For clues to how TikTok will make money for parent ByteDance, watch sister app Douyin’s move into e-commerce, lifestyle services
- Douyin’s 921 Goodies Festival is the first online event to rival Alibaba’s Singles’ Day held in November and JD.com’s 618 festival in June
- In addition to online shopping, Douyin is ramping up in lifestyle services such as food and grocery deliveries, an area dominated by Meituan
Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, is doubling down on efforts to generate revenue through online sales and localised services such as food ordering, a move that will pit it against entrenched rivals such as Alibaba Group Holding and Meituan.
The aggressive drive by Douyin into live-streaming e-commerce and other sectors, on top of its strong advertising revenue generation, offers clues as to how the TikTok business model will evolve in overseas markets. Douyin and TikTok, both owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, are powered by the same root algorithm.
From September 9 to 21, Douyin users were given discounts and vouchers to spend on the platform when they shopped via short video or live-streaming sessions.
ByteDance’s goal of turning Douyin into a powerful e-commerce platform received a boost this week when the video app partnered with a raft of Chinese courier services, including JD Logistics, SF Express and ZTO Express.