ByteDance's social media platform TikTok will expand its operations in Southeast Asia. Users in Indonesia and Thailand will reportedly be able to get vouchers for restaurants, flights and hotels through links available in the app.
This news was reported by the South China Morning Post on July 16, 2024. With this expansion, TikTok users in Southeast Asia will have easy access to various attractive offers for flight and hotel coupons. These vouchers will be provided by third-party service providers collaborating with TikTok.
In addition to offering vouchers for restaurants, flights, and hotels, TikTok is also rumored to be partnering with operators to provide local on-demand services such as food delivery.
TikTok's ambition to become a local service platform in Southeast Asia is further evidenced by the job openings listed on their official recruitment website. There are nearly 30 openings related to local service businesses in Singapore, Jakarta, and Bangkok.
TikTok, headquartered in Singapore and Los Angeles, cited the South China Morning Post stating that local operations in Thailand and Indonesia are currently in the testing phase. Some users in these markets can now see local service offers from merchants in their feeds, thanks to the app's recommendation algorithm.
TikTok's new move in the region reflects ByteDance's strategy to expand the platform's revenue sources, similar to the success of Douyin in China in expanding local services and e-commerce there.
In Indonesia, ByteDance has a strategic partnership with GoTo (Gojek Tokopedia Tbk) to enter the Indonesian e-commerce market, with an investment of USD 1.5 billion in PT Tokopedia by the end of 2023. This step underscores TikTok's ambition to make Indonesia a key base for its e-commerce expansion.
As part of its long-term commitment, TikTok will invest more than USD 1.5 billion to support Tokopedia's operations. This has resulted in GoTo's ownership in Tokopedia being diluted from 99.99 percent to 24.99 percent, while TikTok holds a 75.01 percent ownership.
This strategic move demonstrates TikTok's strong commitment to developing its business in Indonesia, leveraging the large TikTok user base in the country, which reached nearly 127.5 million users in April 2024, according to Statista.
