Douyin Life Services has announced significant adjustments to merchant entry requirements. Starting June 30, businesses must receive exclusive invitations to join its "Suixintuan" food delivery service, with premium merchants becoming mandatory participants. Selection criteria encompass physical dining spaces, fulfillment capabilities, sales performance, and brand reputation. Industry analysts interpret this strategic pivot as Douyin's transition from experimental expansion to precision operations in food delivery.
Since launching Suixintuan in late 2024, Douyin has attracted premium chain brands across beverage, Western fast food, bakery, and Chinese cuisine segments. The platform now implements an invitation-only mechanism, evaluating merchants' delivery fulfillment capabilities alongside dine-in services while prioritizing consumer protection through integrated user feedback systems.
This quality-focused shift mirrors broader industry trends. Meituan recently unveiled its "Raccoon Canteen" initiative, planning 1,200 premium outlets within three years to elevate food quality for over 10,000 partnered restaurants. Simultaneously, Meituan's app introduced a dedicated "Dine-in Quality" section for premium deliveries. Meanwhile, JD.com established a standalone "Quality Delivery" portal in February, implementing stringent restaurant screening protocols. These moves signal the industry's evolution from convenience wars to quality supremacy battles.
Douyin's policy reversal follows earlier aggressive expansion tactics that prioritized quantity over quality. Previous low entry barriers attracted diverse merchants from chains to individual shops, but reportedly led to disappointing results. Unconfirmed sources indicated a dramatic reduction in Douyin's 2023 food delivery GMV target from 100 billion yuan to 5 billion yuan. Industry experts note: "Initial traffic advantages attracted users, but inconsistent service quality damaged trust. By focusing on premium merchants now, Douyin aims to address critical fulfillment and quality control gaps."
The platform's strategic consolidation began in May with the phased removal of existing delivery mini-programs by June 5. This transition effectively positions Suixintuan as Douyin's flagship delivery service, merging group buying and delivery functions while establishing higher operational standards. The invitation mechanism evaluates merchants across multiple dimensions: physical stores ensure operational credibility, fulfillment metrics gauge delivery reliability, while brand strength and sales data indicate market recognition. One participating merchant observed: "This filtration system elevates platform-wide service quality through selective merchant inclusion."
Premium chains including KFC, McDonald's, Mixue Bingcheng, Haidilao, and Guoquan Shihui have joined under the new framework. Early results show promise: a leading coffee chain reported 210% growth in latte orders within 30 days of joining, with average order values increasing by 15 yuan. Their marketing executive noted: "Brand verification tags accelerate consumer decision-making, yielding 10% higher repeat rates than other platforms." A Western fast-food brand achieved 8,000 redeemed orders during a three-hour livestream event, generating over 120,000 yuan in daily sales. "Though order growth moderates, our net profit margin increased by 8 percentage points," confirmed regional manager Li Heng.
Further incentives include 100% commission rebates for redeemed 2025 orders plus exclusive subsidies covering operational resources, delivery fees, promotional activities, and traffic privileges. However, fulfillment remains Douyin's critical challenge. One burger merchant reported 18% late delivery rates during peak hours due to third-party logistics limitations, causing 5% higher complaint rates. "Traffic generates orders, but fulfillment failures damage brand equity," they cautioned.
To address this, Douyin standardized meal preparation windows in January, capping maximum preparation time at 120 minutes. Yet reliance on external logistics partners like SF City Delivery and Flash Express creates coordination challenges unlike Meituan's proprietary delivery network or JD.com's Dada Nexus integration. Consumer surveys reveal 70% of users experience "quality anxiety," with 20% ordering deliveries over four times daily, underscoring the market's dual emphasis on price and quality.
Competitors pursue distinct quality strategies: Meituan enforces kitchen transparency through live-streamed cooking environments and rigorous hygiene checks at Raccoon Canteens, while JD.com combines premium positioning with aggressive subsidies. JD.com's food delivery now spans 350 cities with 1.5 million quality restaurants, capturing 31% market share and 45% premium segment dominance according to iResearch, processing over 25 million daily orders.
The escalating quality war promises to reshape industry dynamics, with victory depending on consistent execution across every operational detail. Douyin's ultimate success hinges on developing reliable fulfillment infrastructure to complement its traffic dominance as the market shifts from basic sustenance to premium dining experiences.