In March 2024, TikTok Shop held its first-ever Developer Summit, both virtually and in person in San Jose. For two days, experienced and new developers came together to celebrate their successes, learn how to build and grow on TikTok Shop, and get exclusive updates on what the API team is building next.

Exclusive content was shared live through in-person workshops and on Discord. For the 60+ select developers that joined us in San Jose, Day 2 was all about connection—collaborating with their peers and the TikTok Shop team in category-specific developer workshops.

Here are three event highlights.

• Celebrated our Innovation Challenge Winners!
• During the event, TikTok Shop awarded a total of $60,000 to the winners of TikTok Shop's Innovation Challenge 2024. Submissions ranged from working apps that help sellers connect catalogs from existing stores to AR LiveStreaming Assistants in our Innovation Challenge Category.
• Drumroll, please! CedCommerce submitted their Etsy Connector App and took home $25,000 as one our Category 1 Innovation Challenge Winners.
• Drumroll, please! We had two teams take home $25,000 as the Category 1 winners of the Innovation Challenge. This included CedCommerce who will soon launch their Etsy Connector App on the TikTok Shop App Store.
• Our winners for Category 2 focused on creating innovative solutions for sellers. These prototypes displayed clear needs for future app categories that would impact sellers and enable developers to create unique solutions for the TikTok Shop App Store. Our winners explored LiveStreaming, Affiliate Analytics, Integrating new markets in the future, and more.
• In addition to celebrating our 2024 winners, we also celebrated existing partners with the 2023 Partner Awards—you can view the full list of 2023 and 2024 winners.

• Provided an inside look at our new API categories!
• Developers online and in person got the scoop on the next set of potential API categories the TikTok Shop team is unlocking. Day 2's Developer Downloads kicked off with a session on Product Catalog Apps with ideas on how developers could use TikTok Shop's APIs (current or considered) to think beyond catalog connectors.
• In addition, TikTok Shop Product Managers took the stage to share more about the seller journey and developer opportunities with live streaming, customer engagement, and analytics. While developers in San Jose collaborated with product managers in person, our online participants got hands-on support on Discord. For example, developers connected with TikTok Shop's solution engineers to help unblock app development issues and tackle new ways to use TikTok Shop APIs.

• Got feedback straight from our sellers!
• As part of summit, developers heard directly from sellers on TikTok Shop about their successes and pain points with TikTok Shop. Leaders from Wyze, Ana Luisa, Phlur, and Willow Boutique shared their thoughts on what was going well and what they wished was available on the TikTok Shop App Store. Adam Sommers from Willow Boutique highlighted an opportunity for developers in the room, sharing "I think there's room for an assistant type experience, especially for new live streamers." During the session, Jimmy Hadden, Head of Social Commerce at Wyze, also surfaced the desire for "any kind of automation...in the creator chat" to help streamline their affiliate operations.
• It was a unique moment for developers to hear exactly what sellers are still searching for in the TikTok Shop App Store. For some, it was inspiration on what to build next, and for others, welcome reinforcement that they had found product-market fit.

Explore more TikTok Shop Developer Content

• Stay Updated on Future Events: Sign up to get invited to upcoming developer community events.
• Become a TikTok Shop Developer: Join TikTok Shop Partner Center to explore our APIs and start building.
• Connect With Our Community: Connect and collaborate with fellow developers and the TikTok Shop team on our newly-launched Discord server.