TikTok Shop is transforming the way emerging fashion brands reach their customers
I'll tell you something that happened a few months ago in our style office, because I think it will open your eyes exactly as it opened mine.
Let me give you a concrete example: with My Scarf in a Box - my brand of scarves Made in Italy, handmade, mid-price - for months we invested in classic Meta campaigns. Do you know how that went? Increasingly high customer acquisition costs, shrinking margins, and that frustrating feeling of having to spend more and more to get less and less. The exact same script I see repeated with dozens of emerging brands every year in our style department.
Then we started testing something different. No advertising budget. Just the phone, the product and authentic content: showing the scarf, the quality of the fabric, how you wear it, how you match it. Simple, real, 15-20 second videos, with the product tagged on TikTok Shop.
The difference? Explosive organic visibility, zero-cost product clicks, and conversions that required significant budgets with traditional campaigns. All within the app. Without landing pages. No complicated funnels. No abandoned shopping carts.
Now, let me ask you: how would you react if you found out that a single video shot with your phone could achieve results that used to take weeks of paid campaigns?
This is not a lucky exception. It is what is happening systematically at TikTok Shop in Italy right now. And it's not just happening to me: brands like Label Rose, NewMartina, ShaftJeans are already riding this wave. If you are a fashion brand, an artisan, an up-and-coming designer, and you are not paying attention, you need to know one thing: your competitors are already getting into it.
If it is the first article you read, welcome to Be A Designer: the home of emerging designers. I am Corrado Manenti, Brand Designer and founder of the first independent style office in Italy specialised in supporting those who want to create their own fashion brand. For over 14 years I have been accompanying aspiring and emerging stylists and designers from the first sketch to market launch - to date we have launched over 200 brands.
In this article you will not find the usual copy-paste technical guide. I will give you a real written advice, the same as if you were sitting opposite me in our style office. I will explain why TikTok Shop is the most significant change for fashion since the launch of e-commerce, what it actually changes in your sales strategy, how to integrate it with the Be A Designer method, and above all what you risk if you decide to "wait and see".
So read on, because this is where your journey begins.
The Real Problem: You're Fighting a Lost War (and You Don't Know It)
Before I talk about TikTok Shop, I have to tell you an uncomfortable truth. One of those things I tell my customers by looking them in the eye, and they often don't want to hear it.
Most emerging fashion brands are playing a rigged game. And they don't know it.
It works like this: you create your brand, you design your collection, you open an e-commerce. So far, so good. Then you discover the reality: your beautiful website is like a shop at the end of a cul-de-sac, in a city where nobody knows you exist. And then the battle for traffic begins.
You pay Meta (Facebook and Instagram) to show you to people. You pay Google to appear when someone searches. Each click costs you from 0,50€ a 2€. Of those clicks, if it goes well, 2-3% buy something. Do a quick calculation: to sell an 80€ item, you risk spending 40-60€ just to bring a single buyer to your site. And the margins? Evaporated.
But the real problem is not just the cost of clicks. The problem is what happens to that person between the click and the purchase.
The Hell of Distractions: Why Your E-Commerce Loses Customers Every Second
Imagine the scene. A person sees your ad on Instagram. She likes it. She clicks. The browser opens, your site starts loading. In those 3 seconds of loading, a WhatsApp notification arrives. She opens it, replies, goes back to the site. She browses a bit, finds the product, puts it in the cart. But then a push notification arrives - and guess who from? From TikTok. "Watch this video you might like". Opens TikTok. Starts scrolling. And completely forgets about your shopping cart.
This scene happens thousands of times a day. It's not that they don't like your product. It's not that your site is ugly. It's that you are fighting against the most sophisticated machines ever created to capture human attention. TikTok, Instagram, YouTube - these platforms invest billions every year in attention engineering. Their only goal is to keep you inside. And they damn well succeed at it.
And you, with your e-commerce, are trying to rip people out of those ecosystems and bring them into an environment that they don't know, that hasn't earned their trust, and where they have to fill out forms and enter payment details. It's like trying to convince someone to leave a fantastic party and go to an empty shop on the other side of town.
Do you understand the problem? You are not losing because your product is not good. You are losing because you are playing away, on a field that is not your own, against opponents with infinite resources.
What if you could open your shop inside the party?
Here is where everything changes. Here is the question you should ask yourself:
What if, instead of trying to get people outside TikTok to buy from you, you could sell directly INSIDE TikTok?
Think about what that means. 23.9 million Italians spend an average of 58 minutes a day on TikTok. Almost an hour. They are there, mesmerised, in a state of mind of discovery, curiosity, emotional openness. They are already looking at content. They are already scrolling. And they are already developing trust in the creators they follow.
Until yesterday, that huge flow of attention was commercially "dead" to you. People were watching, they were having fun, they were leaving the app. All that engagement, all that trust, wasn't translating into direct sales.
TikTok Shop closed that circle. Now, within that same hypnotic flow, in 3 taps a person can buy your product without leaving the app. No redirect to an external site. No checkout page to fill out. No distractions. No abandoned shopping carts.
The moment of utmost attention - when the viewer is emotionally engaged by the content of a creator they esteem and trust - coincides exactly with the moment of purchase. It is as if the fitting room, the advice of the trusted friend and the checkout are all in the same instant. No more "I'll buy tomorrow". No more "I'll sign it up". I see, I get excited, I buy. The end.
All the effort you put into getting people to your e-commerce - the ads, the retargeting, the cart retrieval emails, the optimised landing pages - on TikTok Shop simply isn't needed. The traffic is already there. The attention is already there. The trust in the creator is already there. You just need to get your product into that flow, the right way.
And the results confirm this logic: conversion rates on TikTok Shop are 20% higher than in traditional funnels. Not because the product is better. Because friction has been eliminated.
You pay to take people off the platforms → they land on your site → distractions → cart abandoned → money burnt
Cart abandonment rate: 70%+
People are ALREADY on the platform → they see your product → they buy in 3 taps → zero redirects → zero distractions
Conversions +20% vs. traditional funnels
The purchase path at TikTok Shop eliminates any friction between discovery and payment
The Golden Window of 2026: Why TikTok is Giving Visibility (and For How Much)
If what I have explained so far has not yet convinced you, this section should. Because there is an aspect of TikTok Shop that hardly anyone is analysing in depth in Italy, and which radically changes the cost-benefit calculation for an emerging brand.
The Pattern That Repeats Every Time (and Which the Clever Exploit)
I have been in this business long enough to have seen a pattern repeat itself with almost mechanical precision every time a major digital platform launches a new product:
The platform invests billions to make the new product work. The algorithm is "pumped up" to reward adopters. The organic content of early adopters receives free distribution comparable to paid campaigns.
More and more users are entering. Organic visibility is still very high but starting to decrease. Those who entered early have already built community and credibility.
The channel matures. Organic visibility collapses. To achieve the same results you have to pay. Those who arrived late pay full price. Those who were there from the beginning have an almost unbridgeable competitive advantage.
It happened with Instagram Stories in 2017. It happened with Reels in 2020. It happened with YouTube Shorts. It happens every single time. And guess what? It is happening now with TikTok Shop in Italy.
TikTok Is Investing Billions to Make Shops Work in Europe
TikTok launched Shop in Italy on 31 March 2025. We are less than a year away from the launch. The platform is actively investing huge resources to grow the European ecosystem: bonuses for sellers who sign up, promotional commissions for creators, and above all the algorithm that rewards shoppable content.
What does it mean to you concretely? It means that your organic content, the content you publish for free, is distributed by the algorithm as if it were paid content. TikTok has every interest in showing that its marketplace works. Every sale generated on TikTok Shop is proof of concept that the company can bring to its investors. So it rewards content that generates transactions, giving them visibility that you would normally have to buy.
🔑 Let me translate this into practical terms: you are getting free distribution that in 12-18 months you will have to pay for. Every shoppable video you publish today reaches an audience that in a year's time would require a significant advertising budget. Every follower you acquire now is a follower that will cost you double or triple when the platform becomes more crowded.
This is a train you cannot afford to leave on the track. Not because TikTok Shop is the only sales channel that matters (it isn't), but because the window in which you can build your presence at almost no cost is closing. Those who enter now play with favourable rules. Those who wait "to see how it goes" will enter when those rules are changed.
The Invisible War that Will Change the Way You Sell Fashion Forever
Now I will tell you something that no article on TikTok Shop in Italy is telling. And which I think is the key to understanding not only what is happening now, but where it is all going.
TikTok Shop is not an isolated phenomenon. It is the first visible sign of a war between the tech giants for control of people's purchasing flow. A war that will completely reshape online commerce in the next 3-5 years. And if you have a brand with real products to sell, this is the most exciting - and the most critical - time to figure out how to move.
AI Is Polarising Purchase Paths
Think about what is happening. Until yesterday, the online purchase path was more or less linear: the customer would Google, land on a site, browse, buy. You could intercept him at various points along that path: SEO, ads, email marketing. You had some control.
Now artificial intelligence is breaking that path into many separate streams, each controlled by a different platform. And each of these platforms wants the same thing: keep the person inside their ecosystem from start to finish, from discovery to payment. They want to own the whole flow.
Look at what is actually happening:
Do you understand the picture? Every platform that has attention is building its own sales channel. They no longer want to give you traffic for you to bring to your site. They want the transaction to happen in-house. McKinsey estimates that this AI-driven commerce market will reach 3-5 trillion by 2030.
Why TikTok Shop Wins in Fashion (And Amazon Doesn't)
In this scenario, TikTok Shop has a unique advantage in the fashion world. An advantage that Amazon, despite its logistical power, has never managed to build.
Amazon is a perfect machine for selling commodity products: search, compare, buy at the lowest price. But fashion doesn't work like that. Fashion is emotion, identity, inspiration. On Amazon, a dress is a picture on a white background with a list of features. On TikTok Shop, that dress is worn by a real person, in a real context, told with authenticity by someone the viewer trusts.
And this is where the genius of the TikTok Shop model emerges: shoppable video is halfway between UGC (User Generated Content) and affiliate marketing. These are ordinary people - not agencies, not film productions - who create credible content because they live the platform. They don't recite an advertising script. They use the product, they show it, they say what they think about it. And because their content is indistinguishable from other content in the feed, the consumer's defences drop. You don't perceive that you are in a sales situation. You perceive that you are getting advice from someone like you.
That is why for fashion TikTok Shop is more powerful than Amazon, and why it will always be more powerful: because fashion is sold with emotion and confidence, not with data sheets and price comparisons.
The Chinese Model: The Future Is Already Written
If you want to understand where the Italian market is going, look at China. Because what is already the norm in China comes to us 2-3 years late.
In China, live shopping is a mature industry that generates hundreds of billions of dollars a year. There are physical shops where shop assistants, at times when there are no customers, get in front of the phone and do live shopping to sell online. The shop windows turn into recording studios. Every salesperson is also a creator. It is a completely new model of commerce where the distinction between physical and digital shops simply no longer exists.
This is the future that is also coming to Italy. And TikTok Shop is the vehicle that is bringing it.
Why This Is the Most Extraordinary Moment for a Real Brand
Stop for a second and look at the picture from above. All these platforms - TikTok, OpenAI, Google, Amazon, Microsoft - have the same thing: people's attention and time. Billions of hours of human attention captured every day. But attention and time don't pay the bills. They have to monetise.
And how do they monetise? They have no products of their own to sell. They need your products. They need sellers to make their catalogue available so that those platforms can turn attention into transactions.
Do you understand what that means? On the one hand, platforms have huge audiences that they want to monetise. On the other, sellers like you have real products but increasingly expensive, complicated and less effective online sales systems. TikTok Shop, ChatGPT Instant Checkout, Google AI Commerce - they are all bridges between these two realities.
And since each of these platforms is launching its commercial service now, they are all doing the same thing: give visibility to the first sellers who enter. Exactly as an influencer does when launching a new product: he gives away samples, offers discounts, creates hype. These platforms are "giving away" organic distribution to brands that adopt their sales tools, because they need to prove that the system works.
💡 For those who have a brand with real products to sell, this is the most extraordinary moment in the last 15 years. Not because it is easy - it never is - but because the barriers of entry to powerful sales channels are temporarily lowered. Every platform wants to penetrate the market and is creating windows of opportunity that will not last forever.
The Strategic Truth: Sales Will Control Who Generates Them
I must also tell you the uncomfortable part of this story, because I would be a bad counsellor if I only painted you the rosy picture.
The long-term trend is clear: those who control the conversation leading up to the sale will increasingly control the sale. That is, the algorithm. The creators on TikTok Shop, the AI agents on ChatGPT, the results on Google AI Mode - these are all tools the platform needs to monetise. Today they are giving you visibility because they need you to launch the service. Tomorrow, when the service is mature, the rules will change.
The platforms that own the traffic are becoming increasingly closed ecosystems. They don't want people to get out. They don't want to give you room to manoeuvre. You, with your e-commerce, have less and less control over the acquisition flow.
So what? So you have to be strategic. And this is exactly where the Be A Designer method comes in. Here is the strategy:
- Use TikTok Shop (and tomorrow ChatGPT, Google AI) as a source of entry to your brand. These are powerful and currently low-cost acquisition channels. Make the most of them.
- But build your community outside the platforms. The customer relationship must be yours, not TikTok's. Reserved area, newsletter, exclusive WhatsApp group, loyalty programme.
- In the physical packaging, insert registration material. QR code for the reserved area, invitation to the private community, access to exclusive content. Every package sent is an opportunity to create a direct connection.
- It creates an attachment to the brand that platforms cannot possess. Exclusive products for community members. Early access to new collections. Reserved content. Experiences. Things that you don't buy at TikTok Shop but that you experience by belonging to the brand.
- Work on loyalty and retention. The first purchase happens on TikTok Shop. The second, third and fifth take place in your proprietary ecosystem, where the margins are yours and the relationship is direct.
⚠️ This is the complete vision. Not "just use TikTok Shop". But: use every new window of opportunity to acquire customers at low cost, and then bring those customers into an ecosystem that you control. Because platforms come and go, algorithms change, but a brand with a loyal community survives anything.
The Numbers You Need to Know: TikTok Shop in 2026, Italy and World
As I always tell my customers: numbers don't lie, opinions do. Here is the updated picture.
Global Scenario
Scenario Italy
Italians' Buying Behaviour on TikTok
This is the kind of data that should get you out of your chair:
These are not numbers of start-ups in the testing phase. They are numbers of an ecosystem that has already reached critical mass. And Italy, with its visual culture, passion for fashion and high social penetration, is the ideal terrain.
"TikTok Is for Kids": The Most Dangerous Myth for Your Brand
Every single time I present this data to a fashion brand, there is someone who says: "But Corrado, my target audience is not on TikTok. It's teenage stuff".
I hear this so often that I decided to dismantle this objection once and for all. Because it is an objection that sounds reasonable but, data in hand, is the most expensive excuse you can tell yourself.
Fact 1: Yes, the 18-34 bracket is the heart of the user base. But the platform is rapidly conquering wider age groups. It is on the exact same path as Facebook (born for university students, now used by grandparents) and Instagram (born for young people, now populated by the over-40s). TikTok is on the same trajectory, only faster. If your target audience is 35-50 years old, they are probably already on TikTok. He simply won't tell you because he's a bit ashamed.
Fact number 2, and this is what really counts: the 18-34 bracket is forming now their own brand preferences. These are the customers of tomorrow, the customers of the day after tomorrow, the customers of the next 30 years for any fashion brand. 75% of Italian users recognise TikTok as the place where trends are born. What is viral today on TikTok, tomorrow is the customer's request when they enter the shop.
Ignoring TikTok Shop today means not exist in the minds of the next generation of consumers. And as a fashion entrepreneur, you cannot afford to think only about the customers you have today. You have to build the relationship with the ones you will have tomorrow.
Fact number 3: you don't need your brand to be "kids" to sell on TikTok. Trends such as quiet luxury, sustainable fashion, vintage curated and capsule Made in Italy perform well on the platform. Storytelling about quality, craftsmanship, handmade details - everything that makes Made in Italy unique - is exactly the kind of content that generates real engagement and sales. TikTok rewards authenticity. And what could be more authentic than a craftsman working with leather in his workshop?
Discovery Commerce: The Model that Reverses Everything You Know about E-commerce
Behind the scenes of Made in Italy is the most powerful content on TikTok Shop
I must insist on this concept because it is at the heart of everything, and it is what most articles out there do not explain in depth.
In traditional e-commerce - your site, Amazon, Zalando - the model is: the customer already knows what he wants. He searches, he compares, he buys. You compete against thousands of other brands in a grid of results. Whoever has the lowest price, the most reviews, or the highest advertising budget wins. For an emerging brand, it is almost always a losing game.
TikTok Shop operates with a completely different model: the discovery commerce. The user is not looking for anything. He is scrolling for entertainment. And in the middle of that stream of entertainment, he encounters your product. He is not looking for it: he discovers it. And he discovers it in the best possible context - told by a creator he trusts, shown in real use, with the possibility of buying it immediately.
The psychological difference is enormous. When you search for a product on Amazon, you are in analytical mode: you compare, you evaluate, you rationalise. When you discover a product on TikTok, you are in emotional modeYou are involved, you trust, you want that product before you even think about it rationally.
For an emerging fashion brand, this is a game changer. You no longer have to compete on price or budget. You have to compete on history, authenticity and quality of content. And guess what? These are exactly the things in which an Italian craft brand naturally excels.
Made in Italy at TikTok Shop: A Competitive Advantage No One Is Telling You About
This is the point I want to emphasise more than any other, because it is the main reason why I wrote this article.
Look what's happening: most of the sellers on TikTok Shop offer mass market products, often imported, with razor-thin margins. Fast fashion, gadgets, accessories for a few euros. They compete on price and volume. It's a race to the bottom.
But on TikTok the person with the lowest price does not win. The one with the most compelling story wins. And you, as a Made in Italy brand, have a story that the 99% of salesmen on TikTok Shop cannot even dream of telling.
Imagine the scene. The user is scrolling through the feed. He sees a video: expert hands cutting leather in a Tuscan workshop. Hand stitching, stitch after stitch. The fabric personally selected in a factory in the Como area. The finished product, worn. And below: "Buy now". That video keeps you glued to the screen because it is real, because it is human, because it tells a story that has value. The algorithm recognises it and distributes it.
Think also about positioning: while everyone competes on fast fashion, you come in with a different, valuable, authentic proposition. And on a platform where authenticity is the currency that counts, you are ahead before you even start.
How TikTok Shop Works in Practice: The 4 Sales Modes
Now that you understand the why, let's move on to the how. TikTok Shop offers four complementary sales channels. I analyse them one by one with the eye of someone who has to make them work for a fashion brand.
1. Shoppable Video: The Showcase in the Feed
Video in the "For You" feed with integrated buy links. You create content that shows your product - styling, behind the scenes, unboxing - and the viewer touches the product tag and buys in 3 taps. Ideal format: vertical, under 30 seconds, hook in the first 3 seconds, clear demonstration. Minimum frequency: 3-4 videos per week.
2. Live Shopping: The Digital Assisted Sale
Live shows where you show and sell in real time. The viewer sees the garment being worn, asks questions, gets answers, and buys during the live show. For fashion it is extraordinary: you show how the fabric falls, how it fits, the details. It is the closest format to the boutique experience.
3. Product Showcase: Your Mini E-commerce on TikTok
A section in your profile where you can browse the complete catalogue and buy. Your shop inside TikTok, open 24/7. Organise by collection, edit images, insert size guides.
4. Creator Affiliation Programme: The Secret Weapon
This is the heart of the model. You upload products and set a commission (5-20%). The creators promote them in their videos and earn money on each sale. You only pay when you sell. Zero risk, maximum potential. The TikTok commission is 5% per transaction (VAT included), plus the creator commission. Micro-creators (5K-50K followers) often convert better than large influencers.
The Complete Strategy: The Be A Designer Method Applied to TikTok Shop
And here we are at the point where I do my job. Because the truth I see every day in our style office is this: the most common mistake is to open TikTok Shop without a strategy. They upload products, post two videos, nothing happens. As a saying I love to repeat goes: a goal without a plan is just a wish. Here is the plan.
Brand Code - Your Identity First
The first rule of the BAD (Be A Designer) method: define who you are before selling. On TikTok, where attention is volatile, a clear identity is even more critical. Use the Fashion Business Designer Canvas™ to map your brand: buyer persona, value proposition, positioning, values. Imagine it as a visual map connecting every aspect of the business. Without this base, you will create generic content that the algorithm will ignore.
Hero Products with Collection Pyramid™
Do not load the entire catalogue. Select 5-10 products with strong visual impact, affordable price (under 100€, ideal 20-50€ for impulse), constant stock, and margins that support commission. If you know the Pyramid™ Collection, are the products at the base: the ones that generate the first purchase and lead the customer to discover the rest. Your Trojan horse.
Content that sells without appearing to advertise
As I write in "The Designer's Journey": advertising says "Look at me!", content marketing says "I understand you". Content that converts on TikTok is authentic, fast, real. Winning formats: Stylist's Day in the Life, Behind the Scenes of Made in Italy production, Outfit Check and Styling Tips, Brand Storytelling, Customer UGC. Rule 2026: create several variants of the same concept (alternative hooks, different durations), let the algorithm select the top performers, and scale those.
Creator Programme
Activate affiliation from the Seller Centre. Competitive commissions (10-15% for fashion). Start with micro-creator in target with your buyer persona. Communicate your Brand Essence so that the tone is consistent. Monitor performance and focus resources on top performers. Remember: Choosing the right creators is like choosing the right shops for distribution.
Live Strategic Shopping
Schedule regular live shows as a fixed appointment. Promote the day before. Open with the bestseller in the first few minutes (the algorithm immediately assesses quality). Tag products when you are showing them. Create urgency with live-only discounts. Constantly interact with commentators.
Technical Setup
You need: Italian VAT number, company documentation, IBAN, TikTok for Business account. Registration at TikTok Seller Center (seller.tiktokglobalshop.com), KYC check in 2-3 days, catalogue upload. If you have Shopify, direct synchronisation. Specific plugins exist for WooCommerce and PrestaShop. No need for minimum followers. A VAT number is enough.
Analysis and Scaling
The metrics that matter: conversion rate, GMV per video, creator performance, top products, customer retention (the 72% returns). Not vanity metrics. Companies that integrate AI analysis into their processes grow 2-4 times faster. Identify top performers and scale.
TikTok Shop Doesn't Replace Your E-Commerce: It Makes It Your Loyalty System
In light of everything I have explained to you about the platform war, this point becomes even more strategic.
TikTok Shop is your acquisition channel. Your e-commerce and your community are your fortress. The first brings new customers. The second turns them into loyal customers over whom no algorithm has power.
Here is how to structure the ecosystem, applying the concept of phigital which I elaborate on in "The Designer's Journey":
- TikTok Shop (and tomorrow ChatGPT, Google AI): discovery and first purchase with hero products. Very low acquisition cost at this stage
- Proprietary e-commerce: full collections, premium products, member-only offers. Full margins, direct relationship
- Private community (WhatsApp, Telegram, private area): early access to new collections, exclusive content, sense of belonging
- Packaging as a bridge: each physical package contains a QR code for registration to the reserved area, an invitation to the community, a reason to return
- Instagram for the lookbook, TikTok for authenticity: each platform has a specific role in the strategy
- Pop-up stores and fairs for the physical touch: essential for premium garments and creating memorable experiences
🔑 The golden rule: acquire on platform channels, build loyalty in your ecosystem. Because platforms change rules, algorithms evolve, costs increase. But a brand with a loyal community and a direct relationship with its customers survives any algorithm change.
As I write in "Do you also want to be a designer?": when you are not selling directly, your products have to do the marketing for you. Every touch point - from the QR code in the packaging to your proprietary hashtag - is a bridge that takes the customer from TikTok Shop to the heart of your brand, where the relationship is yours and nobody else's.
The 7 Fatal Brand Mistakes on TikTok Shop (and How to Avoid Them)
After 14 years in the industry, I recognise mistakes before they are made. Here they are:
- Open without brand identity. Without Brand Code, you create generic content that dies in hours. First the Canvas, then the Shop.
- Creating commercials. Glossy content is ignored. A video from the phone in the lab performs better than a 5,000€ commercial. Authenticity beats perfection.
- Ignore affiliation. Without creators you are a shop in a dead end. The affiliate programme is your sales force at zero upfront cost.
- Do not reply to comments. Comments are your assisted selling. Buying often starts there.
- Poor product sheets. Blurry photos and vague descriptions kill conversion. The purchase is impulse but the info must be impeccable.
- Slow shipments. Expectations on TikTok are very high. It communicates times and returns clearly.
- "Waiting to see how it goes". While you wait, the golden window of the algorithm closes and competitors build an unbridgeable lead.
Frequently Asked Questions: TikTok Shop for Fashion Brands in Italy
Free registration. TikTok retains 5% on each sale (including VAT). Plus creator commission (5-15%) and shipping costs.
No. Zero minimum followers for sellers. The algorithm rewards quality of content, not account size.
Yes. Quiet luxury, sustainable fashion and Made in Italy capsules perform very well. Use TikTok Shop for entry-level products and build brand awareness for premium items.
Yes. But for a structured brand I always recommend a proprietary site as a hub. TikTok Shop is the acquisition channel, the site is the home of the brand.
With strategy and consistency (3-4 videos/week), results in 2-4 weeks. Significant growth within 90 days.
Value affinity, quality of content, involved community. Start with micro-creators to test. Use the TikTok Creator Marketplace.
Ads bring traffic to your external site (with friction). TikTok Shop eliminates the steps. Affiliation generates sales at zero upfront cost - you only pay on results.
Absolutely. Our turnkey service includes brand identity, content strategy, product selection, technical setup and creator programme activation with the BAD method and the Fashion Business Designer Canvas™.
Your Brand Deserves to be Discovered: Now is the Time to Act
If you have come this far, you are serious. And that already makes me optimistic for your future.
Let me close with the same sincerity I use when a designer sits opposite me in our style office:
Creating a REAL fashion brand from scratch on your own in Italy, without concrete help, is practically impossible. I have been writing this for years and continue to believe it. But what has changed is the landscape of instruments. TikTok Shop is the most powerful that has emerged for emerging brands since the launch of e-commerce. It is not a passing fad: it is a structural change in the way people discover and buy fashion.
Those who start now have the advantage of positioning themselves earlier, experimenting when the cost is zero, and building a community when the algorithm is on their side. In six months, this window will be much narrower. A year from now, you might regret not having started today.
If you don't know where to start or would like to evaluate together with a team of experts the most suitable solution for your project, book a consultation with Be A Designer. Together we will analyse your brand, your products and your situation to define a tailor-made TikTok Shop strategy, integrated in the BAD method.
Will 2026 be the right year to bring your project to life? Schedule a free consultation with me and evaluate the future of your brand together.
➡️ Subscribe to the Be A Designer newsletter to receive weekly updates on TikTok Shop, new social commerce platforms, emerging brand strategies and invitations to our exclusive events. In a market that changes so fast, staying informed is not a luxury: it is a competitive necessity.
If you want a practical guide to accompany you from the first sketch to the launch, discover my books "Do you also want to be a designer?" e "The Designer's Journey"the two volumes that translate the Be A Designer approach into a comprehensive operational method.
Our adventure starts here, ready to make a difference?
Good luck!
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Corrado Manenti - Brand Designer, Author and Founder of Be A Designer
For over 14 years I have been accompanying emerging fashion designers in the journey from the first sketch to market launch. Author of "Do you want to be a fashion designer too?" and "The Fashion Designer's Journey". Creator of the Fashion Business Designer Canvas™ and the BAD method. Launched over 200 brands.
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