TikTok Shop Southeast Asia Launches 'Business Partner' Program: Encouraging Service Providers to Participate in New Merchant Recruitment and Incubation

[Ebrun Exclusive] On January 29th, TikTok Shop Southeast Asia Cross-border officially announced the launch of its 2026 'Business Partner Program'. The program will be implemented starting January 2026, aiming to encourage ecosystem service providers to deeply participate in new merchant recruitment and business incubation by enhancing recruitment incentives and operational support. This initiative seeks to further improve the cross-border e-commerce ecosystem and help new merchants achieve stable initial sales volume and long-term operation.

According to the official disclosure, the 'Business Partner Program' is open to high-quality merchant recruitment service providers with merchant resources and service capabilities. The platform hopes to guide service providers to not only introduce new merchants but also continuously participate in their subsequent operations and growth through an institutionalized incentive mechanism. The platform will provide eligible partners with incentive support covering both recruitment and operations dimensions.

Regarding the scope of participants, TikTok Shop Southeast Asia clearly stated that eligible entities include, but are not limited to, third-party operating agencies, ERP service providers, training institutions, industry media, KOLs, payment service providers, overseas warehouses and first-leg logistics companies, advertising agencies, and industrial cluster service providers. Relevant organizations need to have a foundation of cross-border or domestic trade merchant resources and be able to undertake the platform's merchant recruitment and merchant empowerment functions.

Specifically, in terms of incentive policy design, the current policy cycle runs from January 1, 2026, to January 31, 2026. A single new merchant can receive a maximum incentive of 22,000 RMB during the policy period. The incentive consists of two parts: a 'Recruitment Incentive' and an 'Operational Support Incentive,' which can be stacked. The platform emphasizes that each new merchant can only receive the incentive once during the policy period.

In detail, the 'Recruitment Incentive' part has a maximum of 2,000 RMB.

For standard merchants, successfully recruiting one merchant yields a 200 RMB incentive, provided the merchant registers in January 2026 and achieves sales activation within 90 days (i.e., settled GMV greater than 0, with no fewer than 2 activated stores). For specially invited merchants, the incentive is 2,000 RMB per merchant, requiring them to meet the platform's specific invitation criteria and achieve sales activation within the first quarter of 2026.

Regarding the 'Operational Support Incentive,' standard merchants and specially invited merchants correspond to different incentive caps and assessment criteria.

A standard merchant can receive a maximum incentive of 5,000 RMB, requiring registration in January 2026, a quarterly cumulative settled GMV reaching $5,000 or more, and binding with the service provider's TSP backend;

A specially invited merchant can receive a maximum incentive of 20,000 RMB, requiring registration within the same timeframe, a quarterly cumulative settled GMV reaching $15,000 or more, and completion of TSP backend binding.

For the specific incentive tiers, the platform has stratified them based on quarterly settled GMV ranges.

For standard merchants:

a quarterly GMV between $5,000 and $7,500 yields a 500 RMB incentive;

$7,500 to $10,000 yields 1,000 RMB;

$10,000 to $15,000 yields 2,000 RMB;

$15,000 to $45,000 yields 3,000 RMB;

$45,000 and above caps at 5,000 RMB.

For specially invited merchants:

a quarterly GMV between $15,000 and $45,000 yields a 5,000 RMB incentive;

$45,000 to $100,000 yields 10,000 RMB;

$100,000 and above caps at 20,000 RMB.

Regarding participation conditions, the platform has set relatively clear entry requirements for service providers.

Enterprises must possess a valid business license, be registered for more than six months, have a registered capital of no less than 500,000 RMB, and a company size of no fewer than 10 employees.

Simultaneously, service providers need to provide successful case studies for at least 3 TikTok Shop cross-border merchant recruitment events, with each event involving no fewer than 50 merchants, and submit relevant proof materials including promotional posters, event locations, registration information, and on-site photos. Additionally, service providers must submit information about company capabilities, team structure, and case studies, cooperating with the platform to complete the certification process.

In terms of merchant recruitment capability requirements, the platform offers two optional paths: first, cumulatively recruit 100 registered merchants, with no fewer than 70 being sellable merchants and no fewer than 30 being activated merchants; or second, cumulatively recruit 10 registered specially invited merchants, with no fewer than 3 being activated merchants.

Regarding settlement rules, TikTok Shop stated that the Recruitment Incentive and Operational Support Incentive can be calculated cumulatively, with the final incentive amount subject to the platform's official statistics. The platform will complete the incentive settlement within 30 days after receiving a compliant invoice.

Industry insiders believe that this 'Business Partner Program' further strengthens the 'enabling role' of service providers in platform merchant recruitment and merchant growth through its incentive strength and rule design. By linking incentives closely to actual GMV performance and sustained operations, it helps reduce purely 'traffic-driven recruitment' and promotes higher-quality growth for new merchants in the Southeast Asian market.

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