product detail page or shopping cart on Livestream.
Let’s learn more about the TikTok LIVE Shopping Ads in this article!
Quick Summary:
- TikTok LIVE Shopping Ads is a dynamic ad format that pushes your real-time Livestream to the For You Feed, enabling instant purchasing via pinned product cards without leaving the app.
- This format effectively merges entertainment with e-commerce to skyrocket conversion rates, demonstrated by Whitelab’s success story of achieving >3.5x ROAS and tripling their reach.
- Ideally, this tool serves TikTok Shop sellers wanting to bypass organic limits and reach high-intent buyers immediately.
- A winning strategy involves leveraging “Shoppertainment” content and GMV Max Bidding (proven to lift GMV by ~30%) to maximize returns.
- The best timing is generally during peak traffic slots (7-10 pm) and starting ads 20 minutes into the stream for optimal stability.
What are TikTok LIVE Shopping Ads?
TikTok LIVE Shopping Ads is one of the three TikTok Shopping Ads solutions that help brands meet customers wherever they are in their purchasing journey, generating demand and increasing sales
TikTok LIVE Shopping Ads are specially made for sellers by streaming and selling their products simultaneously. As the sellers showcase a product, a pin of brief information shows up at the lower corner of the screen. Viewers can tap it to add the product to their cart and then check out within the app.
With the new solution, users can buy products online while seeing their real image and asking questions for sellers as if they are at the physical store. It appears to be a perfect combination between live video and TikTok e-commerce shopping.
Currently, TikTok advertising type is widely available in major markets including the UK, Southeast Asia, Europe, and is becoming a staple for e-commerce brands.
Note: You have to access TikTok Seller Center to use this feature.
Why use TikTok LIVE Shopping Ads?
The Live shopping experience is not a new thing. Many social media platforms have already added this feature till now. So why do we need to use this advertising type on TikTok?
Live commerce is not just a trend. It is the future of retail. TikTok LIVE Shopping Ads allow brands to humanize their marketing, creating an authentic connection that static images simply cannot match.
Here are the key reasons to invest in this format:
- Easily reach potential customers via Livestream: Livestreaming on TikTok allows for valuable interaction where users can see products clearly. The TikTok Ad algorithm ensures your stream reaches the right audiences based on their activities.
- Drive sales with massive engagement: TikTok ads often feel natural (advertising like no advertising). Your livestream appears with a simple “Sponsored” tag, maintaining the user experience while increasing coverage.
- Direct Interaction & Trust: Sellers can showcase multiple products, answer questions immediately, and solve customer problems in real-time. This instant gratification builds trust and accelerates the purchasing decision.
- Higher Conversion: As a video entertainment platform, TikTok’s immersive nature naturally drives higher conversion rates compared to static formats.
Real-World Success Story: How “Whitelab” tripled their ROAS
Theory is good, but results are better. Let’s look at Whitelab, a skincare brand that successfully leveraged Live Shopping Ads to engage their customers.
By switching from standard LIVEs to TikTok LIVE Shopping Ads and using a full-funnel strategy, Whitelab reached more than 3.4M users, increased GMV by over 58%, and achieved a >3.5x ROAS.
Key achievements included:
- Massive Reach: Recorded over 20M video views.
- Growth: Significant uplift in GMV compared to previous organic-only campaigns.
- Efficiency: Maintained a high average conversion rate of 3.1%.
>>> Read more: TikTok Video Shopping Ads: Boost User Shopping Experience
Who is TikTok LIVE Shopping Ads for?
Before launching your first campaign, it is crucial to determine if this format aligns with your business model. Specifically, it is designed for:
- Eligible Sellers: You must have an active TikTok Shop to use this feature. It is not for redirecting traffic to external websites.
- Target Audience: Advertisers can target users aged 18+ and use interest-based targeting to find viewers most likely to buy specific categories like Fashion, Beauty, Tech, etc.).
- Account Types: Available for both standard and Agency accounts, though Agency accounts get faster moderation and unlimited spend.
How to create TikTok LIVE Shopping Ads?
To create LIVE shopping ads on TikTok, the first and foremost thing is to integrate TikTok Shop. Once you have done with it, follow these four steps:
Step 1:
- Access TikTok Ads Manager and start a new campaign.
Step 2:
- Choose Shop Purchases as the Advertising Objective. Then complete the Campaign settings and click Continue.
Step 3:
- To set up your ad group, you must fill in these indexes carefully:
- Ad group name: Make it easy to remember and track
- Shop settings: Choose LIVE Shopping in the Promotion Type
- Targeting: Guarantee that your Age selection is set to 18+
- Budget and Schedule: For the Schedule, you must ensure to fill in the start and end date and time to match your LIVE session.
- Bidding and Optimization
Step 4:
- You will need to fill in all the details in the Ad name, Ad setup, and Ad details sections. Then, you can choose Standard Video or LIVE Video in the Ad Setup section.
- Standard Video: You choose any video to advertise. After users finish watching the video, TikTok will direct them to your Livestream.
- LIVE Video: TikTok will promote the Livestream and direct viewers to your Livestream. This ad type is also the format of choice for many advertisers.
- Complete the rest of the Ad settings. Then click Submit and wait for TikTok to moderate it.
Where do TikTok LIVE Shopping Ads appear?
- For You Feed (FYP): This is the primary and most powerful placement. Your livestream appears natively amidst organic content, reaching users who are scrolling for entertainment but have high purchase intent.
- Search Results: Your sponsored live session can also appear on the search results page when users look for keywords related to your products such as summer dress, lipstick, capturing high-intent traffic.
- On-Screen Elements: Unlike standard lives, these ads feature a Pinned Product Card at the bottom left and a Yellow Shopping Bag icon, turning the entertainment screen into an immediate point of sale.
When is the best time to run TikTok LIVE Shopping Ads?
Timing is critical. According to 2025 research from Sprout Social and Buffer, optimizing your broadcast schedule can significantly impact ROI.
- The Golden Time (7 pm – 10 pm Local Time): Data shows that late evenings generally see the highest engagement and conversion rates, as users are in “entertainment mode” after work.
- Mid-Week Peaks:
- Tuesday to Thursday: High engagement is often observed between 10 am – 11am and 6 pm – 10 pm.
- Lunch Breaks (11 am – 1 pm): Effective for impulse buys and grabbing people during breaks.
- Weekends: Sundays often perform exceptionally well for long-form livestreams and shopping events.
Pro Tip: While these represent global averages, every niche is different. Use TikTok Analytics to check when your specific followers are most active before scheduling your ads.
Tips for Optimizing TikTok LIVE Shopping Ads
Before running your first TikTok LIVE Shopping Ads, let’s take some notes to prepare for your first success.
Set up the campaign earlier than your Livestream
Every advertisement on TikTok will need to be reviewed before it can be distributed. Therefore, to help your LIVE Shopping Ads run smoothly, you should set the campaign earlier than when your streaming started.
Pro Tip: If you plan to live from 9 to 11 p.m, set your campaign up in the morning or noon to ensure the review process is complete.
Create fascinating and engaging Livestream content
Besides using ad tools, Livestream content also plays a vital role in attracting and retaining viewers. Here are some suggestions to help you build captivated Livestream content:
- The entertainment element is becoming the core of commerce. So create excellent content, and make viewers happy and excited before advertising products/services.
- Content should interact with viewers: positive, provocative questions and answers to all of the viewer’s problems. Everything you do needs to show respect and provide value for your viewers, which will help to increase brand trust.
- Products: Show viewers every angle of your product. Therefore helping to grow the authenticity. It also enables viewers to feel more confident about their purchasing decisions.
The entertainment element is becoming the core of commerce. Create excellent content, and make viewers happy and excited before advertising products.
Leverage GMV Max Bidding
Instead of manual bidding, use GMV Max, TikTok’s automated smart bidding strategy. It optimizes traffic across paid, organic, and affiliate channels to maximize total Gross Merchandise Value (GMV).
- Automation: It analyzes real-time data to serve ads to users most likely to spend more, reducing the “learning phase.”
- Proven Impact: According to TikTok for Business internal data, advertisers using GMV Max in initial tests reported an average 30% uplift in GMV compared to standard campaigns.
Reduce ad restrictions by using the TikTok Agency Account
TikTok Live Shopping Ads is available for all account types. However, the TikTok Agency ad account will be much more powerful and receive exclusive advantages, such as:
- No geo-restricted ads
- Fast ad moderation time
- Accelerate viewers to Livestream
- Drive sales growth
- Get advice from TikTok Agency – Mega Digital
>>> Read more: TikTok Catalog Listing Ads: Advertise all your products at once
FAQs
It is recommended to start with at least $50-$100 per live session to give the learning phase enough data to optimize.
No, LIVE Shopping Ads are specifically designed to drive traffic to TikTok Shop products.
To maximize ad performance, aim to stream for at least 60 to 90 minutes. The algorithm needs time to “learn” and identify the best audience for your products. Shorter sessions often end before the ad campaign has fully optimized, leading to wasted budget.
Success comes from “Shoppertainment”, blending sales with entertainment. Instead of just pushing products, focus on keeping viewers engaged through Q&A stickers, flash giveaways, and influencer collaborations. Ensure your video and audio quality are professional, and focus on showcasing new arrivals dynamically rather than just reading a script.
Final Word
In conclusion, TikTok’s Live Shopping ads stand out as an exceptional tool for businesses and sellers, particularly those with a multichannel sales approach. The innovative e-commerce advertising solutions offered by TikTok prove to be both pragmatic and highly efficient.
Ready to scale your TikTok Shop revenue? Contact Mega Digital today to set up your Agency Account and unlock exclusive ad features without restrictions!
