WeChat Channels saw view counts grow 200% and GMV rise 800% in 2022

Tencent’s short-video product WeChat Channels reported spectacular development at its annual flagship occasion on Tuesday. The unit saw a 200% yearly development in the entire variety of video views, and an 800% development in complete gross merchandise worth (GMV) from livestream purchasing content material. 

Why it issues: WeChat Channels’ robust development in creator numbers and view counts affords a wider foundation for monetization plans. Tencent will seemingly see the short-video unit play an even bigger function in its promoting income, with CEO Pony Ma lately declaring it “the hope of the whole company.”

Details: The complete time customers spent on WeChat Channels exceeded 80% of the time they spent on WeChat Moments (a characteristic just like Facebook timeline) in 2022. The messaging app hasn’t revealed the period of time customers spend on the Moments characteristic since 2019, when WeChat founder Allen Zhang stated the determine had been roughly the identical through the years at a median of half-hour per day.

• WeChat saw the entire view counts of its video unit enhance by 200% from final yr, and the variety of creators with over 10,000 followers was up 308%.
• WeChat additionally posted important development in its live-commerce enterprise, saying GMV grew greater than eight occasions from final yr, and the common unit value exceeded RMB 200 ($29.5), just like final yr’s.
• For livestreaming, executives stated the variety of customers and time spent watching jumped 300% and 156%, respectively. The video unit has already livestreamed a number of live shows by in style singers, speeches by public figures, and main sports activities occasions to the general public. Last April, the Chinese rock star Cui Jian’s livestreamed live performance attracted greater than 46 million viewers, setting a viewing report for stay on-line live shows on the time. 

Context: Tencent urgently must discover a new income development level because it faces sluggish development in video video games and promoting operations. The firm’s total income has declined in the final two quarters. The firm’s CEO Pony Ma sees WeChat Channels as a serious supply of hope for the way forward for Tencent, with the unit already initiating numerous makes an attempt to monetize.

• Similar to rivals Douyin and Kuaishou, WeChat’s short-video unit have tried to speed up the commercialization course of in a number of methods: livestream e-commerce, in-feed advertisements, encouraging customers to tip livestreamers, and charging retailers a 1% to five% fee price, which began on Jan. 1.
• Launched in 2020, WeChat Channels positioned itself as a short-video platform for private video content material, largely due to its integration with Tencent’s WeChat tremendous app.