The hashtag #TikTokRefugee has already garnered over 78 million views and 2 million discussions on Xiaohongshu, with many new users describing the platform as a mix of Instagram and TikTok.

In just a few days, Xiaohongshu surged to the top of the U.S. App Store’s free apps chart and secured leading positions in Australia, the UK, and the Netherlands.

However, the sudden influx of users has highlighted Xiaohongshu’s recent pivot toward short videos. The platform replaced its “Shopping” tab with a single-column video feed reminiscent of TikTok.

Despite pushback from some Chinese users—who lament the shift toward “Xiao Douyin” (Little Douyin, referring to TikTok’s Chinese counterpart)—Xiaohongshu has embraced the change as part of a broader strategy to enhance its e-commerce capabilities.

A Push Toward Video-Driven E-Commerce

Xiaohongshu’s shift toward short videos isn’t just about appealing to TikTok users; it’s a deliberate move to strengthen its e-commerce ecosystem.

COO Conan Cheng emphasized in late 2024 that Xiaohongshu aims to position itself as a “lifestyle e-commerce” platform. To achieve this, the company has been integrating its community, content, and commerce algorithms to optimize for user engagement and revenue generation.

The transition to short video and livestreaming is critical for fostering consumer habits like livestream shopping, which relies on an instant influx of viewers to drive sales.

The single-column video format reduces user choice compared to the traditional dual-column layout, improving the flow of traffic to livestreams and increasing e-commerce conversion rates.

Xiaohongshu has also been proactive in courting manufacturers and businesses from China’s industrial hubs, such as Guangdong and Fujian, to expand its product offerings.

Unlike its earlier focus on high-end, niche items, Xiaohongshu is now embracing affordable products and mass-market appeal. For example, livestreams featuring low-cost winter boots and casual apparel have gained traction, mirroring the sales tactics popular on platforms like Taobao and Douyin.

Scaling E-Commerce Amid Intense Competition

Despite these efforts, Xiaohongshu faces significant challenges in scaling its e-commerce business. Competition from giants like Taobao, JD.com, and Douyin is fierce, with each platform investing heavily in supporting small businesses and industrial suppliers.

Xiaohongshu has also begun aggressive user acquisition campaigns, targeting not only urban millennials but also older and rural demographics.

Recent initiatives, such as partnering with local governments and offering referral bonuses for new users, have expanded its reach. In addition, the platform’s collaboration with China’s national Spring Festival Gala for a second consecutive year underscores its ambition to become a household name.

However, scaling without diluting the platform’s community-driven ethos will be a delicate balancing act. While Xiaohongshu’s core users value its curated aesthetic and high-quality content, expanding into broader demographics may risk alienating this base.

The Road Ahead for Xiaohongshu

The influx of TikTok refugees may boost Xiaohongshu’s global visibility, but retaining these users poses a challenge.

Many new users are driven by frustration with U.S. tech giants or geopolitical concerns rather than a deep connection to the platform. Cultural differences and regulatory hurdles could further complicate Xiaohongshu’s efforts to sustain its overseas user base.

Moreover, Xiaohongshu’s reliance on livestream shopping to drive e-commerce growth will require substantial investment in infrastructure and partnerships.

Competing with established players like Douyin and Taobao, which already dominate livestream e-commerce, will require Xiaohongshu to refine its value proposition, improve merchant tools, and lower barriers to entry for small businesses.

While TikTok’s turmoil presents an opportunity for Xiaohongshu to capture new markets, the real test lies in whether it can replicate Douyin’s success and build a sustainable e-commerce ecosystem.

Record-Breaking Sales and User Growth

This year, Tmall reported that over 589 brands surpassed RMB 100 million in sales during the Double 11 period, a 46.5% increase from 2023.

Meanwhile, JD.com also reached historic milestones with a 20% increase in shopping users and over 17,000 brands seeing sales growth surpassing 500%. Smaller merchants on JD.com also thrived, with over 30,000 small- to medium-sized businesses reporting more than double their sales compared to last year.

JD.com’s Jingzhuntong marketing and advertising platform was pivotal to this success, providing enhanced visibility through advanced targeting and user engagement strategies. By leveraging multiple channels—both on and off-platform—JD helped 100,000 merchants drive engagement and growth during Double 11.

The Shift from Low Prices to Quality and Brand Differentiation

Breaking from past practices, 2024’s Double 11 didn’t rely on deep discounts as a sole draw. Instead, platforms focused on creating an engaging shopping environment with a broader selection of quality products, improved logistics, and immersive live-streaming experiences.

Tmall emphasized quality with its “Billion-Yuan Subsidy” program, discounting thousands of popular products across categories like home appliances, electronics, beauty, apparel, and sports.

In parallel, JD.com launched its “National Subsidy” promotion, which provided a wide range of discounts, especially in home appliances and electronics. Through targeted offers and personalized user recommendations, JD’s strategy helped brands like Midea, Haier, and Hisense double their sales.

The Rise of Live Commerce and Targeted Promotions

This year marked a turning point for live commerce during Double 11. Tmall recorded 119 live-stream channels surpassing RMB 100 million in sales, a testament to the rising influence of professional live-stream hosts and brand-led broadcasts.

Not to be outdone, JD.com ramped up its live commerce initiatives, creating partnerships with high-profile influencers and aligning popular products with targeted consumer groups.

JD.com’s Jingzhuntong platform enabled merchants to run successful campaigns both on JD’s main site and through external media, allowing brands like Vivo and ON Running to achieve over 300% growth.

JD’s commitment to omnichannel advertising, including the launch of its “JD Navigator Program,” provided merchants with a variety of tools to maximize visibility and conversion rates, further solidifying JD’s approach to providing an all-encompassing retail experience.

Emerging Trends in China’s 2024 Double 11 Festival

1. Emotional Consumption: Categories such as pet products, fragrances, and books emerged as new areas of growth. JD.com’s “National Subsidy” helped tap into this trend by highlighting niche and high-quality products that align with the emotional consumption wave, particularly in pet care and wellness categories.
2. Sports and Outdoor Boom: The popularity of sports and outdoor gear surged, driven by China’s growing wellness and fitness trends. JD.com supported this sector with exclusive deals on top sports brands, using targeted advertising to attract health-conscious and outdoor-enthusiast consumers.
3. Factory-to-Consumer (F2C) and Affordable Alternatives: Known as “平替” or “affordable alternatives,” F2C products became a key segment on both JD and Tmall. JD.com’s platform enhancements empowered factories to connect directly with consumers, offering quality alternatives to popular products with added transparency and accessibility.
4. Internationalization of E-commerce: JD.com supported merchants seeking overseas expansion by facilitating seamless cross-border logistics and warehousing. This year’s Double 11 marked JD’s further step into international markets, capturing a growing number of cross-border sales.

Future Prospects for E-commerce in China

With China’s consumer base maturing and becoming more discerning, e-commerce companies like Tmall and JD.com will continue to balance discount-driven events with an enhanced focus on quality, convenience, and differentiated experiences.

This year’s Double 11, the “longest Double 11 in history,” has shown that these platforms are keen to elevate the value proposition for both consumers and merchants, investing in premium membership programs, cross-channel services, and more.

JD.com’s Jingzhuntong platform, along with targeted product categories and brand-building tools, promises to keep JD competitive as it focuses on personalized shopping experiences and brand differentiation.

By reducing friction points in logistics and advertising, JD aims to build a stronger foundation for merchant success and consumer satisfaction.

As both platforms adopt increasingly sophisticated strategies tailored to various consumer segments, Double 11’s role as a catalyst for innovation and growth in China’s retail landscape is only set to deepen. This evolution highlights the strategic moves by Tmall and JD.com as they continue to redefine the future of Chinese e-commerce.

Top Performers

ByteDance, Xiaomi, and SHEIN lead the list, showcasing the strength of Chinese brands in the entertainment, electronics, and fashion sectors.

Lenovo, Huawei, and AliExpress also remain strong contenders, emphasizing the diversity and innovation in China’s tech and e-commerce industries.

Sector Growth

Smart devices, automobiles, and e-commerce experienced the fastest brand power growth, with China’s industrial ecosystem and technological innovations providing a competitive edge.

Consumer electronics, entertainment apps, and online fashion account for a substantial portion of the brand power growth.

Brand Expansion

Chinese brands have successfully penetrated international markets, with notable growth in regions like Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia.

Brands like BYD and NIO in the automotive sector, and OPPO and Vivo in consumer electronics, have expanded their global footprints, contributing to the increasing brand power.

Market Trends

The report highlights a shift in consumer preferences towards brands that offer meaningful differentiation and high engagement. Brands that have successfully created unique and compelling brand experiences have seen significant growth.

There has been a notable increase in the brand power of mid-sized brands, indicating a shift from the dominance of top-tier brands to a more competitive landscape.

Notable Brand Highlights

• ByteDance: As a global leader in digital content and social media, ByteDance’s platforms like TikTok have become household names worldwide, driving significant brand recognition and engagement.
• Xiaomi: Known for its high-quality yet affordable electronics, Xiaomi continues to expand its product lines and market reach, solidifying its position as a leading global brand.
• SHEIN: The online fashion retailer has disrupted traditional retail with its fast-fashion model, capturing a significant global market share and expanding rapidly across multiple regions.
• BYD: In the automotive sector, BYD’s focus on electric vehicles has positioned it as a key player in the global shift towards sustainable transportation solutions.
• OPPO and Vivo: These smartphone giants have continued to innovate and expand their international presence, offering advanced technology and appealing to a broad consumer base.

Strategic Insights

The report suggests that the key to the success of Chinese global brands lies in their ability to offer meaningful differentiation and engage deeply with consumers. Brands that can innovate and adapt to changing consumer preferences will continue to thrive in the competitive global market.

• Consumer Engagement: Successful brands have invested in understanding and meeting the functional and emotional needs of their consumers, creating strong brand loyalty and advocacy.
• Technological Innovation: Continuous investment in technology and innovation has enabled Chinese brands to stay ahead of the curve, offering cutting-edge products that resonate with global consumers.
• Global Strategy: A tailored approach to international markets, considering local preferences and cultural nuances, has been crucial for the expansion and acceptance of Chinese brands abroad.

Top 50 Brands from Kantar BrandZ 2024 China Global Brands

1. ByteDance
2. Xiaomi
3. SHEIN
4. Lenovo
5. Huawei
6. AliExpress
7. Haier
8. TEMU
9. OPPO
10. Hisense
11. TCL
12. Tencent
13. vivo
14. Chery
15. BYD
16. Anker
17. DJI
18. MiHoYo
19. OnePlus
20. Kuaishou
21. realme
22. GWM
23. TP-LINK
24. HONOR
25. Lynk & Co
26. MAXUS
27. Insta360
28. WORX
29. Lilith
30. Century Games
31. JAC
32. Roborock
33. CHANGAN
34. Geely
35. Midea
36. DiDi
37. POCO
38. ECOVACS
39. Trip.com
40. Magic Tavern
41. Habby
42. Tsingtao Beer
43. EcoFlow
44. Infinix
45. IGG
46. Kunlun
47. eufy
48. 37Games
49. NetEase Games
50. LightInTheBox

BCG: The most innovative Chinese companies

Douyin live commerce platform is a service platform provided by Douyin for local lifestyle service businesses. It aims to help businesses market and sell their products and services on Douyin.

Short videos were the most popular type of content on the platform, accounting for 83% of total transaction volume. Short video uploads grew nearly 1.4 times, while text content uploads grew 2.68 times.

Douyin Live streaming was also a major growth driver, with transaction volume growing 5.7 times. The number of live streams that generated transactions increased fourfold, and the coverage rate of merchant self-broadcasting reached 59%, with self-broadcasting transaction volume growing 4.45 times.

Daily search volume grew 1.57 times, and transaction volume driven by search grew 2.6 times. The most popular live-streaming content categories were:

• Food: Hot/unique dishes, fast food, hot pot, regional dishes, and bakery and desserts
• Services: Massage and bathing, beauty and fitness, hairdressing, car services, and nail and eyelash art
• Travel: Travel agencies, hotels and guesthouses, theme parks, attractions, and zoos

TikTok also saw significant growth in the number of new service providers and group-buying influencers on its platform. The number of new service providers increased 1.79 times, the number of businesses working with service providers increased nearly two times, and service provider transaction volume grew nearly eight times.

The number of group-buying influencers increased 2.89 times, and over 580,000 influencers earned income from the platform. The total transaction volume of influencers grew more than 2 times, and influencer discovery shopping generated 946 billion yuan in revenue.

Chinese influencer platforms: Weibo, Douyin, Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu

There are some new “situations” in this year’s 618 festival.

On the one hand, 618 has become an important opportunity for online shopping of high value and large commodities; on the other hand, it’s also a good time for families to stock up, including the sales of home appliances, 3C, food, beauty products, and etc, which will reach the peak in the first half of the year during 618.

At the same time, many big brands lead the promotion activities, and the promotion discounts also attract many new consumers.

Smart and high-quality differentiated products have become the hot spots trends in the field of home appliances, driven by promotions from both home appliance brands and major e-commerce platforms.

Get an introduction of 618 Shopping Festival here.

80% of the enterprises, surveyed by Chinese media Yibang, participated in Tmall 618, more than half of them invested more than 30% of the 618 budget in Tmall, and 40% of the enterprises surveyed expected that more than half of the 618 sales would come from Tmall.

50% of the enterprises interviewed said that in the past year, Tmall had the highest conversion among all platforms.

CIW Dossier: 618 Shopping Festival provides a perspective of the merchants regarding the performance, advertising budget, and sales expectations on the top e-commerce platforms for 618 shopping festival.

Update (21 June 2021): During this year’s “618” (June 1-20), the State Post Bureau observed more than 6.59 billion pieces of parcels, a year-on-year increase of 24.24%, and an increase of 84.16% compared with the same period in 2019.

China’s total 618 sales in 2021 reached 578.48 billion yuan, an increase of 26.5% YoY, according to data from Syntun. Top 3 channels by total sales are Tmall, JD, and Pinduoduo. Download CIW Dossier: 618 Shopping Festival to get more sales insights.

Alibaba Tmall 618

Over 67% consider Tmall as the top platform for 618.

Among the enterprises surveyed, 51% invested more than 30% of their budgets in tmall. Among them, 10.6% of enterprises allocate more than 80% of the ad budget on the Tmall platform; most allocate 30% to 50% of their total 618 budget on Tmall.

Tmall is giving away RMB10 billion (US$1.57 billion) in consumer coupons and subsidies to help further stimulate post-Covid consumption during Tmall 618 Festival 2021.

According to the official introduction of Tmall, huge discounts will be launched from June 1 to June 20. The specific activities are as follows:

• 20 yuan off every 300 yuan purchase with a total subsidy of 10 billion yuan
• 88vip members will receive additional 520 yuan
• Beauty products at flagship stores are cheaper than duty-free stores

A total of 250,000 brands participate in this year’s Tmall 618, which is 2.5 times that of last year. A total of 13 million products participate in offering discounts, of which 1.4 million are new products.

Tmall merchants almost all started the official live streaming for this year’s 618 shopping festival. About 100 celebrities have locked in Taobao Live to interact with fans. More than 500 CEOs have already made time for Tmall 618 in the agenda to face consumers and offer more brand discounts.

For more established brands, this year’s 618 festival is all about membership engagement. Shoppers who have signed up their favorite brands’ membership on Tmall can expect more additional benefits.

Tmall 618 sales

Millions of loyalty-program members on Tmall helped drive sales for 25 brands, which had each exceeded RMB100 million in transactions on June 1.

As of June 16, brand merchants have acquired nearly 60 million new members during Tmall 618, and some saw more than 50% of the transactions come from members. On June 1 alone, the first day of Tmall 618, there were 25 brands with a turnover of over 100 million yuan from members.

Since the beginning of this year, Tmall has strengthened its membership operation. The exclusive rights and benefits of brand members will be revealed many times in the search results and commodity display pagse, and various tools such as exclusive rights and benefits of members and member interaction are also provided for merchants.

About 20 brand merchants exceeded 10 million member milestone on Tmall. Alibaba didn’t disclose detailed sales value this year.

Tmall Hey Box: Alibaba’s best seller incubator for top brands

JD.com 618

Jingdong announced it will focus on live streaming, short videos, graphics, and quiz to enrich its content marketing for the ongoing 618 Grand Promotion at a kick-off event on May 20 in Beijing.

JD.com will invite more than 300 celebrities, and executives from nearly 600 brand partners to participate in various promotions through live streaming during the promotion.

The company will also invite KOLs and celebrities to create short videos to assist promotion. More than 1,000 professional buyers or KOLs from different categories will be invited to share their favorite products to drive more traffic to JD.com.

JD will hold two galas through live streaming inviting celebrities to bring consumers the festive atmosphere of 618. Leveraging JD and WeChat’s strength, JD will offer live streaming through 10 WeChat accounts.

Over 30,000 new brands and stores were launched during 618 on JD Super, JD’s online supermarket, with over 2.4 million new products.

Shoppers in Nanjing, Jiangsu province are the most active, taking the crown for the largest order volume.

Group buying is most used in Harbin. The average amount per group buy order in the chilly capital of Heilongjiang province in Northeast China this year exceeds RMB 1,000 yuan.

Other top competitors for 618 include Kuaishou, Douyin (TikTok), Pinduoduo, and Meituan.

JD & Douyin (TikTok)

JD signed a 20 billion yuan collaboration agreement with Douyin (TikTok). And, JD’s products are integrated on Douyin in this year’s 618 festival and users can buy JD products on Douyin directly without being redirected to an external page.

JD 618 Sales

In the first three minutes on Jun. 18, JD Super, JD’s online supermarket, saw sales increase 10 times, and in the first two minutes, packaged foods exceeded RMB 300 million yuan while the maternal and baby category exceeded RMB 200 million yuan.

In the first hour on Jun. 18, JD Fresh saw sales increase 70% YOY. Looking at sub-categories, seafood, meat, eggs and poultry, and fruit and vegetables increased 160%, 105% and 80% respectively. Sales of food which require little effort to prepare increased 160%.

JD.com reported a total transaction of over RMB 343.8 billion yuan for its 18-day 618 shopping festival 2021, representing a growth of 27.7% YoY from the same period in 2020 (RMB 269.2 billion yuan).

The pet category has boomed. Post-90s consumers spent an average of RMB 507 yuan per month on pet products in 2021. During 618, smart pet products increased 47% YOY.

Luxury products. Sales of Ferragamo, TOD’s, and BALLY increased 150%, 232% and 600% respectively. In addition, over 20 designer brands saw sales increase over 15 times YoY on JD platform. Consumers continue to embrace the convenience of buying luxury products online.

Sales of imported gaming phones on JD Worldwide increased by nearly three times. Imported dry cat food increased by 108%.

During the 18-day promotion, sales of JD’s online real estate business increased 230% YOY. Sales of housekeeping and cleaning services increased 6.3 times while the order number of car maintenance increased 285%.

Genetic testing service sales increased 23 times, making it the fastest-growing category of healthcare services on Jingdong. Oral health product sales increased 447%.

The top five international brands are Aptamil from Germany, Estee Lauder from the U.S., A2 from Australia, Nintendo from Japan, and Sulwhasoo from Korea. In the fresh food category, 5 million Zespri kiwis and 260,000 durians from Thailand were sold during the 18-day sale.

Social e-commerce Pinduoduo’s road to brand upgrade

618 Sales performance of other brands and platforms

Xiaomi 618

From June 1 to 18, the total GMV across all Xiaomi’s platforms exceeded 19 billion yuan (US$29.37 bn), with a year-on-year growth of 90%.

Its sales volume of smartphones ranked first among all Android phones, the TV category won first place in the sales volume / sales values. Xiaomi 11 Pro is the best selling model on both JD and Tmall.

Xiaomi’s offline sales channels saw 123% YoY increase in total transaction values. Live streaming delivered 1.34 billion yuan in total sales, an 92% growth YoY.

Douyin (TikTok) 618

Douyin 618 started on June 1st and ended at 8 a.m. on June 19th. The top 5 best-selling brands are:

1. Chuchu (new brand)
2. WHOO
3. China Gold
4. Shepinhui
5. Huawei

Apple ranks sixth overall or second after Huawei under “3C electronics” category.

The top five are expected to have sales of more than 100 million yuan. Unfortunately, Apple, Adidas, Nike, and other international brands are not expected to exceed 100 million yuan in sales on Douyin, according to Chinese media Yibang Dongli.

Douyin saw the largest new user growth of over 392% YoY among post-00s, followed by post-90s (+225.9% YoY).

This is Apple’s second year of participation in 618 and saw a sales increase of 16% YoY, according to data from Counterpoint Research.

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Social e-commerce Pinduoduo’s road to brand upgrade

The Greater Bay Area is home to more top brands than any other region in China with 134 brands represented in the ranking.

The banking sector dominates with 85 brands accounting for 22% of total brand value in ranking, with ICBC once again crowned China’s most valuable brand.

Leading fight against health emergency, pharma sector sees greatest brand value increase, up staggering 123%. Leading the way as the sector’s most valuable brand is Sinopharm, which has recorded a 58% brand value increase to US$3.2 billion.

Retail is the second most valuable sector – with 17 brands featuring and accounting for 10% of the total brand value – and also the second-fastest-growing sector, recording a cumulative brand value growth of 54%.

The top four Chinese e-commerce brands – Taobao, Tmall, Alibaba.com, and JD.com – have all seen significant brand value growth. Taobao (brand value US$53.3 billion) and Tmall (brand value US$49.2 billion) have entered the top 10 for the first time following 44% and 60% brand value increases, respectively.

Alibaba.com’s brand value has been boosted by 108% to US$39.2 billion, simultaneously propelling the brand from 22nd to 13th – a result of a huge spike in demand. JD.com enjoyed an 82% brand value increase to US$23.5 billion, following a 30% rise in its annual shopper count.

Pinduoduo is the fastest growing brand in China, up 148% to US$6.3 billion and jumping 60 places in the ranking to 63rd. Read about Pinduoduo’s road to brand upgrade.

Perseverance of brands in investment and infrastructure development pays off – solid performances across real estate and engineering & construction sectors.

Media sector surges 33%.

• WeChat is China’s and the world’s strongest brand with a top score of 95.4 out of 100 and AAA+ brand strength rating.
• TikTok/Douyin (brand value US$18.7 billion), has taken the 24th spot as the highest new entrant.
• Bilibili up 106% to US$1.9 billion

Top 500 Chinese Brands in 2021

Members can download the list here (Excel; annual and CIW Premium subscribers).

Top Global Brands 2021

US and Chinese brands account for two-thirds of the total brand value of the world’s 500 most valuable brands, according to the latest report by Brand Finance – a brand valuation consultancy.

US brands boast a cumulative brand value of a staggering US$3.3 trillion, equating to 46% of the total brand value in the ranking. Chinese brands’ total brand value is US$1.4 trillion, equating to 20%.

Apple has overtaken Amazon and Google to reclaim the title of the world’s most valuable brand for the first time since 2016 with an impressive 87% brand value increase to US$263.4 billion and.

• Tesla leaves traditional auto marques behind with the fastest brand value growth in ranking, up 158%
  CBS is the fasting-falling brand in ranking, down 49%
• Airline and aerospace sectors account for 6 out of 10 fastest-falling brands in the ranking
• Hospitality suffers from travel and dining restrictions, as Marriott and Airbnb check out from ranking and Starbucks, McDonald’s, and KFC see brand values drop
• Mastercard’s Ajay Banga best among top 100 CEOs in Brand Finance Brand Guardianship Index 2021

Top 100 best Chinese brands, led by Alibaba and Tencent

ByteDance-owned TikTok and UC Browser (Alibaba) top App Annie‘s most downloaded app list in 2010s, ranking the 7th and 8th respectively.

By all-time consumer spend between 2010 and 2019, three video apps from China top the list: Tencent Video, iQiyi, and short-video app Kwai (Kuaishou).

Tencent’s Honour of Kings and Netease’ Fantasy Westward Journey are among the top mobile game apps by total spend in the past decade.

Check out who dominates China mobile app stores in 2019, Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, or ByteDance?

QQ (Tencent) introduced the “One-click Comment” function and managed to explored new sources of traffic. Alipay introduced the “Comment after Payment” function. WeChat (Tencent) introduced the Notification Subscription and Industry Assistant functions to support its mini-apps. TikTok launched a dedicated page for mini-apps, and at the same time introduced its Karaoke mini-app, further complementing ByteDance mini-program ecosystem.

Meituan, as a late-comer, also launched its own mini-program platform in October this year, further heating up the competition.

According to anlaytics company Aladdin’s October ranking of mini-apps, distribution of top mini-programs by category witnessed a significant change.

Online shopping mini-programs have reclaimed the top places on the list. Life services mini-programs showed outstanding performance while mini-apps in the video and travel categories dropped significantly in terms of ranking.

In the vertical markets, the Golden Week long holiday boosted the demand for portable power bank, leading to a significant climb on the list of phone charging related mini-apps.

The distribution by category of the newcomers on the list showed an apparent trend of pre-heating of the Double Eleven Festival 2019: the number of new or updated online shopping mini-apps increased significantly.

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The revenues of China’s short video market grew by over 7 times to 46.7 billion yuan (US$6.6 bn) in 2018. It’s expected to continue the fast growth and exceed 100 billion yuan (US$14.16 bn) in 2019 and 211 billion yuan (US$29.87 bn) by 2021.

The advertising revenues of China’s short video market reached 18.8 billion yuan in 2018 with an increase of 733% YoY, accounting for over 40% of total revenues in this market. It’s expected to exceed 100 billion yuan (US$14.6 bn) by 2021.

Short video apps are among the most accessed daily apps in China. Its growth in MAU remains strong. As of Jun 2019, this market saw 95.44 million new MAU, compared to 72.12 million MAU in Jun 2018. New user growth was driven by tier-3, tier-4 35 y-o and above users. Learn how Kwai (Kuaishou) grew its DAU by 50 million in 4 months here.
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Top short video apps compared: Tik Tok vs. Kwai – Part 1 Platforms, Part 2

Vlog has become the new theme of user growth competition on several video platforms in China. One of the new players who recently joined the arena is iQiyi.

iQiyi, whose main content is professional copyright videos such as movies, TV dramas and variety shows, has recently launched a Vlog application called “iQiyi Suike”, which is obviously intended to share a piece of vlog market with the leaders such as Kwai, TikTok, Bilibili, Weibo, etc.

Vlog can be regarded as a kind of “video log” with popular themes of travel, food, pets and so on. Its production is relatively simple, the creator uses the camera to record what he sees and thinks in his daily life, and then through later editing, with music, text or stickers, can produce a Vlog.

Usually, it’s a little longer than the 15-second short video on TikTok, and a little shorter than the professional copyright content on iQiyi. It’s a little more delicate than the food broadcasting on Kwai.

In order to encourage users to create Vlogs, the design of iQiyi Suike App is very simple, with only three interfaces: main feed, publishing, and personal homepage. There is no search function for vloggers or content, nor any categories of bloggers or content. Users can get content by pulling down feed pages and triggering updates.

Several video platforms have started promoting vlog since the second half of 2018. Bilibili’s vlog content upload has increased by 7.6 times in April 2019, compared with April 2018, according to 36Kr.

This month, Kwai began to test the long video, limiting the video length to more than 57 seconds, less than 10 minutes. A month ago, its competitor TikTok also started internally testing videos of up to 15 minutes long. In April, TikTok opened the limit for 15 seconds longer short videos, and the original Vlog with a duration of more than 30 seconds can participate in the “Vlog Billion Incubation Plan”.

Xigua, another video platform under the same company Bytedance as TikTok, also launched their campaigns to support vlogger this month. In comparison, Weibo’s vlogger growth mainly focuses on celebrities.

From Baidu search trend shown below, we can see a surge of interest in vlog since the second half of 2018:

However, Vlog’s current penetration rate is still very low. Nearly 60% of the users surveyed, conducted by Tencent’s Penguin Intelligence, have never heard of Vlog, and 70% of users claim to have never seen Vlog. Vlog users are currently mainly high-education female, concentrated in the first- and second-tier cities. The main platforms are Weibo and TikTok.

42% of Weibo Vlog users are post-95s (those born between 1995 and 2000) in Q1 2019, followed by post-90s (22%) and post-00s (20%), according to Eefung Software. The number of views on Weibo topic #VLOG# is 4.57 billion, and the number of users in related discussions is nearly five million.

Weibo Vloggers with over 1-million followers only account for 0.4% of the total; and, those with 10,000 or fewer followers account for 96%, according to Eefung data. The top topics covered by Weibo Vloggers are food, travel, celebrity, entertainment, and humor.

Marketing: Short Videos or Vlog?

Vlog contents, compared with seconds-length short videos on platforms like TikTok, are more difficult to create. Technical hindrance is not the real obstacle to its growth; video platforms will make it easier and more convenient for vloggers. However, high-quality vlogs take both delicate planning and good storytelling skills, which is much more challenging than creating short videos. It’s far behind short videos in terms of both quantity and quality.

Vlog is rising and trending, definitely worth marketers’ attention and experiments. The nature of vlogs is “log”, which can be easily boring, while the short videos focus on just eye-catching moments. So, it can’t be any serious threat to the popular short video content for reaching the mass audience but a very good complement to overall content mix.

To get you some sense what it could potentially do for marketing, take a look at the three videos below:

Vlog for Apple iPad Pro

In addition to feeling the atmosphere of the launch conference, experiencing the magnetic features of the new iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, they also incorporate many daily elements of New York’s food and lifestyle in vlog and present the experience content of the conference from the perspective of life.

Vlog for LV Exhibition

Louis Vuitton held a large exhibition and invited some top vloggers. The look and feel of the scene were presented in different Vlog styles. Among them, LV also provides vloggers with branded products such as clothing, shoes, handbags, and ornaments, which were also recorded in the vlogs.

Hyatt Presidential Suite

A couple on Weibo, boy Sid is Chinese, girl Kat is from the United States. In this vlog, they received an invitation from Grand Hyatt Xi’an to experience the 31,000-yuan presidential suite. With the arrangement of the hotel, Kat and Sid followed the timetable and introduced the hotel’s room profile, double room spa service, and an Italian restaurant.

The most important thing about Vlogger sharing life is to resonate with free expression to attract people in the same circle. Compared with traditional TVC or celebrity endorsement ads, Vlog gives the audience a smaller sense of distance and is more realistic, in addition to its much lower production cost.

How a popular vlog celebrity in China expanded from online to offline retail

TikTok signed a 7-billion yuan agreement with Taobao including 6 billion yuan ads and 1 billion yuan commission according to leaked news online. TikTok denied the accuracy of those numbers but the news got the attention of many in the e-commerce market.

As of 25 June 2019, the number of users who activated shopping cart functions has exceeded one million, 10 times more than last December.

During China’s mid-year shopping festival 618, active TikTok shopping cart user ratio exceeded 68%. The top 30 users referred over 400 million yuan worth of products sales.

TikTok e-commerce is originally based on short videos as the main carrier. TikTok influencers’ e-commerce sales capability is correlated to the number of fans, content categories, etc. But, live streaming is more about real-time sharing with sales techniques, with a relatively lower requirement on the number of fans.

Since the beginning of commercialization, the main way to monetize TikTok is advertising while Kwai relies on live broadcasting.

Top short video apps compared: Tik Tok vs. Kwai – Part 1 Platforms

Kwai recently hired executives from Tencent and Weibo to take up important positions. After setting a target of 300 million DAU (TikTok’s current DAU) by Chinese New Year 2020 and starting a battle mode, Kwai is no longer low-key and fully exerted its strength.

When viewing videos on Kwai app, the sharing button automatically becomes a WeChat Moments share icon, prompting users to share. Tencent opens this function only to Kwai in addition to its own short video platform Weishi.

7 Lessons for marketers on top short-video platforms: Tik Tok vs. Kwai

In January 2019, Tik Tok took the first spot of the top 20 most downloaded video/live streaming apps list with nearly 75 million downloads from App Store and Google Play overseas. Roughly 46% of its downloads came from India. The downloads of the top 20 apps grew by 167% to reach 164 million, with 55% coming from India, 5.3% from the US, and 5% from Indonesia.

Among the top 20 apps with most downloads from overseas App Store and Google Play in January 2019, Tik Tok, short video Douyin’s overseas version, took the lead, with nearly 75 million downloads from App Store and Google Play, which roughly summed that of the players ranked from second to the eighth position.

Related: ByteDance: A Chinese Mobile App Factory

India was still the biggest overseas market for Tik Tok, accounting for nearly 46% of total downloads. Then there were the US and Indonesia with a presence of 10% and 3%, respectively.

On the other hand, Huanju Shidai-backed LIKE Video was the first runner-up, whose downloads keeping rising sharply since its entry into the Indian market in September 2018. The newly released two apps Nimo TV and Yome Live also performed well and made it up to the 12th and 13th places, respectively. The game live streaming platform Game.ly Live that has focused on the Indonesian market since January 2019 saw downloads from Indonesia accounted for  97% of the total.

Combined together, the downloads of the top 20 apps reached 164 million, an increase of 167% year-on-year. To be specific, 55% of downloads came from the Indian market, 5.3% from the US, and 5% from Indonesia.

By total earnings, Guangzhou Huanju Shidai Information Technology Co., Ltd. is home to 6 apps on the list, namely, BIGO LIVE, LIKE Video, Huya Live, Nimo TV, YY, and Cube TV.

Noteworthy, Tik Tok earned US$4.5 million from the overseas market in January, which was only 23% as much as that of BIGO LIVE, though its earning had kept growing in the previous four months. 67% of its earnings came from the US, 8.5% from the UK, and 4.6% from Canada.

The total overseas earnings of BIGO LIVE amounted to nearly US$19.5 million, 40% of which derived from Sadi Arabia and 21% from the US.

Overall, the top 20 apps altogether generated over US$36 million in earnings from the overseas market in January, a 57% increase from the prior year period. Check out top video mobile apps in China.

Many people keeping an eye on the Chinese digital market know Tik Tok, which is known as Douyin in China. Not many know the company behind Tik Tok, ByteDance and its founder Zhang Yiming. ByteDance has also created several other very popular mobile apps such as Toutiao and Xigua Video.

ByteDance’s products continue to grow in international markets with a world of creators and content. As of March 2018, ByteDance’s products are available in over 40 countries and markets including China, Japan, South Korea, North America, Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, and India.

ByteDance launched three brand new mobile apps in 2018.

Pipixia, a competitor of another popular mobile app Neihanduanzi (an entertainment app, which means implied jokes), went online three months after Neihanduanzi was removed permanently from the app stores for vulgar content in April. And then, it launched an e-commerce app Zhidian in August. In early October, Xincao, offering services similar to Xiaohongshu (social e-commerce app), is available for download. Furthermore, ByteDance launched an instant messenger chat app, seen as a challenger to WeChat in mid-January 2019.

ByteDance’s major product and revenue source is the news aggregation mobile app Toutiao before 2015.

The other mobile apps are Toutiao-affiliated apps. Toutiao rose abruptly from low-tier cities, growing stronger in a tight corner. Similarly, Tik Tok sprung up right at the moment Kuaishou (Kwai) had acquired 100 million daily active users and seemed to hold its leading position in short video market for a long time.

ByteDance has over 30,000 employees in total, 10,000 of them working for commercialization, the second biggest department after the 13,000-people editorial review department. The commercial department is in charge of generating an annual 50 billion yuan revenue from Toutiao advertising. They achieved 45 billion yuan in revenue in early December 2018.

The technology department is divided into groups based on different business lines. Algorithm team that offers basic recommendation engine technology, essential for every business line at ByteDance.

ByteDance’s organization structure is good for fast product iterations. In addition, a new product often functions in the form of a virtual program, pending evaluation of the performance review. The development of a new mobile app at ByteDance usually re-use the existing modules to reduce the development cost.

It’s rare at ByteDance one person is in a fixed position for a long time. Its resources follow product development.

Once the company decides a new program, the one in charge will pick team members from three departments. Commercialization comes at a later stage; and, new user acquisition plan would also be dependent on user retention performance.

Nowadays, it becomes easy for some technology companies including ByteDance to produce the visual design of mobile apps such as layout, graphics, etc. Providing products to meet users’ need is the key. The connection between users and information is not only about manual editing but also dependent on editors’ and algorithm recommendation. The latter is the how Toutiao-affiliated apps find their ways to gain popularity.

ByteDance’s product strategy is to develop multiple products following a determined strategy and direction, followed by evaluations to see which one works best for more resources. The cost of the trial-and-error procedure is reduced to the lowest considering its mass production capacity.

In the eyes of many well-funded internet startups in China, making a giant app that serves many functions is the best. Take Meituan Dianping for example, which offers great value and is strong in user stickiness, abundant in resources, and compatible with technologies.

Rising on the mass user base of Toutiao app, one feature spins off Toutiao and becomes a separate mobile app once mature. This is how ByteDance’s other mobile apps followed the success of Toutiao, such as Dongchedi, Xigua Video, and Wukongwenda (merged into Weitoutiao in 2018). All this relies on its efforts in continuous innovation.

This article is an excerpt of CIW eBook: Secrets of ByteDance

So far, TikTok (also known as Douyin in China), Headlines Today (Toutiao)-affiliated short video platform and social network, has reached over 150 million active users and over 300 million monthly active users, according to usage statistics released by Tik Tok on 12 June 2018.

A big chance came during Lunar New Year holiday and over 40% users are aged between 24 and 30 years

The daily active users of Tik Tok soared to nearly 70 million from less than 40 million during China’s Lunar New Year holiday.

There are four main factors for Tik Tok’s fast-growth in the past year, namely, experience upgrade with full-screen HD, music that makes users feel wonderful, outstanding filters, and better shooting experiences, according to Zhi Ying, marketing general manager of Tik Tok.

According to Tik Tok’s market research, over a quarter of new users got to know Tik Tok from relatives and friends. That explains why Tik Tok could acquire so much new active users during Lunar New Year, a time when most Tik Tok users went back home for holiday and introduced Tik Tok to their relatives and friends.

Changes also revealed in users’ demography. Currently, over 40% of Tik Tok users are aged between 24 and 30 years while users aged between 18 and 24 years were the largest user group.

Diversified content becomes mainstream, covering over 19 categories

Over 50% of short videos at Tik Tok were featured with singing or dancing or camera movements before August 2017. By comparison, Tik Tok has enriched its content to cover 19 categories, of which, short videos featured with music, dancing, food, animal, fitness, family, and travel are all equally account for 5% of total short videos.

Meanwhile, government affairs, knowledge, traditional culture, technology, and photographs are also gaining popularities in this platform. For now, over 500 government institutes and media platforms have opened Tik Tok accounts.

Available in over 150 overseas countries and places, top the ranking of the most popular apps in over 40 countries

Tik Tok and musical.ly have become the most popular short video app in Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and Germany. Tik Tok and musical.ly top the ranking of most popular apps in over 40 countries, according to App Annie.

Tik Tok and musical.ly, the fast-rising apps, are available in over 150 countries and places and have acquired over 100 million overseas users, according to Zhi Ying.

Tik Tok recorded 45.8 million downloads at overseas app stores, ahead of the global most downloaded iOS apps like Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube.

Globalization is the keyword of Tik Tok’s parent company ByteDance. Overseas users are expected to account for 50% of overall Tik Tok users in three years, said Zhang Yiming, the founder and CEO of ByteDance.