Douyin Is to Become the Number One in Global Online Apparel by 2026

Apparel is one of the categories most suitable for eCommerce: Easy to market, straightforward distribution and consumer popularity. In the global online market, generalist retailers tend to take the lead in most categories. The same is true for apparel.

Another trend that becomes visible across categories is the prevalence of Chinese retailers. Sheer market size and consumer willingness to buy a variety of products online render the top platforms quick to become worldwide number one.

Some platforms stand out from others not just because of their generalist nature. Some have a fitting approach that allows world audiences to easily join in. One such platform is Douyin, the Chinese sister company of TikTok Shop, which is powered by ByteDance. Here's why its success is growing so quickly.

Who Is Leading in Apparel eCommerce

The apparel ranking is made up of seven Chinese platforms at the top of the list, followed by Amazon, Walmart, and Temu at the tenth spot. Douyin is one of the hottest upstarts though. The videostreaming platform ranks global third in 2024, expected to become first by 2026.

Tmall is current number one, with apparel revenue of US$110.8 billion in 2024. Pinduoduo.com, sister company to Temu, ranks second with US$104.6 billion. Pinduoduo grows faster than Tmall, however, so Pinduoduo is expected to surpass the latter soon.

Douyin is another case though. Its approach caters especially to marketable items like Apparel, Personal Care, and Homeware. In the Chinese version, Grocery makes up another important part of revenue.

Why Douyin Makes Selling Apparel Easy

Douyin makes marketing of apparel products particularly appealing through the interactive nature of the platform. The video feed is said to have addictive properties – its advertising blends in with the regular content, which is why users are more likely to pay attention.

As with Personal Care on Douyin, Apparel can be marketed by influencers or regular users without feeling contrived or forced. The user can present an outfit that followers want to emulate, or post specific content types that show off purchases, sometimes in grand fashion (pun intended).

The content type showing off purchases is named hauls, which has benefited brands like Shein that distribute large masses of low-cost products to micro-influencers to create an effect of awe as to the size of orders unpacked.

Shein and Temu as Viable Contenders

Shein ranks seventh in world apparel, with a GMV of US$30.2 billion and 20% growth. Its method has exploded in world eCommerce like a bomb, startling established fast fashion brands to the core.

Similar case with Temu. The two retailers are archrivals, regularly suing one another for copyright infringement and defamation. Fact is, both have had a similarly steep rise in eCommerce over recent years. Both drive a strategy of cheaply importing products with the most competitive prices from China by cutting out the middleman.

Temu sells all kinds of product categories, one of which is Apparel with 23%, Fashion as a whole being its most important category with 41%. It entered world apparel rankings soon after its launch and is on the tenth spot now, with a surging growth rate of 285%.

Generalist Retailers Slowing Down, Future Projections

On the descending path are more established generalists with a less interactive or low-cost approach as the formerly mentioned ones. They include tmall.com on first spot, which is expected to drop to third place by 2026.

In a similar position are jd.com and amazon.com. Walmart had a good growth trajectory by 2024 and may exceed its closest competitor soon in apparel retail.

Overall, the top 10 domains show that Chinese brands are taking the clear lead in this sector. Douyin’s steep rise is particularly notable and leaves a possibility as to TikTok’s expected ascent.