Short video competitive product analysis report!

Short video apps occupy a large amount of people's fragmented time. Short video platforms have also evolved from the initial UGC to live streaming, and then to the current e-commerce live streaming, and from the initial fragmented time to watching live streaming and shopping in full scenes.

1. Industry Background

1.1 Political environment

In August 2014, in order to implement the central government's deployment, we vigorously implemented the innovation-driven development strategy and actively promoted the digitalization, networking and intelligent development of traditional media. In 2016, with the establishment of various independent short video platforms and the initial exploration of short video content formats by traditional paper media, short video formats have attracted more and more attention from media and content producers. This undoubtedly provides a huge market development space for the short video app market.

1.2 Development Environment

With the accelerated development of domestic mobile Internet, short videos have become an important way for users to obtain information in daily life. According to iResearch’s user survey data in April 2020, short videos ranked first among the content forms that users have been exposed to in the past. iResearch's data monitoring product UserTracker also shows that as of June 2020, the short video penetration rate among mobile Internet users has reached 65.8%. With the implementation and accelerated popularization of 5G networks, the scale of short video users is expected to continue to grow.

Compared with traditional text and image formats, short videos combine audio and pictures, carry large and rich information, which conforms to the current fragmented reading scenarios and people's habit of obtaining information efficiently. They are easy to share and spread, and are especially in line with the dissemination needs of information content.

Figure 1 (Source: iResearch)

1.3 Economic Environment

At present, mainstream media are accelerating the construction of short video platforms, and various short video platforms are also accelerating the exploration of various commercial models, feeding back the production of high-quality information short video content through the sale of video copyrights, content co-production, and traffic advertising monetization. The benefits of the mobile Internet short video industry have become more prominent during the epidemic, with the average daily app usage time reaching 6.7 hours per person.

1.4 Social Background

In the new media era, short videos and live broadcasts have developed rapidly in just a few years, driving the continuous upgrading of information dissemination forms and have become an important way for mainstream media to display information. Driven by policies, traditional media have actively developed the content dissemination of "two micros and one end" (WeChat, Weibo, and news clients), and information short videos have become their key development area. Taking the TikTok App as an example, as of August 2020, there were 31 mainstream media accounts with more than 10 million followers under the "Current Affairs" tag.

The short video format with a strong Internet gene has brought new inspiration to serious and rigid traditional media, broadened the content boundaries of information, and created more short videos that reflect social economy and human nature in addition to "hard news" such as society, economy, and current affairs.

1.5 Technological Development

The maturity of Internet technology has made it possible for personalized and interest-oriented technologies to more accurately locate people. The rapid development of 4G networks and the popularity of WiFi hotspots allow people to browse pictures and videos conveniently and quickly for selection, which greatly improves people's experience in browsing short videos and greatly promotes the development of short video apps. The advent of the 5G network era will usher in a new round of development climax for short videos.

2. Competitive Product Analysis

2.1 Competitive product information

2.2 Development History

The above is the development history of Douyin and Kuaishou, from which we can see:

In the early days, Douyin defined its product as a social software. It imported KOLs in batches from Meipai and took over celebrity resources from Toutiao, and engaged in fan communication with KOLs as the core. At the same time, it acquired the North American music short video social platform Musical.ly, but its user base is still relatively small. However, in June 2018, it subsequently signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the SASAC News Center and other central enterprise media alliances, including signing celebrities, and coupled with fun and interesting cool animations and music, it attracted other media and a large number of users to join; the cooperation with the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in 2019 and 2021 carried out all-round and in-depth cooperation in the fields of short video promotion and social interaction, further mobilizing the vast number of young user groups.

Kuaishou, as the first generation "boss" of short videos, was formerly a mobile phone application used to create and share GIF images. It changed from "GIF Kuaishou" to "Kuaishou". In the early days, it transformed its business, from a tool to a short video community, and entered the era of short videos. After some users shared short videos about their personal lives on the platform, they exploded on the Internet, thereby quickly attracting a large number of users to join. Later, through sponsorship of various variety shows for publicity and various creative incentives, it became well-known to friends across the country, and the number of users gradually increased. In 2019 and 2020, we acquired a large number of new users through cooperation with the Spring Festival Gala red envelope interaction and the exclusive interactive partner of the 2020 Spring Festival Gala, respectively, which increased the number of users to a greater extent and even became one of the topics of discussion among people after dinner for a period of time.

2.3 User Market

Figure 2 (Source: Aurora)

According to Aurora data, the penetration rate of Douyin App in March 2020 increased by 10.9% year-on-year compared with March 2019, and the average DAU increased by 85.2% compared with last year; while the penetration rate of Kuaishou App increased by 9.8% compared with March 2019, and the average DAU increased by 45.4% compared with last year. If Douyin can maintain its current user growth rate, its annual active users will surpass Kuaishou by early next year. I believe the main reasons are as follows:

First, the average DAU of Douyin is comparable to that of Kuaishou, and they are in a situation of chasing each other and neither is willing to give in.

Second, it announced a strategic cooperation with the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in early 2021, which not only provided sufficient publicity, but also proved its hard power. Coupled with the exposure and conversion of such a large scale of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, I believe that Douyin's annual active users will significantly exceed that of Kuaishou.

2.4 User Distribution

2.4.1 Geographical distribution

Figure 3 (Source: Baidu Index)

Figure 4 (Source: Baidu Index)

From the data of Baidu Statistics, we can see that the geographical distribution of Douyin and Kuaishou users is mainly concentrated in coastal cities. This is because the pace of life in coastal cities is faster, users are under greater pressure in life, and are more prone to anxiety than in other regions. Short videos can give them a short period of relaxation and partially release their mental stress, which greatly prompts them to use short video apps more frequently.

By comparison, it is not difficult to find that compared with Kuaishou, the geographical distribution of Douyin users is not only in coastal areas, but also has a certain number of groups distributed in southwest and south my country. Generally speaking, Douyin covers more southern users, with more users in first- and second-tier cities, while Kuaishou has more users in the north.

In my personal analysis, I think that one reason has a lot to do with the differences and content between the two. For example, Douyin has more display of beauty, various beautiful and handsome young ladies and brothers, and various cool special effects; Kuaishou tends to be more life-oriented, with more truth, kindness and beauty of rural people, inspirational stories and street art, etc. The second is that Douyin has had two strategic collaborations with the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. Such a large-scale exposure during the Spring Festival Gala has brought different degrees of publicity to different user groups in various regions of my country.

2.4.2 Age and gender distribution

Figure 5 (Source: Baidu Index)

The age of users of the two products is mainly concentrated between 20 and 39 years old, which is the stage when people in this age group work hard. Short videos can temporarily reduce their anxiety to a certain extent, and also allow them to feel the rich life of users from different regions without leaving home. At the same time, information short videos can also let them understand the real-time dynamics of society.

2.5 Functional structure comparison

Figure 6: Tik Tok functional structure diagram

Figure 7 Kuaishou functional structure diagram

Both Douyin and Kuaishou have the same functional attributes such as browsing short video content, live streaming, filming, and e-commerce shopping.

The information structure of Tik Tok consists of [Home], [Friends], [Photography], [Messages], and [Me]. The overall structural setting is based on enabling users to browse more video content and switch videos by swiping up and down. "Live", "Follow", "Recommendation" and other options are separately used as a secondary Tab in the [Homepage] to more intuitively display video content to users while ensuring that users can meet their needs and find the corresponding entrance in time, giving full play to its advantages of efficient and portable usage experience.

Kuaishou's information structure consists of [Homepage], [Same City], [Photography], [Message], and [Me]. Browsing mainly focuses on cover videos, allowing users to quickly find cover videos that match their interests and watch them selectively, while cover videos that they are not interested in may be quickly skimmed. Unlike Douyin, Kuaishou has created a secondary tab called "navigation bar" on the [Homepage]. If users want to watch live broadcasts and the next video, they need to take one more step. [Same City] will broadcast videos produced by video bloggers in the user's city to users who are browsing video content. For users, the video content will be closer to life.

2.6 Core Function Comparison

2.6.1 Home page function comparison

Figure 8: Douyin homepage

Figure 9 Kuaishou homepage

In terms of browsing short video content, through the comparison in the above figure, we can see that Douyin is more focused on allowing users to browse more short video content in a more convenient way. They switch short video content by swiping up and down, and there is an unknown about the next video. This feeling of seeking the unknown will encourage users to further browse more video content and reduce the cost of user decision-making. When users click on the live broadcast or live broadcasting button, they will immediately enter the live broadcast page, which reduces the page jump process compared to Kuaishou.

Kuaishou focuses more on guiding user decisions. There are more elements or video types on the page, which increases the user's decision-making cost to a certain extent, but also reduces the number of times users browse videos they are not interested in. However, the main page displays more short video covers, so users need to pay more data costs, especially when the network is not good. For the live broadcast interface, users need to participate in more page jump processes, which undoubtedly increases the user's usage and learning costs.

(As I was writing this report, Kuaishou was updated. The homepage of the latest version of Kuaishou has been modified to be consistent with Douyin. Douyin's browsing "method" is being recognized by "Big Brother")

2.6.2 Follow Page Function Comparison

Figure 10 Douyin follow page

Figure 11 Kuaishou follow page

The follow page of Douyin is basically the same as the homepage. It is worth noting that if the person you follow is live streaming, there will be a prompt above the video.

The follow page of Kuaishou is quite different from the home page. It is mainly based on video content, and the number of likes and comments cannot be seen intuitively. It is worth noting that Kuaishou’s videos have an appreciation function. Compared with Douyin, video creators will receive additional financial income as an incentive for their creation. Positive incentives will make GUC richer and more diversified, and to a certain extent increase user participation.

2.6.3 Search page function comparison

Figure 12: Douyin search page

Figure 13 Kuaishou search page

By comparison, it is not difficult to find that Douyin's search page has more functions, but at the same time, they each have their own advantages. Both have made detailed classifications of the lists. The brand list perfectly illustrates the importance of Douyin to live streaming e-commerce as a way of monetizing traffic. At the same time, Kuaishou also has the corresponding "Preferred Goods"; Douyin also adds the function of scanning to add friends, but Kuaishou also has a voice search method for retrieval. It seems to be a thoughtful little change. On the surface, it gives users more choices in how to search for video content, but it is more of a trade-off between user analysis, user needs and corporate business development.

2.6.4 Comparison of shooting page functions

Figure 14 Tik Tok shooting page

Figure 15 Kuaishou shooting page

Tik Tok allows you to choose to shoot in segments, take quick shots, make albums, start live broadcasts, and upload photos or videos locally. Kuaishou can also take photos and videos, and upload photos or videos locally. Compared with Kuaishou, it has two more functions: mood and gameplay library.

When you click "+", Douyin will enter the "Shoot 15 seconds" page by default, and other options include "60 seconds" and "3 minutes". When you click the "Shoot" button on Kuaishou, the default duration is 11 seconds, and the options are "57 seconds" and "5 minutes".

2.6.5 Live Page Function Comparison

Figure 16 Douyin live broadcast page

Figure 17 Kuaishou live broadcast page

The layouts of the live broadcast pages of the two are basically similar. Douyin has voice live broadcast and Douyin has an advertising banner on the recommendation page that occupies a part of the displayed content. The rest is basically the same. In other words, in addition to sharing the revenue from e-commerce live streaming sales, Douyin also has a certain amount of information flow advertising and has a certain monetization capability.

3. Profit Model

Regarding the profit model, the two are basically similar, as follows:

• Advertising, which is divided into hard advertising and soft advertising (i.e., splash screen advertising and information flow advertising);
• The embedding of video content on the platform;
• Platform activities and live streaming sales;
• The anchor’s revenue share from live broadcasts;
• E-commerce and gaming;

IV. SWOT Analysis

5. Product Optimization Suggestions

5.1 Tik Tok: Suggestions on page functions

• About the home page function section. When the author of the video currently being watched on the homepage is broadcasting live, clicking on the avatar will jump directly to the live broadcast room. You have to enter the live broadcast room, click on the avatar and then click on the homepage to enter the author's personal homepage. The path is too long. It is recommended to change it to: Click the button below the avatar to display two options: go to his/her homepage, go to his/her live broadcast.
• About the follow page function section. The buttons on the right side of the video and the fonts below the video may obstruct the video content to a certain extent. It is recommended to reduce them or hide them after playing.
• About the search page function section. You can add a hot search list for the same city to increase communication and interaction between users in the same city, enhance offline discussion topics, and increase user stickiness to a certain extent.
• About the shooting page function section. Tik Tok is famous for its various fun and cool special effects, but due to the large number of special effects, users may not be able to quickly find the name of the special effect they want. Considering the inconvenience of sharing on social software, it is recommended to add a friend. The "scan" function or the special effect name search function is recommended at the special effect location.

5.1.1 Tik Tok: Suggestions for future development

Douyin is subject to Tencent's social software sharing restrictions, which prevents users from sharing quickly or conveniently through social methods such as QQ or WeChat. In addition to affecting user experience, this also greatly affects user conversion. As one of the top software of ByteDance, Douyin has a ByteDance traffic pool with 600 million daily active users. Douyin can completely bring a better experience to users by establishing a ByteDance mini-program ecosystem, which can also bring another direction of business development to ByteDance.

Based on my subjective analysis, I think the following functions can be added to Douyin in the future:

• Mini Programs - can save a lot of App downloads. With ByteDance's traffic pool and product matrix, it is not difficult to build your own Mini Program ecosystem.
• Scan and add friends, pay with TikTok, identify simple text and products, and other practical functions to increase user stickiness and daily activity;

5.2 Kuaishou: Suggestions on page functions

• About the home page function section. There are many submenus under the navigation bar Tab, and the topics involved can be easily overlooked by users because of the deep entrance. It is recommended to put key modules, such as live broadcast, on the first-level menu to better catch the user's attention.
• About the follow page function section. There is no relevant prompt on the page to indicate whether the person you follow is live streaming. It is recommended to add it above the video, and make it show and then hide to remind users that the person they follow is live streaming.
• About the search page function section. It is suggested that a friend sharing and adding function can be added so that the sharing convenience of social software can be utilized to fully enjoy the privileges of the “Tencent Whitelist”.
• About the live broadcast page function section. Considering the large amount of traffic from live streaming, it is recommended that Kuaishou can make a banner advertisement similar to Douyin, such as an exposure advertisement. Brands that value exposure will have certain demand for placement, and it will also bring certain revenue to the advertising business.

5.2.1 Kuaishou: Suggestions for future development

Kuaishou's product positioning is a platform for recording and sharing. Thanks to Tencent's investment and recognition, Kuaishou's user group can share quickly and timely through social software. Because the product itself has a good experience and convenient sharing, it has increased user conversion in terms of social resources to a certain extent.

• Social sharing - you can continue to use the convenience of sharing on social software to bring in more users;
• Kuaishou e-commerce - the product of in-depth cooperation with JD.com, Kuaishou Store, relies on JD Logistics and JD.com's product quality review to ensure both efficient delivery of goods and guarantee of product quality, and users have a good shopping experience. In this way, the development of Kuaishou Store is likely to shake e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, Pinduoduo, etc.

VI. Conclusion

By comparing Douyin and Kuaishou, both have their own characteristics and advantages. As technology continues to develop and update and user needs continue to differentiate, how to combine the development of the Internet and the 5G era to meet users' personalized needs will become the key. "Land grabbing" has become history on the Internet. The competition on the Internet will not be about who expands faster and who covers a wider area, but about whose products can be better user-oriented and provide a better and more detailed user experience.

It is rare and not easy that Douyin was able to work its way up to the current level of size as Kuaishou through various technical systems such as personalized services and interest targeting when Kuaishou was the only dominant player in the short video field at the time. However, in terms of social sharing, Douyin still has a slight gap with Kuaishou. However, through analysis, Douyin’s current response to Tencent’s social containment is not significant enough. But with the construction of Douyin payment (and the future mini-program ecosystem), I believe Douyin will do better, bigger, and have a more extensive business.

On the other hand, Kuaishou has solid technology and many partners. So, with the trend of stratified consumption in the future, how to use the powerful data mining capabilities and underlying technical application capabilities to accurately match Kuaishou's massive short video content or products with users in one Kuaishou application to meet the needs of different consumers and maintain the tone of the product itself are difficult problems that Kuaishou needs to think about and solve in the future.

Author: My name is Zhang Renzhi

Source: My name is Zhang Renzhi