China’s Version of TikTok to Begin Delivering Food in March 2023

Do you ever get hungry while watching cooking tutorials or food reviews on TikTok? Don’t worry, as you aren’t alone in this. TikTok’s sister app Douyin, which has 700 million daily users in the Chinese mainland, will soon double as a food delivery platform in what could be an effort to tap this market of hungry content consumers.

The company will officially launch an in-app meal delivery channel from March 2023 onwards. Internal tests are already underway in three Chinese megacities: Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

The announcement hasn’t been surprising, given that Douyin launched its grocery delivery service in early February. The app’s venture into food delivery might have something to do with an agreement it struck with the takeout platform Ele.me in August 2022.

China’s food delivery services have long been dominated by two major players, Meituan and Ele.me. Both brands’ sales account for 95% of the market share, with Meituan alone accounting for almost 70%.

Douyin’s announcement has sparked fierce discussions online, and a related hashtag had amassed more than 700 million views on Weibo, China’s top microblogging site, at the time of writing.

Many netizens are happy to see a new industry player, especially a tech giant like Douyin, saying that competition would be healthy for consumers, restaurants, and delivery drivers.

“The more merchants pay Meituan, the higher they rank when people search for food on the platform. This has made it difficult for me to find actual good food. Douyin already knows what I watch every day and my consumer habits, so I assume the restaurants it pushes to me will be more my taste,” opined a Weibo user.

That said, Douyin still has an uphill battle to fight against China’s delivery giants, and whether its new venture will fare well remains to be seen.

For more on food delivery in the Chinese mainland, check out RADII’s latest mini-documentary, The Hidden Price Behind Your Food Delivery Choices, sponsored by East West Bank.

Cover image via VCG