Kuaishou, China’s second-largest short video app by monthly active users (MAUs), has sold more than RMB 100 million (USD 14 million) in goods via its platform between August 28 and August 30. Among the products, trousers, toothpaste, and T-shirts were the most popular items, according to a company’s press release.
Kuaishou, which had 341 million MAUs in June, said videos related to these goods were viewed more than 200 million times during a three-day promotion called Kaopu Haohuojie, which means Trustworthy Goods Festival.
Kuaishou has integrated JD.com, Pinduoduo, Tmall, and Taobao on its platform, KrASIA reported in June. Under this feature, Kuaishou lets users demonstrate products listed on these e-commerce sites, via a channel called Kuaishou Small Stores.
During the three-day promotion, Kuaishou labeled a series of ‘trustworthy’ products from the stores within its platform rated above 4.8 out of 5 by customers.
When a user wants to buy a product they see on a Kuaishou’s video, they will be then directed to the e-commerce site where the product is listed and the transaction will be completed there, a system similar to how affiliate links work.
The recent news shows that e-commerce has turned out to be an important means for Kuaishou to monetize its huge user base, beyond collecting revenues from live streaming and ad sales.
The company, which has Tencent among its clients, aims to generate RMB 30 billion (USD 4.36 billion) in revenue for 2019, according to Chinese media outlet Jiemian.
ByteDance’s Douyin, China’s largest short video app, which has a similar version called TikTok overseas, has also tapped into e-commerce by allowing vendors such as Xiaomi and JD.com to integrate mini programs into its app, although has not revealed transaction values by now. MAUs for Douyin, as well for its Watermelon and Volcano short video apps, combined hit 588 million in June.