97% of TikTok’s userbase in India now captured by local players, says report

The research also shows a greater adaptability of users to the home-grown platforms, with 75% of them unwilling to switch to the Chinese platform even in the absence of any ban
For representational purposes
For representational purposes

BENGALURU: After Chinese popular short-video app TikTok was banned by the Indian government in June last year, home-grown platforms have been able to capture nearly 97% of its daily active userbase (DAUs), said a report released by consulting firm Redseer on Wednesday.

Bytedance-owned TikTok, which counted India as one of its biggest markets globally, earlier told a Mumbai court that the Indian government is freezing its accounts, terming it illegal. Bytedance said that it remains unclear about the revival of TikTok in India. India accounted for 30% (more than 600 million downloads) of TikTok’s global downloads, as per data from Sensor Tower.

The Indian government had earlier cracked down on 59 Chinese apps citing security concerns. However, home-grown platforms including Josh, Roposo, MxTaka Tak and Moj have been able to onboard 30-35% of the TikTok userbase last year, the Redseer research revealed.

These platforms had earlier retained nearly 65-70% of TikTok users, adding 30-35% new users in the past year, essentially back to 97% of the TikTok userbase. DAUs increased up to 97% as of June 2020 as a result of aggressive marketing and user acquisition by platforms, the report said.

It added that the time spent on short content platforms has gradually increased, reaching 55% as of June 2020. The new user-base addition was led by India’s Tier 2 cities as the platforms focused more on vernacular content. Nearly, 60-62% of short form users are from Tier 2 cities. The research also shows a greater adaptability of users to the home-grown platforms, with 75% of them unwilling to switch to the Chinese platform even in the absence of any ban.

“In less than one year post the TikTok ban, Indian platforms have shown a strong V-shaped recovery, bouncing back to 100% of pre-ban daily user base. This shows how platforms were able to design the product, execute their plans and market it aggressively in a very short period of time. This is a strong indicator of how the Indian digital ecosystem has matured in the last few years. The players still have to reach the global and cross sector benchmarks on engagement and retention, which will further grow the monetization potential for the entire ecosystem," Ujjwal Chadhury, associate partner at RedSeer Consulting, said.

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