(Yicai Global) Feb. 8 -- Short-video platform Douyin has no plans to launch a nationwide takeaway service next month, an insider at TikTok’s sister app in China told Yicai Global.

Douyin is testing takeaway services in some pilot cities in cooperation with Ele.me, the person said yesterday. The firm also has a group-buying delivery business that is still undergoing tests in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu, the person added, noting that a gradual expansion of the pilot project will be considered in the future, but there is no timetable yet.

Media reports earlier the same day said Douyin will launch a food delivery service in China on March 1, with tests ongoing in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou.

Douyin is not familiar with the takeaway business, Pan Helin, co-chair of the digital economy and financial innovation research center at Zhejiang University’s International Business School, told Yicai Global. The Beijing-based firm will explore the food delivery business, but short videos and social media will remain the core of its business, he said.

Douyin’s local life service business cannot compete with Chinese takeaway giant Meituan at present, Cui noted.

It was entirely predictable that local life service providers would get into the takeaway business, said Cui Lili, director of the Institute of Electronic Commerce at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. Traffic is Douyin’s core competitiveness, and local life services are a way of monetizing that, Cui added.

But in the short term, the focus of the competition will remain between Meituan and Ele.me only, Pan predicted.

Douyin and rival Kuaishou have entered the local life services business in recent years. At the end of 2021, Meituan said it would launch a mini program on Kuaishou under the food and beverage category after Douyin started offering group-buying and takeaway delivery services to some F&B chains that opened accounts on the platform, including Kentucky Fried Chicken and Heytea.

Last August, Douyin joined hands with Meituan rival Ele.me on takeaway services, including allowing Douyin users to order food on Ele.me through the short-video app.

Douyin Life Service announced on Dec. 5 that it would work with partners to initiate a group-buying delivery service to help vendors deliver meals. The firm later joined hands with the on-demand delivery platforms of Dada Nexus, SF Express, and iShansong to deliver in cities for caterers.

Editor: Futura Costaglione