Chinese technology giant ByteDance is purportedly testing a type of food delivery service in China via its short video app Douyin, which is the Chinese version of TikTok, CNBC reported on February 8. It is also considering extending the service beyond the trial.
The move can potentially pit the company against major e-commerce companies like Alibaba and Meituan.
According to the report, a Douyin spokesperson said that the company has been “testing a feature in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu that enables merchants to promote and sell ‘group-buying’ packages to Douyin users in these select cities and have them delivered.”
"We would consider expanding the feature to more cities in the future depending on the testing results. There is no detailed timeline yet,” a Douyin spokesperson told CNBC.
Most often, restaurant owners in China livestream on Douyin to market their business. While doing this, they can offer discounts and coupons for their food to users watching the videos. Multiple users can then purchase that offer and choose a time within two days for the food to arrive. The model is very different from Meituan and Alibaba’s Ele.me which are both on-demand food delivery services.
When launched, Douyin can give tough competition to the other e-commerce apps in the country, which is currently dominated by Meituan and Ele.me.
CNBC reported that ByteDance has been testing the feature since December in select cities. Users in the trial cities were able to order takeaways by accessing an option added to Douyin channels.
Last August, Douyin also formed a partnership with Ele.me, allowing the short video app’s 600 million daily active users to order meals via a mini program for Alibaba’s delivery service.
Moreover, the tech giant has also been competitive in the online apparel market when it launched a fashion website called If Yooou outside of China.
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