TikTok Video Shopping Ads After GMV Max: The Showcase Workaround

Yes, you can still run Video Shopping Ads on TikTok Shop, even though TikTok says GMV Max is the only campaign type for Shop ads. Create a Sales (TikTok Shop) campaign, choose Video Shopping Ads, and set the product source to Showcase. Purchases won't report on the campaign, but product page views and add-to-carts will, and that activity feeds GMV Max.

Can you still run Video Shopping Ads on TikTok Shop?

Since mid-2025, TikTok's official line has been that GMV Max is the only campaign type for TikTok Shop ads, in Product and LIVE modes. Most brands took that at face value and moved everything into GMV Max.

GMV Max is good at what it does. Give it products, a budget and an ROI target, and it finds buyers. What it doesn't give you is control. You can't choose who sees which video, you can't hold budget on one message, and you can't run a clean test of a new angle before the algorithm decides it's a loser.

For a brand with plenty of existing demand, that's fine. For a brand that needs to build awareness before GMV Max has anything to convert, it's a problem. That's where Video Shopping Ads (VSA) through Showcase come in.

How to set up Video Shopping Ads with Showcase

1. In TikTok Ads Manager, create a new campaign with the advertising objective Sales, then TikTok Shop.
2. Set your campaign budget.
3. In the ad group, under Shop Ads type, choose Video Shopping Ads.
4. Under Product source details, choose Showcase instead of TikTok Shop, and select your shop.
5. Set placements, audience and budget the way you would for any manual campaign.
6. Add your videos and launch.

The product source is the whole trick. With TikTok Shop selected, you get pushed to GMV Max. With Showcase selected, the manual Video Shopping Ads setup still works.

What reports in Ads Manager, and what doesn't

Here's the catch. Purchases don't report on these campaigns. Purchase rate, cost per purchase and average order value all show zero. From what I can tell, the sale gets credited to GMV Max through the Shop tab creative instead.

Everything above the purchase still reports:

• CTR and CPC
• Product page views and cost per product page view
• Add-to-cart rate and add-to-cart value
• Value per product page view
• Paid follows and video views

So there's no ROAS column to lean on. You have to judge these campaigns another way.

What we saw in the account we tested

We ran Video Shopping Ads through Showcase Sep 3–11 and Sep 18–29, 2026, with a six-day pause in between. Over the flight:

• $3,623 in spend
• 9.0% CTR
• 8,435 product page views at $0.43 each
• 460 add-to-carts, worth $17,011
• Zero purchases reported in Ads Manager

Shop tab sales moved with it: $145 a day in product card GMV while VSA was on, $23 a day while it was off. That's a correlation, not proof. We were scaling GMV Max budget at the same time, and total Shop GMV was actually highest during the pause, when GMV Max spend peaked.

Against an earlier Video Views campaign with shoppable tags, the difference showed up in the cart. Video Views was cheaper per product page view and far better at follows, but drove 11 add-to-carts on $826. VSA drove 460 on $3,623. Different months and different creative, so it's not a clean test, but it matches the logic: Video Views builds profile activity, VSA builds Shop activity.

How do you measure VSA without purchase data?

1. Watch the Shop signals. Cost per product page view and add-to-cart rate tell you whether the creative sends real shoppers or just viewers.
2. Watch GMV Max while it runs. If the sales are being credited there, GMV Max revenue and ROI should move when VSA is on.
3. Watch total Shop GMV. Seller Center doesn't care which campaign gets the credit.
4. Run an on/off test. Turn VSA off for a week and see what happens to GMV Max and total Shop sales. That's the cleanest read you'll get.

Is VSA better than Video Views with product tags?

Before this, my go-to for top of funnel on TikTok Shop was Video Views campaigns with shoppable product tags. They're cheap and they're a fast way to find creative that works.

The problem is what they optimize for. Video Views builds profile activity: views, follows, profile visits. GMV Max optimizes off Shop activity: product page views, add-to-carts and purchases. Video Shopping Ads through Showcase generate the signals GMV Max actually learns from, so your upper-funnel spend works for your conversion campaigns instead of next to them.

When should you use it?

Use Video Shopping Ads through Showcase when you need to:

• Control which creative gets spend
• Test a new angle or hook before GMV Max sees it
• Reach an audience GMV Max isn't finding
• Build Shop demand before scaling GMV Max

Don't make it your whole program. GMV Max is still the core, and this is a workaround, not a product TikTok promotes. It could change or disappear, so treat it as a lever you pull while it's there. If your account needs a broader check, here's the TikTok Shop audit I run.

If you want a second set of eyes on your TikTok Shop or Meta ads, send me your brand.