TikTok's E-Commerce Advertising: Mandatory GMV Max Shift from July 15

Starting July 15, 2025, TikTok will require all merchants to switch to GMV Max, its AI-driven advertising system. Legacy manual ad products, including Live Shopping Ads, Video Shopping Ads, and Shopping Center Ads, will be fully discontinued. This phased transition underscores TikTok’s firm commitment to automating and streamlining its e-commerce advertising ecosystem.

⏰ Key Transition Timeline:

June 1, 2025: TikTok disables manual ad creation for new stores.

June 25, 2025: All new stores (Shop level) are required to adopt GMV Max ads exclusively and must operate via a single authorized agency.

July 15, 2025: All merchants, including existing stores, will be forced to migrate to GMV Max under the same one-agency policy.

This major transition marks a fundamental transformation in TikTok's e-commerce advertising model. Gone are the days of low-cost, scattergun bidding, cross-border sellers must now quickly adapt to new rules and refine their advertising strategies to remain competitive.

In this blog, we’ll help you understand what GMV MAX really is and how cross-border sellers can seize the opportunity on TikTok to successfully adapt and grow.

GMV MAX

What Exactly is GMV Max?

GMV stands for Gross Merchandise Volume, i.e., the total value of merchandise sold.

GMV Max is TikTok’s fully automated, AI-powered advertising tool, designed to maximize your sales volume. It supports two types of campaigns: product ads and live-stream ads.

What Exactly is GMV Max

Its operation is relatively simple. Sellers only need to set a budget and a target ROI on TikTok, and the system will automatically handle audience targeting, creative selection, ad placement, and other complex tasks.

🧩 What is ROI?
ROI = Revenue ÷ Ad Spend. For example, if you expect £200 in sales from a £100 ad budget, your ROI target is 2.

⭐ Optimization Tips:

Analyze your GMV sources (video, product, livestream), and allocate budget proportionally.
It typically takes around two weeks for the ads to optimize, so you may need to adjust your return on investment (ROI). If your daily ad budget runs out too quickly, try increasing your ROI target. This signals to the system that you expect more GMV from each pound spent. For example, setting an ROI of 4 tells the system you want £4 in return for every £1 spent. On the other hand, setting the ROI too high may slow down your budget spend.

What Are the Benefits of GMV Max?

As TikTok’s AI-powered, platform-wide advertising solution, GMV Max stands out with three core strengths: automation efficiency, omnichannel reach and smart performance optimization.

1. Smart One-Click Campaigns: The system automatically determines the optimal campaign setup, no manual configuration needed. This dramatically reduces time and effort for merchants.

2. Omnichannel Traffic Synergy: GMV Max seamlessly integrates paid ads with organic traffic growth. Strong-performing ads can trigger a ripple effect, boosting natural exposure across your store, something manual ads struggle to achieve.

3. Precision Performance Control: TikTok’s algorithm dynamically adjusts your ads in real time based on ROI and GMV metrics, responding to market trends and user behavior automatically.

4. Lower Entry Barrier: Even merchants without a professional ad team can launch campaigns effortlessly, making GMV Max especially valuable for small and mid-sized businesses.

Currently, GMV Max supports six Southeast Asian countries and the U.S., with a focus on Product GMV Max (product video ads).

GMV Max (product video ads)

📘 Learn more via TikTok’s official resource: What is Product GMV Max?

Why GMV Max Benefits Cross-Border Sellers

1. AI-Driven Automation Boosts Efficiency

GMV Max’s AI handles creative assembly, audience targeting, and budget allocation. Merchants only need to define ROI goals. TikTok does the rest. This drastically cuts down on manual workload, especially for SMEs that lack dedicated ad teams, allowing them to focus on product development and content creation.

2. Unified Traffic Flow Amplifies Growth

GMV Max blurs the lines between paid ads and organic reach. If a video performs well during ad testing, the system will boost its exposure and drive organic traffic across your store, creating a compound growth effect.

3. More Platform Support and Visibility

TikTok is prioritizing GMV Max in its tech roadmap, investing in smarter algorithms and enhanced features. High-performing merchants get more exposure and better ad delivery, giving them a competitive edge in global e-commerce.

More Platform Support and Visibility

Key Challenges for Cross-Border Sellers

1. Stricter Requirements on Creative Quality

In GMV Max, creatives are the entry ticket. The system conducts hundreds of test impressions to assess performance. High CTR and conversion rates lead to scale, poor-performing creatives stall, even with a high budget. To stand out, you need to focus on high-quality creative production, leverage influencer (KOL) content for trust and engagement, and prepare multiple versions of ads to test performance variations.

2. Single-Agency Restriction

Every store can only work with one authorized agency. A poor choice, e.g., slow support or unprofessional handling, can hurt your GMV growth. Vet your agency thoroughly based on: experience, service quality, and responsiveness. Also, maintain close communication to ensure alignment.

3. Cold Start Learning Curve

GMV Max needs 7–14 days to gather data and optimize performance. Merchants who delay adoption may experience inconsistent results or a temporary sales dip. To mitigate this, launch test ads early to accumulate data, monitor metrics closely during the learning phase, and adjust creatives and products quickly based on early signals.

Cold Start Learning Curve

How SaleSmartly Helps Maximize GMV Max Performance

While GMV Max relies entirely on TikTok’s AI algorithm, that doesn’t mean cross-border merchants are powerless. With SaleSmartly, you can confidently face GMV Max challenges and unlock new growth potential.

1. Customer Data Analytics

With SaleSmartly’s Data Analytics, you can track inquiries and behavior during the cold start period. This lets you refine product selections and creatives based on actual customer feedback, accelerating GMV Max learning.

Customer Data Analytics

2. Multi-Account Management

Use Multi-Account Aggregation to manage ads across multiple TikTok stores from one dashboard.
Avoid constant account switching and unify your performance data to shape a more strategic ad plan.

Multi-Account Management

3. Auto-Replies & AI Chatbots

Leverage Auto-Reply & AI Robot features to respond instantly when customers inquire.
For example, if a customer asks about sizing, the system can auto-reply with size charts and suggest matching items, driving conversion without delay.

Auto-Replies & AI Chatbots

Final Thoughts

As TikTok fully rolls out GMV Max, the future of e-commerce advertising will revolve around content quality and user experience, with AI steering the ad delivery process. This creates massive upside for merchants with strong products and creatives, but risks obsolescence for those still relying on outdated manual strategies.

Now is the time for businesses to embrace the shift. They need to gain a deep understanding of how TikTok GMV Max works, optimize their products and creatives, and choose the right agency partners to grow sustainably on the TikTok e-commerce platform.

🎯 SaleSmartly is your omnichannel platform to help you navigate GMV Max and grow your TikTok business. Before investing heavily, give SaleSmartly a try. Start your free 7-day trial today!

TikTok GMV Max Mandatory July 15: Global Seller Action Plan