ByteDance Adds New Online Purchasing Function to TikTok’s Chinese Counterpart

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ByteDance is rolling out a new online purchasing function for Douyin, the Chinese counterpart to internationally successful social media platform TikTok.

The Douyin app is currently conducting internal testing of a “discount group purchase” (优惠团购) function, according to a 25 February report from Tech Xingqiu.

The new function is similar to a service option provided by Chinese consumer platform Meituan, and focuses in particular on fine dining, food and beverage, hotel accommodation and home accommodation.

The app function is currently available in several major cities around China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Hangzhou.

The move follows the addition of an online payments function to Douyin in late January, following the acquisition of a payments license by ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming in September 2020.

Matthew Brennan, author of Attention Factory: The Story of TikTok and China’s ByteDance, said in recent interview with China Banking News that ByteDance can expected to follow the lead of other Chinese tech giants and expand into the provision of other products and services using the toehold provided by its marquee social media platform.