Users could unlock free movie tickets, vouchers and cash subsidies by inviting friends to team up.
In addition, Douyin gave out movie-related incentives worth 400 million yuan to encourage friends and family to watch films together during Chinese New Year. More envelopes are also given out over the Golden Week. From there, they can transfer it to their bank account or use it to buy things in Douyin stores. The money from them goes into the user’s Douyin wallet. Once the hosts announce this, people have about 10 minutes to go on their phones and use Douyin’s app and an online game to collect virtual lucky red envelopes. On New Year’s Eve, during the gala’s live broadcast all over China, the hosts announce 5 rounds of red packet collection. WeChat, Baidu and Kuaishou all spent huge amounts of money vying for the role.ĭouyin promoted its sponsorship by promising 2 billion RMB worth of red packets. The gala averages 1 billion views every year and these rights give platforms access to a huge traffic pool. On January 26th, Douyin announced that it had exclusive red envelope interaction rights for the 2020 Spring Festival Gala. In 2020, the app established an e-commerce department and in January, 2021, along with news of its Spring Festival Gala role, Douyin Pay was officially launched.īytedance and Douyin’s entry into the “social + payment + e-commerce” space is now a reality,īut it remains to be seen whether they can make a dent in the sector given strong user dependence on Alipay and WeChat Pay.ĭouyin’s 2 billion RMB Chinese New Year slogan This year, the launch of Douyin’s payment function, along with its primary role during the gala, means that Douyin Pay, and its parent company Bytedance, may now be a viable third competitor in the online payment space.īytedance’s and Douyin’s payment ambitions weren’t a secret. Since then, they have been the big two competing in the online payments game. It expertly leveraged new year red envelopes to hugely boost the payment app’s usage.
Conclusion History repeats itself, with a twistĭuring the 2014 Spring Festival, WeChat Pay was the new kid on the block for online payments.