Bytedance Wades Into Lifestyle Sector With Kesong App in China: Details

TikTok’s Chinese proprietor ByteDance is searching for its subsequent huge hit by wading deeper into the approach to life sector of social media with Kesong, a buying and life-style suggestions app just like market chief Xiaohongshu. Kesong, launched final week, permits customers to share images, movies and write-ups of style suggestions and buying experiences. It emulates Xiaohongshu, typically likened to Meta Platforms’ Instagram and which is broadly thought-about the embodiment of “planting grass” – the notion that critiques can entice readers or followers to purchase a services or products.

Fashion and luxurious manufacturers typically flip to Xiaohongshu’s influencers who can attain tens of millions of prosperous customers in China. Overseas, Xiaohongshu is called Red in nations together with Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Canada and the United States.

Hardware and software program maker ByteDance was valued at round $300 billion (roughly Rs. 23,96,200 crore) in current trades and has change into referred to as one thing of an app manufacturing facility. It has produced a string of hits from information aggregator Toutiao to quick video app Douyin and its abroad equal TikTok, China’s most profitable app overseas.

It tried its hand at a “planting grass” app in 2018 with the short-lived Xincao. It tried once more in 2020 with Sharee, aimed toward abroad markets. Later renamed Lemon8, the app has over one million downloads in Japan and has expanded into Thailand.

Lemon8 is exploring the potential of increasing into Australia, two folks on the firm instructed Reuters.

The app is overseen by Alex Zhu, senior vice chairman of product and technique at ByteDance and previously TikTok head, the 2 folks mentioned, declining to be recognized as they weren’t authorised to talk with media.

“ByteDance is very determined to crack the ‘high-brow’ market (with Kesong and Lemon8) to achieve a higher ARPU,” one of many folks mentioned, referring to common income per person.

ByteDance didn’t reply to a request for remark.

© Thomson Reuters 2022