Comparison of TikTok and Douyin in E-Commerce and Marketing, and Insights for U.S. Brands

Introduction to TikTok and Douyin

• TikTok: TikTok is a global short-video platform launched by ByteDance, focusing on creative content, music, and entertainment. It quickly attracted a young global audience and became a globally recognized social media platform due to its advanced recommendation algorithm and easy-to-use content creation tools.
• Douyin: Douyin is the Chinese version of TikTok, tailored specifically for the Chinese market. It incorporates more features and content strategies designed for local users. Douyin is not just a short-video platform; it has deeply integrated e-commerce, social interaction, and a creator ecosystem, becoming a leader in China’s social content and e-commerce marketing.

E-Commerce Features Comparison:

Key Data:

• According to eMarketer, TikTok Shop has emerged as a key player in driving social commerce, expected to continue driving rapid e-commerce sales growth in 2024. By April 2024, TikTok’s monthly active users had surpassed 1.582 billion, with 572 million users aged 18 to 24, accounting for 36.2% of the total user base, highlighting that young people are the core consumer group for TikTok.  
• In 2024, Douyin’s e-commerce sales exceeded 15.4 billion orders, with 830 industry clusters achieving sales of over 1 billion yuan. Additionally, small and medium-sized merchants’ self-broadcast sales surpassed 659.1 billion yuan, illustrating Douyin’s strong influence in China’s e-commerce market.

How Douyin’s Advantages Can Be Applied to the U.S. Market

Douyin’s success in integrating e-commerce and marketing offers valuable lessons for U.S. brands. Here are several key advantages of Douyin and how they can be applied to the U.S. market:

• Live-Streaming Sales: Douyin’s live-streaming sales model has become mainstream in China, with merchants collaborating with KOLs, celebrities, and influencers to drive significant sales. U.S. brands can adopt this model on TikTok by partnering with celebrities or influencers that align with the product’s vibe and target audience. For example, if you are a women’s fashion brand, you could collaborate with well-known female singers or actresses to host live-streaming events. Not only can they showcase the clothing as models, but their fanbase is likely to consist mostly of women, which makes them ideal for promoting your product. During the live event, they can highlight the features of your brand and products, encouraging their followers to make immediate purchases through embedded purchase links. TikTok’s live-streaming feature allows brands to connect directly with their audience, display the products in action, and drive real-time sales efficiently.
• Social E-Commerce Model: Douyin’s social commerce model blends short video content with social interaction, where users not only watch but actively participate in the brand’s marketing through comments, shares, and other engagement. U.S. brands can take advantage of TikTok’s features to encourage user participation and amplify social media-driven marketing. For instance, a brand could create a Hashtag Challenge on TikTok that encourages users to share videos of themselves using a product, spreading the word organically and fostering greater user engagement. This drives product awareness and trust through user-generated content (UGC), which has proven to be highly effective in social commerce.
• E-Commerce and Content Creation Integration: Douyin successfully combines e-commerce with content creation, allowing creators to directly promote and sell products through short videos. U.S. brands can leverage TikTok’s creative content features by collaborating with influencers to produce engaging and authentic videos that seamlessly integrate products into everyday life. For example, a brand could partner with a home décor creator on TikTok to feature their product in a lifestyle video, making it appear as a natural part of the creator’s routine. Since TikTok users tend to trust products endorsed by influencers they follow, creative content is key to converting engagement into actual sales.

By combining creative content with e-commerce, brands can leverage TikTok to enhance their brand influence and achieve significant sales conversion.