Brands would leverage social media (e.g., Weibo, WeChat) largely for the purposes of generating awareness. Years ago, when the digital transformation of international brands in China was still in its infancy, the online consumer journey was much simpler.
This is even more so for Douyin – and as a social platform that has captured the attention of younger generations, it might prove to be an even more interesting testing ground for international brands to develop their social commerce operations. With the growing impact of Chinese social media on the consumer decision making process, and the emergence of new online shopping models such as livestreaming, the development of an e-commerce business seems to be the way to go for Chinese social platforms. In January this year, Douyin officially launched its payment service, "Douyin Pay", streamlining the payment process for users when it comes to shopping and even purchasing virtual livestream gifts.ĭouyin is not the first platform tapping into social commerce in China – Weibo, RED and Kuaishou have all rolled out their own e-commerce propositions. Links in short videos, however, are not affected. As of last October, Douyin no longer supports product links from third-parties (such as Tmall or JD.com) in livestreams, allowing only links from the Douyin Store (its native e-commerce storefront). It has also been reported that Douyin plans to relocate its entire e-commerce team to Shanghai, where it will manage production, research and operations of its e-commerce business unit.Īt the same time, Douyin has also been working on developing its product offering. In early June last year, it set up a dedicated e-commerce business unit in hopes of making it the company’s third pillar of revenue, after advertising and livestreaming. ByteDance, the Chinese tech company that has received a great deal of attention from the Western world for its popular short video App Douyin/Tik Tok, has been working to consolidate and build its e-commerce business.