Bulletins

The original Chinese TikTok, Douyin, is jumping into ecommerce

Douyin has rolled out a fashion-focused standalone shopping app called Douyin Box.

An illustration of the ByteDance logo displayed on a silhouette of a smartphone screen

TikTok's parent company ByteDance is the most valuable startup in the world.

Image: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

TikTok’s Chinese original, Douyin, launched an independent shopping app on Thursday called Douyin Box, taking on established ecommerce giants like Alibaba.

The Chinese short-video sensation, which has amassed more than 600 million daily active users, is entering a new business dominated by Alibaba, JD.com and Pinduoduo. Its ecommerce product, Douyin Box, will focus on selling fashion products, targeting China’s youth.

2021 marks a year of expansion into ecommerce for ByteDance, the world’s most valuable startup and the parent company of TikTok and Douyin. Just last month, ByteDance rolled out an ecommerce app targeting European consumers called Fanno. It seems likely at some point that TikTok will follow suit in the U.S. market, pushing out a shopping app to take on challengers such as Facebook and Amazon.
 Shen Lu

Shen Lu is a former Protocol reporter, covering China's tech industry.

china douyin tiktok ecommerce douyin box bytedance
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