Hi folks, we are back with our weekly edition of China’s Digital Digest, wherein we bring you weekly updates on China’s digital space. The report takes a quick glance at China’s complex and rapidly evolving social media landscape by providing updates on the latest happenings across the social media industry. Here are the major highlights of the report.
1. Alibaba’s Taobao Cuts Fees For Merchants And Subsidizes Content
Taobao, the main e-commerce platform of Alibaba Group Holding, has decided to increase subsidies and cut fees for merchants as China’s largest online marketplace moves to defend its lead amid increasing competition, according to local media reports.
The moves came at a time when Alibaba is refocusing its resources on its core operations to fend off rivals including PDD Holdings, Kuaishou Technology and ByteDance-owned Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. Recently, Douyin launched a stand-alone shopping app, Douyin Mall, for Android users in China. Taobao will cancel fees for two other services – an artificial intelligence (AI) customer service chatbot for merchants with less than 2,000 customers a day and a photo storage service with a capacity of up to 30 gigabytes.
2. Douyin Launches Shopping App to Rival Alibaba, JD.Com, PDD
Douyin, the Chinese sister app of TikTok, has introduced a stand-alone e-commerce platform on the mainland, ratcheting up the competition against domestic online shopping stalwarts Alibaba Group Holding, JD.com and Pinduoduo operator PDD Holdings.
Douyin Mall was launched as a downloadable app for Android users in mainland China, the world’s largest smartphone market. This initiative escalates ByteDance’s efforts to expand the reach of its social media operation into a potentially large e-commerce revenue stream, as the firm’s overall sales last year surged to more than US$110 billion on the back of its nascent online retail business via Douyin on the mainland and TikTok overseas.
3. ByteDance Raises Annual Bonus For High-Performing Employees Amid Restructuring
ByteDance has pledged to raise annual bonuses for high-performing employees, as the tech unicorn continues to reduce its workforce and deals with the latest crisis facing its flagship app TikTok’s operations in the United States.
While employees have started to receive their bonuses for the past year based on their performance review, those who were rated “M” or higher will be rewarded with extra payment of between 5 percent to 15 percent of their original bonus, according to Hua Wei, head of human resources at ByteDance, in an internal email. The firm’s M rating, which stands for “meet expectations”, is the fifth highest of eight classifications that most company workers can achieve. It usually comes with a bonus worth an employee’s three-month salary.
4. ByteDance’s Lark Announces Organizational Adjustments and Layoff to Enhance Efficiency
The CEO of ByteDance’s Lark (also known as Feishu), has sent a letter to all employees announcing a new round of organizational adjustments and appropriate downsizing.
The letter revealed that while the business has made certain breakthroughs, the team also identified issues within the organization: the team size is relatively large, but the organization is not lean enough. Everyone has felt a decrease in efficiency and a lack of focus, which is not conducive to long-term business development.
Xie Xin stated that after repeated discussions and very careful decisions, the team decided to make some adjustments and appropriately streamline the team size. Regrettably, some colleagues will have to leave as a result. At the same time, the team will provide support for those affected, offering compensation plans or opportunities for job transfers to help them transition smoothly.
5. ByteDance Launches AI Interaction App ‘BagelBell’
ByteDance launched an AI character interaction app called “BagelBell,” sparking attention toward its exploration of the AI social track. “BagelBell” was developed by ByteDance’s Flow department. It is learned that the Flow department belongs to ByteDance’s Product Development and Engineering Department (internally referred to as “PDI”).
Wrapping Up
The vast and diverse nature of the Chinese Social Media space makes it incredibly challenging to keep a tab on the rapid developments taking place. However, China’s Digital Digest brings you all the latest updates from there to keep you abreast of all the evolving trends.
To delve deeper into the findings of our latest report, click here.