WeChat and Douyin search boxes add a new e-commerce entrance, creating a new engine?

With the deep integration of social and search functions, the competition among e-commerce platforms has entered a new stage. This article will explore the business logic and potential impact behind this change, and how it will shape the future landscape of the e-commerce industry.

WeChat and Douyin have both increased the weight of e-commerce, and have added e-commerce channels called small shops and stores in their respective search entrances. This is also the first time that WeChat has added a fixed e-commerce entrance, and its importance is self-evident.

As two super platforms, Douyin and WeChat have chosen to add e-commerce entrances in their search entrances, which has great significance and value.

From the perspective of the platform's own development, adding an e-commerce portal will help achieve diversified development. Douyin is centered on short video content, and WeChat is based on social communication. By introducing e-commerce business, both can further expand their business areas and increase their sources of income.

At the same time, the development of e-commerce business will also feed back to other businesses of the platform, such as promoting content creation and enhancing user stickiness. The platform can integrate resources to create a complete ecosystem and provide users and merchants with more comprehensive and higher-quality services.

In addition, the newly added e-commerce entrances of Douyin and WeChat are different from traditional e-commerce platforms. They focus more on social interaction and content marketing. Merchants can attract users' attention by making short videos and conducting live broadcasts. This new e-commerce model has brought new ideas and vitality to the entire industry.

The combination of search and e-commerce also has positive feedback. According to data from Bytedance, in the search for commercial traffic, 40% of users search for "products" and 44% search for "services". Accordingly, in 2023, Douyin's product search GMV increased by 143.8%.

There is no doubt that the increase in new e-commerce entrances will increase the weight of e-commerce within the platform, and e-commerce remains the core business that major platforms are focusing on building.

1. WeChat and Douyin e-commerce are eyeing search positions

Tech Planet has exclusively learned that store type entrances have been added to the search bars in Douyin and WeChat.

In the first half of this year, Douyin added a "shop" entrance to Douyin e-commerce in addition to the original "product" entrance in the search bar. In August, WeChat upgraded the video account store to WeChat store and added a "shop" entrance in WeChat search.

From the experience point of view, the services provided by the two entrances are the same. In addition to displaying the merchant's store by searching for keywords, the store's product pictures and prices can also be displayed.

Figure: Entrance to Douyin store and WeChat store

Take the "shop" in WeChat search as an example. After searching by keyword, WeChat shops matching the keyword will be displayed. Click to enter and you can enter the shop. The shop has related products, and consumers can place orders according to their own needs, just like online shopping.

Figure: WeChat store interface

From searching to purchasing, and then to completing the order, the entire shopping process is relatively convenient.

From a product perspective, adding this type of e-commerce portal to the search bar will undoubtedly improve users' purchasing efficiency and merchants' product exposure opportunities.

For users, it provides greater convenience. They can search and purchase products directly through the e-commerce portal in the search portal without switching to a dedicated e-commerce platform. This one-stop shopping experience saves users’ time and energy and improves shopping efficiency.

This is undoubtedly a huge opportunity for merchants. Douyin and WeChat have a huge user base and extremely high user activity. Adding e-commerce entrances means that merchants can reach potential customers more directly. By promoting and selling products on these two platforms, merchants can expand their brand influence and increase product exposure. Moreover, the social attributes of the platform allow merchants to spread word of mouth through user sharing, likes, etc., reducing marketing costs and increasing sales conversion rates.

2. Finding new growth engines for e-commerce

The e-commerce industry is entering a brand new "new search era", mainly due to the continuous "searchization" of social platforms and the increasingly diversified trend of traffic entrances. E-commerce has also shown three key changes in the search field.

First, the number of search platforms available to users has increased significantly. According to GroupM Knowledge's data in 2023, the average number of search platforms used by users reached 4.5, a significant increase of 42% compared to 2022. Common search scenarios include knowledge acquisition and consumer decision-making assistance.

Secondly, there has been a clear migration in e-commerce search behavior. Today's consumers will conduct a global "search" when conducting a consumption activity. The search penetration rate or traffic of content platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu continues to rise. Data released by the ByteDance platform in 2023 showed that the volume of Douyin searches has increased more than three times in three years, and the average daily e-commerce search volume has increased by 93%. Xiaohongshu pointed out in the "2024 Xiaohongshu Search Promotion White Paper" that 70% of monthly active users have search behavior.

Finally, e-commerce search behavior shows generalized characteristics. On traditional e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and JD.com, searches usually correspond to clear needs, and users mainly compare prices, inquire about prices, or learn basic information about products to make shopping decisions. However, on content community platforms such as Douyin and Xiaohongshu, e-commerce-related search behaviors are relatively vague, and their starting point may simply be confusion caused by a certain life scenario.

Against this backdrop, content platforms such as WeChat, Douyin, and Xiaohongshu have all increased their e-commerce presence in the search field.

In terms of effect, adding store entrances in search not only increases the exposure of merchants, but also increases order opportunities. For merchants, especially brand merchants, opening store entrances on Douyin and WeChat establishes direct sales channels to consumers, reduces dependence on traditional e-commerce platforms, and enables better control of sales processes and customer relationships, thereby enhancing their own brand influence and market competitiveness.

A small WeChat store selling beef told Tech Planet that their store has sold over 1,000 orders in less than two months since its launch. The backend shows that in addition to the video account, a large part of the orders come from search, accounting for about 20%.

On Douyin, the proportion of sales brought to merchants through the store entrance of Douyin search may be even higher. A Douyin e-commerce brand merchant operator told Tech Planet that he learned in July this year that the location of merchant stores was added to Douyin search. This is undoubtedly a good thing for merchants because it can increase exposure. The conversion rate of their own products through search is about 40%. In addition, the store entrance of the search bar also supports the display of real-time live broadcast images, which can further create a shopping atmosphere.

The merchant operator also said that although the store, as a new e-commerce portal, has brought new opportunities to merchants, it undoubtedly has higher and stricter requirements for merchants. For example, the store searched on Douyin will directly display the store's sales, reputation, and number of fans, which requires merchants to improve in terms of price, quality, and after-sales service.

3. Has increasing investment in e-commerce become the top priority for major platforms?

With the development of the e-commerce industry, e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, Douyin E-commerce, Pinduoduo, and JD.com have adjusted the priorities of their business objectives around multiple dimensions such as weakening "price power" and AI.

After the 618 event this year, Taotian Group has made it clear that the search rights will no longer be based on "five-star price power" but will be allocated based on GMV. This means that Taotian Group has begun to withdraw from low-price competition and pay more attention to indicators such as transaction amount and average consumption amount.

Douyin e-commerce has also adjusted its business objectives and priorities, no longer putting "price power" first, and will focus on pursuing GMV growth in the second half of the year. In addition, after the internal organization of Douyin e-commerce was adjusted, it guided merchants to provide different product packages from other platforms to avoid falling into price competition.

Pinduoduo has also adjusted its business focus, shifting from pursuing commercialization and "absolutely low prices" to making GMV growth its top priority. Previously, Pinduoduo had maintained a GMV growth rate of more than 40% for a long time, but its domestic business growth in the first half of this year was lower than expected. The GMV growth rate of the main e-commerce site in each quarter in the first half of the year was below 30%, and the growth rate in the second quarter was lower than that in the first quarter. In order to consolidate the basic domestic business and maintain its own advantages, Pinduoduo has set the improvement of GMV as the first priority.

In addition, generative AI is widely used in the field of e-commerce. Alibaba has put its efforts into AI across all its businesses. For example, Taotian Group and Alibaba International Digital Business Group have established complete AI teams. So far, Taotian Group has launched AI tools such as intelligent model image generation, official customer service robots, and Wanxiangtai Unbounded Edition for merchants. Taobao has also launched the AI ​​smart assistant "Taobao Ask".

JD.com, Baidu e-commerce, Douyin e-commerce, etc. have tried to use AI to generate product images, use digital people to live broadcast and sell goods, and automatically generate short videos from store dynamics.

It is foreseeable that e-commerce will remain an important topic that major platforms cannot avoid for a long time in the future.

Text | Chen Qiaohui