TikTok Shop Launches New Round of Merchant Incentives in European and Japanese Markets via Invitation-Only 'Ecosystem Partners' Targeting Specific Sellers

[Ebrun Original] On January 29th, TikTok Shop's cross-border e-commerce division officially announced the launch of its "TikTok Shop Europe & Japan Cross-Border POP Ecosystem Partner" recruitment drive for the first quarter of 2026. The initiative aims to onboard third-party organizations with merchant resources and service capabilities to assist the platform in recruiting qualified cross-border sellers and brands in the European and Japanese markets through targeted invitations.

These "Ecosystem Partners" function as TSP (TikTok Shop Partner) merchant acquisition service providers within the platform's recruitment system, primarily responsible for providing onboarding channels and services for TikTok Shop sellers and brands.

In this recruitment plan, TikTok Shop expressed its intention to attract more high-quality merchant acquisition service providers to participate as ecosystem partners in merchant onboarding and preliminary support services. The platform stated it will provide corresponding recruitment and operational support incentives to certified service providers to enhance their engagement and sustained investment in platform recruitment efforts.

This model aims to help more promising cross-border sellers efficiently enter TikTok Shop's EU and Japanese markets, while leveraging the professional expertise of service providers in areas such as compliance, logistics, and operations to offer sellers more diversified and systematic support services.

Regarding the scope of recruitment, TikTok Shop has not imposed overly restrictive criteria on the types of ecosystem partners. Any service organization with resources in cross-border or domestic trade merchants is eligible to participate, including entities in payments, compliance, logistics, advertising agencies, operational agencies, ERP systems, training institutions, industry media, KOL agencies, and overseas warehouses, among others.

In terms of incentives, TikTok Shop has established clear monetary incentive rules for this round of ecosystem partner recruitment.

Generally, service providers can receive up to RMB 2,000 for each successfully recruited merchant, but incentives are not cumulative. Even if the same targeted seller or brand opens multiple stores, only the first certified store-opening entity qualifies for the incentive.

The platform has set stringent qualification criteria. For a "targeted seller," the merchant must be on the platform's designated target merchant list and pass review; complete onboarding in Q1 2026 and achieve sales within 30 days, with a settled GMV exceeding RMB 1,000; maintain inventory in four European countries during the quarter; and keep the store in normal operational status (not closed or in the process of closing). Additionally, invited sellers must use the service provider's exclusive onboarding link to open their stores.

If all the above conditions are met, the service provider can receive an incentive of RMB 2,000 per merchant.

The incentive policy applies from January 1 to March 31, 2026, covering the entire first quarter.

From a risk control perspective, TikTok Shop has also established clear penalties and verification mechanisms. If merchants introduced by a service provider in the quarter trigger "high governance risks," the operational support incentives for that quarter will be disbursed at a discounted rate.

The platform defines "high-risk stores" as those penalized and closed by the system for violating TikTok Shop's operational rules, such as involvement in prohibited or restricted goods, counterfeit products, breaching risk control red lines, or fraudulent fulfillment.

Furthermore, the platform reserves the right to conduct post-incentive verification. If service providers are found engaging in cheating, fraud, violations, or introducing merchants with severe governance risks, TikTok Shop may withhold incentives or even terminate partnerships with the involved service providers.

Final incentive amounts will be determined based on the platform's statistics and calculations. The platform may also unilaterally terminate cooperation with service providers showing significant delays in recruitment progress, poor execution results, or practices like random link registrations.

Overall, by delegating targeted merchant invitations to ecosystem partners and pairing them with clear incentives and constraints, TikTok Shop is attempting to build a more controllable and efficient platform recruitment system for its cross-border markets in Europe and Japan. This model accelerates the platform's merchant acquisition pace while imposing higher demands on service providers' compliance awareness, merchant screening capabilities, and ongoing service support.

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