- Douyin, which is owned by ByteDance, has launched a standalone e-commerce platform in mainland China, intensifying competition with Alibaba, Jingdong, and PDD Holdings.
- Douyin Mall was launched last week as a downloadable app for Android users in mainland China.
ByteDance-owned Douyin, the Chinese sister app of TikTok, has introduced a stand-alone e-commerce platform on the mainland.
Douyin mall
Douyin Mall was launched last week as a downloadable app for Android users in mainland China, the world’s largest smartphone market.
A representative from this e-commerce division of a Chinese short-video service provider said the new app “is an extension of the Douyinn platform and aims to enhance the overall shopping experience for existing users.”
Douyin Online Shopping began in 2019 as a click-and-buy feature in the short-video app. You can purchase items in the“ little yellow cart” below the video.
Also read: PDD’s Colin Huang becomes China’s richest tech billionaire
Also read: TikTok faces stagnant user growth in the US
Competition with other companies
ByteDance has made it an independent app that competes head-on against larger mainland rivals such as Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall platforms, JD and PDD.
This healthy competition between them allowed Douyin surged to more than US$110 billion in overall sales under its online retail business last year.
ByteDance, which set up a dedicated e-commerce unit in 2020, advanced Douyin’s domestic online retail business by launching its own mobile payment service Douyin Pay in 2021.
As of Tuesday, an Apple iOS version of the app had not been released.
