Dhgate said MIT technology review That the attention of social networks has resulted in an increase in transactions on the platform, with categories such as household items, electronics, outdoor equipment and pet supplies to see the greatest popularity. During the week of April 12 to 19, appliances saw a 962% increase in sales, while Security Tech increased by 601%.
Tiktok, in fact, is not a vanity project for these manufacturers, but a survival strategy in an increasingly competitive environment.
Chinese factories have long sold foreign markets, but when national economic growth began to decrease in the last decade, manufacturers became more and more to the main B2B platforms as Alibaba to connect with buyers abroad without depending on intermediaries. However, in recent years, the cost of gaining visibility to foreign buyers on the main platforms such as Amazon and Alibaba has shot.
“It has become a space full of people and saturated, and could cost between 30,000 and 40,000 rmb [$210,000 to $290,000] One year just for his factory to appear on the first page in the search results, ”says Logan Wang, SHENDENG CONSULTING Electronic Commerce Manager, who advises Chinese manufacturers on operations abroad.
The landscape only became more tense as the traditional manufacturing sectors fought with excessive and subsequent stagnation to the COVID. In 2024, China’s clothing exports to the United States grew by less than 1%, while the average unit price of these goods fell by 7.6%, a sign that competition is more fierce and gain margins are being reduced.
Add the new rates to this mixture and Chinese manufacturers are increasingly motivated to find creative ways to reach buyers.
Linda Luo, manager of a clothing factory based in Guangzhou, says that following the last round of sanctions, his factory has stopped US shipments. UU., Which previously represented around 30% of their sales. Now, storage rooms are being filled with products that do not have a clear destination.
“Many nearby factories are like us,” says Luo, “hoping to see how these rates develop, waiting for the situation to resolve itself.” Motivated by the success of colleagues who have become viral, says Luo, his team is now actively communicating with Tiktok’s fame supply agents, hoping to forge direct connections with new buyers.
