How to sell on TikTok from Zimbabwe: a weekly routine

Published . 5 min read

People in Harare, Bulawayo and Mutare find shops on TikTok every day, but few of those shops sell much there. The difference is rarely luck. The shops that get orders post every week, make ordering obvious, and answer quickly. This guide gives you a routine that fits around running a shop: about two hours on one day to plan and film, then ten to fifteen minutes a day to post and reply.

Set up your profile so it sells

Before you post anything, fix the three things a new viewer checks when they tap your name.

  • Your name and photo. Use the shop's name, not a nickname, and a clear logo or product photo that still reads at thumbnail size.
  • Your bio. Say what you sell, where you are and how to order, in that order. For example: "Handmade leather sandals. Avondale, Harare. Order on WhatsApp, delivery across Harare."
  • A way to reach you. If your account can show a link, use a wa.me link to your WhatsApp Business number so a tap opens a chat. If it can't, put the number in your bio as text.

Switch to a business account in the settings. It gives you analytics, which you will use every Sunday.

Then pin three videos to the top of your profile: one that shows your best seller with its price, one that shows how ordering and delivery work, and one that shows you or your team. New visitors watch pinned videos first.

Decide how an order happens

Most TikTok sales from Zimbabwean shops start in the comments or DMs and finish on WhatsApp. Decide your steps once and say them the same way in every video and reply:

  1. Comment or DM the product name.
  2. We send photos, sizes and the price on WhatsApp.
  3. Pay by EcoCash, InnBucks, bank transfer or cash on delivery (list only what you accept).
  4. We deliver or you collect, with the areas and the cost.

If you price in both US dollars and ZiG, show both, or say clearly which one you use. Viewers who have to ask for a price often scroll on instead.

The weekly routine

Monday: plan the week (30 minutes)

Pick three products for the week. For each one, write down a single reason someone would buy it now: it just arrived, it's back in stock, it suits the weather, it makes a good gift, or it solves a common problem.

Then write five hooks, one for each posting day. A hook is the first line on screen and the first thing you say. It has to make sense in one second. Good hooks are specific:

  • "These sandals are made in Harare and last for years."
  • "What USD 15 gets you at our stall this week."
  • "Packing an order for Gweru."
  • "You asked if this comes in black. It does."
  • "Three ways to wear one wrap."

Tuesday: film everything at once (60 to 90 minutes)

Filming in one batch saves you from setting up every day.

  • Stand near a door or window for daylight. Turn off overhead lights that cast a yellow tint.
  • Hold the phone upright and clean the lens.
  • Film your hands using the product, not just the product sitting still. Movement keeps people watching.
  • Record three or four short clips per product: close-up, in use, the price tag, and you saying one line.
  • Speak in the language your customers use, whether that is Shona, Ndebele or English, and add on-screen text so people watching with the sound off still get it.

Keep most videos between 15 and 40 seconds. Shorter videos are easier to finish, and many of your viewers are watching on prepaid data.

Wednesday to Sunday: post one video a day

Post at about the same time each day so your followers learn when to expect you. Early evening, after work and school, is a sensible place to start. Our guide on when to post in Zimbabwe and South Africa explains how to test other times.

Each post needs:

  • the hook as on-screen text in the first second;
  • a caption that repeats the product name and the price;
  • how to order, in one line;
  • three to five hashtags that describe the product and the place, such as the town and the product type. Skip the giant generic tags.

Then stay on the app for ten minutes after posting. Reply to every comment, even a single emoji, because replies keep the conversation going and show new viewers that you answer. When someone asks a good question, reply with a short video. That gives you an extra post with no planning.

Sunday: review (15 minutes)

Open your analytics and look at the week's five videos. Ignore the view count at first. Look at which video brought the most profile visits, follows and WhatsApp messages, since those are the people closest to buying.

Write one line for each video in a notebook or spreadsheet: date, product, hook, views, messages and orders. After a month you will see which kinds of hooks and products bring buyers, and you can plan more of them.

Five video types that work for shops

When you are stuck for ideas, rotate through these:

  1. Product in hand with the price. Show it, say what it is, say what it costs and how to order.
  2. Packing an order. Wrap it, label it with the town, and say "on its way to Masvingo." It shows that real people buy from you.
  3. Before and after. Hair, cleaning products, repairs, tailoring and furniture all suit this.
  4. Answering a comment. Use TikTok's reply-with-video feature and answer one question properly.
  5. New stock arriving. Open the box on camera. Say which sizes or colours came in and that numbers are limited, if they are.

Mistakes that cost you sales

  • Posting for two weeks and stopping. A steady five posts a week does more than a burst of twenty followed by silence.
  • Hiding the price. "DM for price" turns away people who are only curious, and curious people become buyers.
  • Reposting videos with another app's watermark. Film for TikTok, or export clean files without logos.
  • Buying followers. They never buy, and they make your real numbers harder to read.
  • Slow replies. A message answered the next day is often a sale someone else made.

Keep it going

The routine is simple on purpose. Plan on Monday, film on Tuesday, post and reply every day, and review on Sunday. Do it for four weeks before you judge the results, and change one thing at a time.

If writing the hooks, scripts and captions is the part that slows you down, Hypora can help. Paste a product link or snap a photo, and it writes five posts in your shop's voice, makes the videos and images, and reminds you when each one should go out. You get 30 free ora every day.

Your next week of posts, made today.

Paste a product link or snap a photo. Hypora writes the posts and tells you when to share each one. You get 30 free ora every day.

Try it free