[eMarketer] Chinese short-video apps are racing to expand their social commerce offerings

Short-video leaders Douyin (TikTok’s sister app) and Kuaishou (known outside of China as Kwai) have been expanding their social commerce operations, not just to sell products, but to provide services and other forms of content as well.

Since the popularity of short video exploded in China in 2017, it has turned into somewhat of a national obsession. Though similar to TikTok in the West, Douyin features content specific to China and has more commerce capabilities.

The internationally lesser-known Kuaishou—which went public in Hong Kong on February 5—has a bigger footprint in China’s lower-tier cities and rural areas and offers a window into the lives of ordinary people.

In December 2020, 64.9% of Kuaishou users were based in cities Tiers 3 and lower, compared with 58.7% for Douyin, per data analytics company QuestMobile.

According to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), there were 873.4 million short-form video platform users in China as of the end of 2020, or 88.3% of the country’s internet users. Kuaishou reported that its users spent, on average, more than 86 minutes on the platform per day between Q1 2020 and Q3 2020.

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