Douyin Denies Takeaway-Related Business Plans

On October 14, media reports surfaced that ByteDance’s mini program “Xindong takeaway” was approved for registration on Monday. The relevant person in charge of the short video sharing platform Douyin responded that there is no takeaway-related business plan at present, and that the investment and agency information on the market were untrue.

According to previous media reports, Douyin, a subsidiary of Beijing-based internet services firm ByteDance, set up a team for the takeaway business in July this year, and carried out an internal testing in its app. This business is called “Xindong Waimai.” In September, Douyin responded to the reports, saying that “there was a business attempt before, but it has been stopped.”

ByteDance has been targeting the local life sector since the second half of 2020. In November 2020, Douyin launched the “Heart Restaurant” activity, including 600 restaurants in six cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Chengdu. Douyin users can nominate restaurants to participate in the selection by making real video shoots and posting it with restaurants’ position and activity hashtag. Then, they can launch the “scan code to order” function at the same time. Users scan the QR code on the dining table through the Douyin app and jump to the ordering page.

In December 2020, Douyin launched its “City Player” campaign to encourage its users to shoot videos of exploring restaurants. This year, “Eat, Drink and Play” and “Trends” sections were added to the the platform’s city page.

SEE ALSO: ByteDance’s “Xindong Waimai” Food Delivery Service Mini Program Receives Approval

The two giants in China’s food delivery market are Meituan and Ele.me. According to a financial channel of state broadcaster CCTV, by the end of 2020, the number of total food delivery orders nationwide would reach 17.12 billion, up 7.5% year-on-year. The number of food delivery users in China is close to 500 million, and the market space is still vast.