TikTok Shop News Alert! GMV Max Gets Mandatory for Ad Campaigns

TikTok Shop makes it mandatory for sellers to run their promotion campaigns through GMV Max from September 1, 2025. The social commerce platform emphasises that the move is towards the betterment of TikTok Shop sellers, as it aims to increase the Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) for them. For those who don't know, GMV Max is an AI-powered tool that works towards the optimization of advertisement campaigns. 

About GMV Max

GMV Max is an integrated Artificial Intelligence tool assisting the sellers with the management of ad campaigns. Sellers on TikTok Shop just have to allocate a budget, choose the products to be advertised, and specify the Return on Investment (ROI). From here, the algorithm takes over, independently deciding where to spend the budget, whether to boost the existing content or create new. Also, the demographics and message do not have to be assigned by the seller. The ROI protection (to be discussed in a further section) feature allows the sellers to be sure of the outcome from the campaigns. There are two types of campaigns as per the tool: 

• Product GMV Max: It selects the products, creative assets, and placement options strategically to promote the products to the right audience 
• LIVE GMV Max: It is best suited for the optimization of Liveroom traffic to get the highest gross revenue from TikTok LIVE events. 

About ROI Protection for GMV Max 

This is the most enticing part about the AI-powered tool. As the name suggests, ROI protection is security for return on investment provided by TikTok itself. Under this, ad credits are issued to the seller in case the ROI on the advertisement does not meet the threshold. This should be despite the seller following guidelines and best practices laid out by the platform. 

In the campaign list, sellers can see if their campaign qualifies for ROI protection. A green shield icon will appear next to the ‘Active’ status for campaigns that qualify. To view the daily campaign data, including the campaign-level status, credit amount, actual ROI, and target ROI, place the cursor over the badge and select ‘View history’.  

Note that TikTok Shop only supports review of the past 60 days, and the calculation for the credits is based on the account's timezone. 

• Ad credit Amount = Actual Cost - (Actual Gross Revenue / (0.9 * ROI target set during ad creation))
• For the Promotion day mode, it is calculated based on the Promotion day targets' ROI value.

Want to boost your business? Check out the TikTok Sales Strategies

How to Set Up the GMV Max AI-Powered Tool 

You can make a GMV Max campaign straight from the Seller Center's Open collaboration page if you have or wish to publish an Open collaboration plan with a creative affiliate. Here’s the process explained: 

1. Desktop

• Go to TikTok Shop Seller Center
• Click on ‘Affiliate’ in the menu on the left-hand side
• Click on ‘Open Collaboration’
• Go to ‘Added Products’
• Select the products to be promoted under the campaign (Up to 50 products can be selected). 
• Go to ‘Batch Actions’ and click ‘Turn on GMV Max’
• There are suggestions for Product ROI Target; sellers can enter their own or select one of them
• Click ‘Apply to Product’ 

2. Mobile App

• Go to TikTok Shop Seller Center
• Go to ‘Home’
• Visit ‘Affiliate Center’
• Visit your ‘Open Collaboration’ list
• Look for the products to be promoted and select them
• Click on Create Ads
• There are suggestions for Product ROI Target; sellers can enter their own or select one of them
• Tap ‘Turn On’ 

What are the Benefits of GMV Max For TikTok Sellers?

Two Sides of the Story 

Just as there are two sides to a story, there are two groups reacting differently to this mandate announced by TikTok Shop. Here’s the distinction: 

1. Small Sellers

Small business owners are relieved and happy with the latest mandate of TikTok Shop. As they will not have to look into the minute details of their ad campaigns. Also, the sellers are assured of the results due to ROI protection for the campaign. As per them, the feature is time-saving and helpful for consistent growth. This aligns with their long-term goals of brand building and increasing the popularity of their product. 

2. Large Brands

As per large brands, this compulsion will hinder their ways of advertising and analysis of the same. Also, there are speculations that TikTok adds up all the sales to its campaign’s credit even if the buyer did not encounter any. The transparency and control are in question in this case. Also, expansion to a larger audience and different demographics is much more difficult with this. 

Best Practices to Make the Most from the Tool 

Sellers can feel different, but the implementation will remain the same. The best way is to incorporate the same to bring the best out of the business. Here are the best practices for sellers: 

• Learn by starting small: To find out how GMV Max affects the ROI standards, test it with budgets under control rather than allocating an actual sum to the same.
• Keep channels in balance: To maintain a varied approach, use TikTok Shop advertisements in addition to Meta, Google, or Amazon ads.
• Take wise measurements: To see conversions more clearly, sellers can combine their own UTM tracking with TikTok reports.
• Feed the algorithm: Sellers need to feed the algorithm with TikTok-native creatives, videos, and case studies so that GMV Max has high-quality content to optimize.
• Make a flexible plan: To avoid being restricted to a single channel, sellers need to keep increasing the online presence of the TikTok Shop’s storefront.

In a Nutshell…

While sellers have a divided view on whether the change is going to benefit them or harm their advertising strategies, they have to accommodate the tool into their marketing strategy. Eventually, time will reveal the effectiveness of the same. If you, too, are a TikTok Shop seller, make sure you make the given changes before September 1, 2025. Stay tuned to MapMyChannel for more such industry updates on a regular basis.