How to Improve Your TikTok Shop Performance Score (SPS)

The saying “the customer is always right” takes on a new meaning on TikTok Shop, where one person’s positive or negative experience has the power to change everything overnight. We aren’t talking about what can happen after a viral video or great piece of User-Generated Content (UGC) goes live – rather a little-talked-about metric known as a TikTok Shop Performance Score, or SPS. 

It pulls the strings on seller status, marketplace visibility, and ultimately sales prospects. Learning how to improve your TikTok Shop Performance Score may be the best thing you can do for your business’ presence on the platform. This article explains how SPS works, the factors that influence it, and must-implement strategies for anyone who wants to keep their rating high. 

What Is a TikTok Shop Performance Score (SPS)?

TikTok Shop Performance Score (SPS) is a rating system ranging from 1 to 5 points that measures shop product satisfaction, fulfillment and logistics, and customer service on TikTok Shop over the last 90 days. TikTok Shop sellers use it to monitor their store’s operational health. 

A high SPS means your store is performing well and meeting customer expectations. It reflects positively on your ability to manage orders efficiently and provide quality service. A low score is a signal something is suffering in one of the three aforementioned categories. 

TikTok Shop Performance Scores are also a helpful barometer for trends in own performance over time and as a tangible reference against other stores. Ecommerce businesses can even unlock privileges by keeping their SPS above certain thresholds. 

TikTok Shop Performance Score vs. Product Selection Score (PSS)

TikTok Shop Performance Score shouldn’t be confused with Product Selection Score (PSS), a similarly-acronymed but distinct point system used to measure the quality of shops and products content creators and influencers promote on TikTok Shop. Similarly to SPS, PSS is quantified from 1 to 5 and can unlock exclusive benefits when maintained at a high level. 

Creators don’t have a Shop Performance Score (SPS) but reference it along with Positive Review Rate (PRR) when choosing which businesses they form affiliate partnerships with – TikTok encourages them to select stores with an SPS of 4.0 and PRR of 93% or higher.

Are TikTok Shop Performance Score and Violation Points Related?

Although both exist as quality control mechanisms, TikTok Shop Performance Score and Violation Points aren’t the same thing. The latter is part of a penalty system. Merchants accumulate violation points when they fail to meet the expectations set upon them by TikTok Shop. These expectations include Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for order accuracy, speed, and customer care, among others. 

SPS is primarily results-focused – it gives ecommerce businesses benchmarks upon which to improve. High standards are encouraged through recognition and reward, but there aren’t hard penalties for having a low SPS. By contrast, violation points have negative implications. The more you accumulate, the more TikTok restricts account features and visibility. Merchants are permanently removed from TikTok Shop if they collect 48 violation points within a single reporting period. 

Why Your TikTok Shop Performance Score Matters

TikTok Shop Performance Score isn't merely a vanity metric – there are big rewards to be reaped by cultivating it and lots of valuable opportunities to be lost by neglecting it. Let's take a look at the reasons why SPS should be a key consideration in your TikTok ecommerce strategy: 

TikTok Shop Performance Score Affects Eligibility for TikTok Programs

Achieving a Shop Performance Score above 2.5 means unlocking access to programs exclusive to high-performing online stores. That means equal footing with or even an edge over others competing in the same space. There aren’t formal penalties for having a low SPS – the main drawback is opportunity loss. The more tools you have available, the greater your potential to leverage TikTok's ecosystem to boost your business.

These programs include:

• Affiliate Marketing: The TikTok Shop Affiliate program connects businesses with an SPS above 2.5 to a network of creators who contractually promote products with specific target audiences.
• Campaigns: Campaigns go beyond the offerings of basic ad placements with uniquely interactive formatting options, greater visibility, and direct marketing support from TikTok.
• Flash Deals: These time-limited offers create urgency and drive traffic, helping to clear inventory quickly while attracting new customers.
• Shop Ads: While everyone is eligible to use Shop Ads, TikTok says high-performing shops can expect to see higher ROI if their SPS is above 2.5.
• Short Settlements: Cut the amount of time businesses wait for TikTok to release funds from eight days after delivery to five or even one day after delivery with respective SPS minimums of 3.5 and 4.0.
• TikTok-Funded Promotions: Businesses can opt in to specialized campaign offers that are fully paid for by TikTok like discounts on minimum spend (e.g. X% off), exclusive discounts (e.g. Hot Deals), and Buy More, Save More promotions (e.g. Buy X items, Get Y% off).

Good TikTok Shop Performance Scores are Publicly Recognized

The Star Shop badge is recognition from TikTok that your business can be trusted. It's visible to customers on the Shop Detail page, Product Detail page, and About This Shop page when you have an SPS more than or equal to 4.0 and meet several other stringent criteria.

These include:

• Having passed seller probation
• A balance of no less than 12 violation points
• No fraud-related or counterfeit-related violations
• Having completed 100 orders in the past 30 days
• Active shop status

The Star Shop badge isn't permanent – TikTok Shop evaluates eligibility every month. Businesses have the opportunity to earn more trust in the eyes of new and returning customers alike by proving their ability to keep the status over time.

How TikTok Shop Performance Score Is Calculated

TikTok Shop Performance Score is determined based on three factors: product satisfaction, fulfillment and logistics, and customer service. Sellers can maximize their chances of maintaining a high TikTok SPS by focusing equally on the key criteria in each category. 

Product Satisfaction

• Unsatisfied Order Rate: Represents the proportion of orders that lead to customer dissatisfaction, often due to issues like poor product quality or incorrect items. 
• Seller Fault Return and Refund Rate: Indicates how often returns and refunds occur due to seller mistakes, such as shipping errors or defective products. 

Fulfillment and Logistics

• 30D Seller Fault Cancellation Rate: Reflects the percentage of orders canceled because of seller-related problems within a 30-day period.
• 30D Late Dispatch Rate: Measures how frequently orders are dispatched later than promised over a 30-day span.

Customer Service

• Customer Complaint Rate: The frequency of customer complaints about their shopping experience. 
• 24H Response Rate: The percentage of customer inquiries addressed within 24 hours. 

How to Find Your TikTok Shop Performance Score

TikTok Shop Performance Score is tracked alongside other KPIs in the Seller Center. Your path to accessing it may look different depending on the device you’re using. 

On desktop, go to “Account Health” and then “Shop Performance Score”, or “Seller Center” and click on the Shop Performance Score widget. On mobile, simply tap “Shop Performance Score” in the Home menu of the TikTok Shop Seller Center app.

While TikTok’s inner workings have always been a bit of a black box, Seller Performance Score is one area of surprising clarity. The SPS page shows your score alongside an explanation of how individual evaluation criteria are affecting your overall average. TikTok offers the ability to see a historical overview of changes in your SPS score, breaking down calculations for specific time periods. It also makes personalized recommendations for future improvements. 

How to Improve Your TikTok Shop Performance Score

TikTok Shop Performance Scores are fluid. They reflect sellers’ current track record but can change with effort. That’s a big part of why scoring exists in the first place – to encourage ongoing assessment and improvement. To that end, you’ll see the best results in improving SPS by focusing on the key areas TikTok evaluates when calculating the metrics.

Here are some powerful strategies worth considering to improve your SPS:

Get Ahead of Negative Reviews

Customer feedback is one of, if not the most influential factor affecting TikTok Shop Performance Scores. TikTok uses reviews as a direct channel to understand how well – or poorly – you're meeting expectations. Even just a handful of bad reviews can impact your score.

You can mitigate the risk by regularly checking and responding to negative comments early. Respond to feedback constructively, offer solutions or compensation where appropriate, and try to get customers to update their ratings if possible. Just don’t directly promise rewards in exchange for positive reviews; TikTok wants to see honest, experience-based feedback.

Remember, proactivity with reviews will serve you well beyond TikTok Shop Performance Scores – it's equally valuable to long-term customer loyalty on any ecommerce platform.

Audit Product Listings for Accuracy

Negative reviews can be largely avoided with accurate product listings. Misleading descriptions, incorrect pricing, and outdated stock levels are among the leading causes of customer complaints – so don't be caught off guard. 

Accurate and up-to-date product information ensures that customers receive exactly what they expect. Attention to detail will both prevent dissatisfaction and enhance your store's reputation for reliability, which again, pays off on and off TikTok Shop. 

Work with a 3PL

The best thing any ecommerce business can do, including when selling on TikTok Shop, is have a fulfillment system capable of handling any kind of order volume. Because even if sales aren't mountainous today, that could easily change. The last thing any seller needs is to be unprepared if and when virality strikes.

Third-party logistics (3PL) companies manage technical operations on your behalf using their own robust, scalable infrastructure.

A 3PL can help preserve and improve your SPS in multiple ways:

• Reliable logistics partners are less likely to make mistakes that result in seller’s fault return and refund requests, which TikTok uses to monitor customer satisfaction
• Partnering with a 3PL means getting all of your orders out on time, helping your store meet TikTok Shop's strict SLAs
• Consistently accurate order packing keeps complaint rates low by ensuring customers get what they paid for

With a partner handling TikTok Shop order fulfillment, you can ensure the kind of performance continuity it takes to achieve and maintain a great SPS. The best 3PLs act as a catalyst for future growth by offering expertise in everything from inventory management to freight shipping. 

Improve Your TikTok Shop Performance Score with Shipfusion

The answer to the question of how to improve your TikTok Shop Performance Score is painfully obvious: perform well. That’s easier said than done for rapidly-scaling businesses, of course.

Shipfusion promotes customer satisfaction on this social commerce platform and beyond with turnkey third-party logistics services taking care of everything from ecommerce fulfillment to returns management. With us by your side – and industry-leading 99.9% speed and packing accuracy rates – it isn't a question of whether you'll perform well, but rather how well. 

Take the first step towards an impeccable TikTok Shop Performance Score by contacting Shipfusion today.