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