China’s e-commerce shake-up: TikTok sister app Douyin woos merchants in direct assault on Alibaba, Pinduoduo

Douyin E-commerce launched an offline event in a bid to bring more merchants to its platform, challenging larger online retail platforms. Livestreaming e-commerce has become a popular method of online sales, and Douyin has many of the industry’s top sellers. — SCMP

Beijing-based ByteDance, the world’s most valuable startup at US$400bil (RM1.65 trillion) is wooing merchants to its premier short-video platform by touting the benefits of selling on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, in a bid to challenge the country’s larger online retail platforms.

The platform, Douyin E-commerce, staged its first official “ecosystem conference”, an offline event that puts the ByteDance-owned platform on a collision course with Chinese e-commerce giants Pinduoduo, JD.com and Alibaba Group Holding, the owner of the South China Morning Post.