ByteDance jumps into ride-hailing in China with Douyin in monetisation push into local services sector
- Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, has started to offer aggregated ride-hailing services in its mini-app platform
- The move comes after Douyin struck a partnership with several major on-demand delivery platforms to offer food delivery services
Chinese short video and social media giant ByteDance is quietly expanding service offerings on the domestic version of TikTok, in its latest attempt to turn the app’s popularity into profit.
Douyin, TikTok’s mainland Chinese version, has started offering ride-hailing services, including T3Go, through its mini-app platform. The move could stir up fresh competition in a market bruised by an onslaught of regulatory crackdowns and pandemic restrictions over the past few years.
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That new initiative, first reported by local media site Tech Planet, shows the ambition of short video app Douyin, which has 600 million daily active users in China, to turn into an e-commerce and local services platform.
Douyin’s push into the ride-hailing sector by aggregating services provided by other companies is still at an early stage. The T3Go mini-app – accessible to all Douyin users, but tucked away in a folded menu that takes a few clicks to reach – appears to take reservations only at this point.
Another ride-hailing service, Qiancheng Chuxing, is only available in a few cities of southwestern Guizhou province.
Douyin is looking to work with service providers from a wide range of sectors, but has no plans to launch its own ride-hailing platform, according to a report by Chinese media outlet The Paper, citing people close to the company.
A Douyin open platform spokesperson said in a statement that the company welcomes “service providers and developers from different industries”, and that it aims to connect its users safely with service providers.
