ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, is searching for its next big hit by expanding into the social media lifestyle market with Kesong, a shopping and lifestyle suggestions app comparable to market leader Xiaohongshu. Kesong, just released, enables users to submit pictures, videos, and essays about their shopping and fashion experiences. It imitates Xiaohongshu, which is frequently compared to Meta Platforms’ Instagram and is regarded as embodying “planting grass”—the idea that evaluations might persuade readers or followers to purchase a good or service—in the online community.
Xiaohongshu’s influencers, who have access to millions of wealthy people in China, are frequently used by fashion and luxury firms. In other nations, Xiaohongshu is referred to as Red in Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Canada, and the United States, among others.
In 2018, it attempted to create a “planting grass” app with the transient Xiao. It made another attempt in 2020 with Sharee, targeted at foreign markets. The app, later renamed Lemon8, has more than a million downloads in Japan and has been made available in Thailand.
According to two corporate insiders who spoke to Reuters, Lemon8 is considering expanding to Australia.
The two sources, who declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak with the media, claimed Alex Zhu, senior vice president of product and strategy at ByteDance and formerly the head of TikTok, is in charge of the app.
One of the individuals stated, referring to average revenue per user, “ByteDance is highly motivated to break the ‘high-brow’ market (with Kesong and Lemon8) to reach a higher ARPU.
When contacted for comment, ByteDance did not provide any.
