Chinese e-commerce apps DHgate, Taobao top Apple’s US APP store
Amid concerns that US retailers may raise prices due to tariffs, American shoppers are flocking to Chinese e-commerce apps in search of affordable handbags and yoga pants, pushing apps such as Chinese e-commerce apps DHgate and Taobao into the top three free apps in Apple's US APP store, according to a ranking seen by the Global Times as of Thursday.
DHgate, a Beijing-based online platform for cross-border commerce, became the second-most popular app on Apple's App Store in the US on Wednesday, followed by ChatGPT, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Wednesday.
The surge in DHgate's popularity was driven by viral TikTok videos posted by Chinese influencers purportedly explaining the inner workings of global supply chains, the WSJ said.
Along with DHgate, known as "Dunhuang" in Chinese and dubbed the "Little Yellow App" by some shoppers, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s Taobao, and Shein were among the most downloaded shopping apps in the US App Store, Bloomberg said.
Chinese suppliers and manufacturers are taking to TikTok to share videos aimed at showing foreigners the "source of good goods," Bloomberg said.
Many of the videos, which claim that handbags and clothes of high-end European brands are actually all sourced from Chinese manufacturers, provide links to websites and contact details, leading viewers to place orders directly with these vendors, according to Bloomberg.
DHgate's sudden popularity was spurred by TikTok videos from Chinese manufacturers claiming to supply global luxury brands, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) said.
One widely circulated video, initially posted by user "bagbestie1", suggested that over 80 percent of luxury handbags were produced in China before being repackaged and sold overseas, the SCMP said.
"There's nothing a Chinese factory can't make," TikTok user "lunasourcingchina" was quoted as saying in the media report.
One of her videos showed factories in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, that allegedly supplied brands like Brooks Brothers, Tommy Hilfiger and Hugo Boss. The video garnered over 3.5 million views in three days, the SCMP said.
The DHgate app was downloaded 35,400 times across the App Store and Google Play on April 12, a 56 percent increase from its 30-day average, American global online news outlet Tech Crunch said. The US accounted for 17,300 of those installs, a jump of 98 percent over the 30-day average, according to Tech Crunch.
On April 13, those installs increased to 117,500 on iOS, up 732 percent from the 30-day average. The US accounted for 65,100 of those downloads, up 940 percent, (Android download data for Sunday isn't available yet), Tech Crunch said.