New entrants to the TikTok Japan market who've just set up their shops-don't rush to stock up in bulk yet!Product testing is an indispensable key step: Choosing the right products yields twice the result with half the effort; blind stockpiling leads to financial losses.
In the TikTok Japan market, there are currently two common product testing methods: product card testingand short video testing. Used in combination, these two approaches often deliver higher efficiency. Let's break them down one by one.
01
Product Card Testing: Rapidly Screening Potential Bestsellers
What is product card testing?
Put simply, it involves listing products in your TikTok Shop and generating orders through the platform's organic search traffic.
Why is product card testing suitable at this time?
Product card traffic is currently in a "platform dividend phase"-TikTok Shop has just launched in Japan, and the platform urgently needs more merchants to join. But think about it: Among the five major traffic channels (short videos, live streams, influencer collaborations, paid ads, and product cards), which has the lowest barrier to entry? Product cards, of course. Merchants only need to know how to list products. For this reason, the platform will definitely allocate significant traffic to product cards in the early stage to attract more merchants.
How to implement this?
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List products in bulk: Strictly speaking, this stage is not "product selection" but "product screening." Flood the market with listings first, and let Japanese consumers vote with their wallets to choose products they like and need.
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Monitor data: Focus on organic order volume to filter out potential bestsellers with decent sales.
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Pivot in a timely manner: Product card traffic will gradually decline. Once a product shows potential to become a bestseller, immediately shift to short video channels to sustain and amplify its momentum (this is also a great opportunity to build content capabilities).
Note: Product card testing is like a "mass screening"-it helps you quickly identify potential bestsellers, but to truly turn a product into a viral hit, you still need to leverage short videos.
02
Short Video Testing: The Core Traffic Channel of Interest E-Commerce
TikTok is inherently an interest-based e-commerce platform where users are accustomed to shopping by scrolling through videos. The majority of TikTok orders still come from short video channels.
Two approaches to short video testing:
1.
Create your own videos: Low cost but requires basic content creation skills.
2.
Collaborate with influencers: Delivers quick results, suitable for sellers with ample budgets.
How to increase the success rate of short video product testing?
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Prioritize potential bestsellers: Start with products identified through product card testing.
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Highlight core selling points: Emphasize the product's unique features (note that Japanese consumers place great emphasis on details and quality).
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Test video styles: Experiment with different video formats to find the highest-converting template.
Remember: Never stock up in bulk on untested products!This approach not only reduces risks but also increases the likelihood of creating bestsellers.
