Documents to have ready before you start
You need one of a Companies House registration certificate, a sole trader confirmation or a partnership agreement. Add a passport or driving licence for the legal representative, a bank statement or bank letter in the business name and your VAT certificate. Mismatched names between documents are the single biggest cause of rejection.
The business name on your bank account must match the registered entity exactly. A trading name on the bank account and a limited company name on Companies House will fail. If you trade under a different brand, register the brand as the shop name and keep the legal entity in the verification fields.
The setup steps people skip
Shipping templates come first. Set your dispatch window honestly at one or two working days, because late dispatch is scored from the moment the order lands. Then connect a carrier that gives TikTok tracking updates. Royal Mail, Evri and Yodel all integrate through the pre-paid label flow.
Then link the shop to the TikTok account that will actually post. A shop attached to a dormant profile with no content gets no traffic. Add the Shop tab to the profile, publish product showcase videos and turn on the affiliate plan before you spend anything on ads.
Connecting an existing Shopify or WooCommerce catalogue
The TikTok Shop app for Shopify syncs products, inventory and orders. It is the cleanest route if you already run a store, because stock stays in one place and orders route to your existing pick and pack process. Sync is close to real time on inventory.
Do not sync the whole catalogue. TikTok Shop rewards a tight range with strong hero products. Push 10 to 30 SKUs, write TikTok specific titles and shoot vertical images, then expand once one product is selling daily. A 400 SKU dump buries everything.