What’s up with…? - Part 5: WeChat Channels
Tencent’s progress in the world of short video and livestreams
Things that caught our attention
Things that caught our attention
In March, Temu will open a marketplace for US merchants and later add European merchants (this will be parallel to their 'fully managed model' for Chinese sellers). (source) Read more about Temu’s progress in our recent update about the platform.
On January 24, 2024, Yu Yongfu, chairman of Alibaba Local Life Group and CEO of Ele.me, refuted the rumours of Ele.me being sold to Bytedance to all employees on the company's intranet. (source) To read more about the rumoured acquisition and why Bytedance would be interested in Ele.me, check out our recent update on Douyin Local Service.
Introduction
In this edition of the series of updates on some of our most important topics of 2023, we take a look at how well WeChat Channels fared last year.
In March 2023, we reported how WeChat had finally launched a successful short video app inside WeChat after failed attempts at stand-alone apps. In a speech, Tencent's CEO called WeChat Channels ‘the hope of the whole company’, stressing the importance of the competition for consumers’ app-time spent with Douyin and Kuaishou.
In this article, we will share the latest available data and developments surrounding WeChat Channels, which has grown into a serious new channel for advertising and e-commerce. We will also explore what sets it apart from Douyin and Kuaishou, both in strengths and weaknesses.
This is the last update in our shorter, weekly ‘What’s up with …’ series (for now). Next week, we will return to longer reports and a bi-weekly schedule.
This is also an exclusive post for paid subscribers. With next week’s regular update, we will bring back the preview. If you are not a paid subscriber yet and want to get access to full-length articles and a complete archive of reports, please support us by getting a paid subscription.
Freya Zhang and Ed Sander, Research Editors
Rui Ma, Consulting Editor
(click on the images above for information on the Tech Buzz China team)