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TikTok’s Chinese version Douyin adds shopping to ByteDance news app, prepares movie ticketing service in e-commerce push

  • Douyin’s 600 million daily active users will be able to link their accounts to Jinri Toutiao and shop within the popular news aggregation app
  • Douyin has been ramping up efforts to sell goods and services as it seeks to further monetise its massive user base

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A man walks past a restaurant with a Douyin logo displayed on the window in Beijing on September 14, 2020. Photo: AFP
Coco Fengin Beijing
Short video app Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, is accelerating its e-commerce push and venturing into movie ticketing as owner ByteDance doubles down on efforts to turn its massive user base into a steady stream of revenue.

The Beijing-based company is looking to leverage the combined user base of its two biggest apps. Its flagship short video app, with 600 million daily active users in China, has launched a special shopping channel on Jinri Toutiao, ByteDance’s news aggregation app. It allows consumers to link their Douyin account and shop or watch product videos within the news app.

The channel is now one of dozens of tabs below Toutiao’s top search bar, where it sits among options for news, sports, novels and more. Users can customise the order of the tabs.

The move could help extend Douyin’s reach and bolster its efforts in e-commerce as the company searches for new sources of revenue. Toutiao has nearly 300 million monthly active users as of June, according to data from Analysys.

In addition to selling goods, Douyin may be preparing to launch a movie ticketing service. Late last month, Beijing Zitiao Network Technology Co, a subsidiary of Douyin Group (Hong Kong) Ltd, applied for an advertising and entertainment trademark for “Douyin Movie Ticket”.

The company has not mentioned a timeline for such a service, but it would be competing in an area dominated by Alibaba Group Holding’s Tao Piao Piao and Tencent Holdings-backed Maoyan. According to a January survey by market researcher iiMedia, 66 per cent and 61 per cent of China’s film-goers regularly use Tao Piao Piao and Maoyan, respectively.

Shares of Hong Kong-listed Alibaba Pictures, the e-commerce giant’s movie production and distribution unit, dropped 1.5 per cent to HK$0.34, while Maoyan dropped 2.7 per cent to HK$4.98 by midday Wednesday. Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

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