Douyin Launches Flagship Stores for Brands

The Chinese version of short video app TikTok has launched flagship storefronts for brand accounts on its platform, in a new move to help it move further into the e-commerce space, according to a Dao Insights report.

The stores promote new products, popular items, livestreams and the distribution of vouchers, which can be used both online or offline. According to Douyin, more than 220 brands, including Winona, Peacebird, and Perfect Diary have already introduced flagship stores with international brands, many of whom are active on the platform, likely to follow suit.

Douyin-owner, ByteDance, set up its e-commerce department in June 2020 and said its gross merchandise volume (GMV) has so far exceeded 500 billion yuan ($77.5 billion), including transactions on its Douyin Xiaodian marketplace and deals directed to third-party e-commerce platforms such as JD.com and Taobao.

In January, Douyin unveiled a payment service as part of its effort to build a closed loop e-commerce business and promoted the service during the China’s Spring Festival Gala on CCTV, for which it was a major sponsor.

This year, Douyin has set a target of 1 trillion yuan ($150 billion) in GMV, which would place it amongst the top echelon of e-commerce players in the China market.