TikTok owner ByteDance takes on Alibaba, Pinduoduo in big e-commerce push

ByteDance-owned short video app operator Douyin is moving to build up a vast ecosystem of merchants under its own e-commerce platform

There are about 600 million daily active users on Douyin, which has been subject to rampant IPO speculation

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ByteDance-owned Douyin’s huge pool of daily active users is expected to attract plenty of merchants. Photo: Weibo

Tracy Quin Yiwu, China

Published: 10:00am, 25 Apr 2021Updated: 10:46am, 25 Apr 2021

Inside a packed hall at the Yiwu International Expo Centre, located in the same city in central Zhejiang province as the world’s largest small commodities market, hundreds of merchants gathered on April 11 for a presentation by executives from ByteDance-owned Douyin, the Chinese sister app of TikTok.

The event, dubbed “Super Business”, encouraged merchants to sell their goods on what executives described on stage as a magnet for “young and high-quality consumers” via short videos and live-streaming campaigns on the Douyin E-commerce platform.

“Our daily active users (DAUs) have reached 600 million,” said Eric Wang, who works at Douyin’s merchants promotion department. He described this user base as “very sticky”, referring to the extended amounts of time they spend on the platform each day.

The event in Yiwu is just one of a series of offline activities that short video-sharing app operator Douyin has started to roll out across the country to help build up a vast ecosystem of merchants, putting parent ByteDance on a collision course with Chinese e-commerce giants Pinduoduo, JD.com and Alibaba Group Holding, which owns the South China Morning Post.

“The story of Douyin E-commerce has just started,” Bob Kang Zeyu, the head of that ByteDance business, told merchants and other attendees during the company’s first “ecosystem conference” in Guangzhou on April 8. “And we hope to grow with you together.”

A man stands near a giant sign of Douyin, the Chinese sister app of ByteDance-owned TikTok, during China Fashion Week in Beijing on March 31, 2021. Photo: Reuters

This e-commerce push by tech unicorn ByteDance – a company founded in 2012 by then 29-year-old Zhang Yiming at a small, residential flat in Beijing – forms part of its full-frontal assault on China’s established internet companies, as it seeks to diversify its sources of revenue. This initiative includes the launch of its own mobile payment service Douyin Pay, strategic expansion into the video games industry, an education drive and local services push.

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