Why is Douyin becoming a battleground for cheap coffee?
Douyin has passed 600 million daily active users, and its livestream shopping format has turned the app into a major sales channel for beverage chains. Luckin, Starbucks, Manner, NOWWA, Tims, Heytea and Nayuki all run group-buy deals on the platform at prices well below in-store or mini-program orders, using cheap coffee to buy same-city exposure and repeat visits.
The numbers show the scale: a Luckin coconut latte group buy at 14.5 yuan, a Starbucks 19-yuan breakfast set that sold over 860,000 cups, and a Nayuki 9.9-yuan single-origin item that passed a million orders. For brands, the discount is less about the cup margin and more about pulling a customer into the store, where extra items and future orders carry the real value.
With over 600 million daily active users and the powerful momentum of live-stream shopping, Douyin is becoming a new battleground for beverage brands vying for online traffic. From Luckin and Starbucks to Manner and Tims, and on to Heytea and Nayuki, almost every well-known beverage brand has launched ultra-low-priced group-buy deals on Douyin, with prices far lower than ordering in stores or via mini-programs. Luckin's "male model squad" livestream once sparked heated discussion, with a Coconut Latte group-buy deal at just 14.5 yuan; Starbucks' 19-yuan breakfast set sold over 860,000 cups; Nayuki's 9.9-yuan single-origin coffee item broke a million orders. Behind this online price war lies brands' deep strategic play for same-city exposure and repeat in-store consumption. This article gives you a full picture of this Douyin beverage battle.
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Over the past two years, Douyin's user base has grown extremely rapidly, and by 2022 its daily active users had surpassed 600 million. The platform is not only seen as a rising star in e-commerce, but also, thanks to the enormous explosive power shown by livestream shopping, has gradually evolved into a key battleground that beverage brands of all kinds are racing to stake out.
After browsing Douyin recently, I found that almost every beverage brand worth naming has opened online group-buying on Douyin, and the drink prices are considerably cheaper than ordering in physical stores or via mini-programs. Brands such as Luckin, Starbucks, Manner, NOWWA, Tims, Heytea, and Nayuki are all fiercely competing on Douyin, rolling out various ultra-low-priced online packages and drinks.
Not long ago, Luckin successfully broke out with its "male model squad" in its Douyin livestream room. This livestream was different from ordinary ones—a runway was set up right in front of the camera, and male models of different styles walked the catwalk in turn holding various coffees. Many netizens joked: for a moment, it was hard to tell whether to look at the people or the coffee. At first, I thought it was just a one-off livestream marketing stunt, but unexpectedly, Douyin group-buy deals were launched at the same time.
Major beverage brands have long since stopped limiting themselves to private-domain traffic channels and are actively trying more diversified forms of expression, intending to seize a larger market share. On Luckin's mini-program, a Coconut Latte averages 20 yuan per cup, but the Douyin group-buy price is only 14.5 yuan, with sales already surpassing 640,000 cups, and it has even made it onto the city coffee shop bestseller list.
Also on the city coffee shop bestseller list is another coffee chain giant, Starbucks. Its Douyin group-buy offers a 19-yuan breakfast set and a 56.9-yuan/2-visit medium cup special drink package. For 19.9 yuan, you can enjoy a Starbucks drink plus a breakfast, and it is valid at stores nationwide; this package has sold as many as 862,000 cups. In addition, there are multiple other packages to choose from.
Some Starbucks fans said on social platforms that in the days after the group-buy coupons were launched, business at the store they frequented clearly improved, and most customers came to redeem Douyin group-buy coupons.
Besides chain coffee brands, Heytea and Nayuki have also started a price war on Douyin group-buying. Heytea's Douyin flagship store shows that for 15.8 yuan, you can choose 1 of 2: a super-large bucket of guava grape or duck-shit-fragrance lime tea. Not only that, it had previously launched a deal for two classic bestsellers—just 28 yuan for a Grape Boom, and a 100-yuan 10-visit consumption card, which works out to only 10 yuan per cup. Prices like these make people exclaim how great the value is.
Nayuki's Tea, meanwhile, launched a 9.9-yuan choose-1-of-4 coffee series. Whether it's a latte, cappuccino, or Americano, they all cost just 9.9 yuan, and this single item's sales directly broke 1 million orders. In addition to the above brands, there were earlier offers such as Mixue Ice Cream & Tea's 0.1-yuan ice cream and Shanghai Auntie's 8.6% discount across all drinks.
A previous Douyin tea beverage consumer data insight report showed that in 2022, the amount of tea beverage-related content and views on Douyin increased month by month. Comparing June with January, the number of tea beverage content videos increased by 58%, and in June alone related content views exceeded 14.7 billion, gaining over 280 million likes.
These moves by beverage brands may be intended to use Douyin group-buying to boost same-city exposure, then rely on their distinctive products and sufficiently discounted prices to attract users to place orders, complete in-store consumption and repeat consumption, and convert online traffic into effective in-store foot traffic. Finally, have all of you ever had a Douyin group-buying experience?
Image source: Internet
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
