Douyin Life Services: Daily supermarket transaction volume up 127% YoY in H1 2026, covering 120,000 stores

On September 23, Douyin Life Services held the 2026 Daily Use Supermarket Industry Summit in Zhengzhou. The event brought together over 350 representatives from daily use supermarket enterprises, brands, and related industries to discuss how supermarkets can acquire new customers, manage products, and enhance service experiences.

Data released at the summit showed that in the first half of 2026, the platform's daily use supermarket transaction volume grew by 127% year-on-year, covering 120,000 stores.

Industry Challenges and Consumer Behavior Shifts

Yu Wenqi, Head of Douyin Life Services KA Daily Use Supermarket Industry, noted that the supermarket sector is currently facing pressures such as declining foot traffic, rising costs, and slow inventory turnover. Industry data cited at the summit indicated:

• A year-on-year decline of approximately 15% in foot traffic
• An annual increase of about 6% in labor costs
• An inventory turnover cycle of roughly 65 days

Relying solely on natural foot traffic, location, and promotions to attract new customers has become increasingly difficult.

Meanwhile, consumer decisions are being made earlier. Many users now learn about stores and products through online content before visiting, forming initial purchase intentions. Therefore, businesses must not only consider how to complete sales after customers enter the store but also think about how to enter consumers' field of vision beforehand and convert online interest into actual store visits and purchases.

Three Key Areas for Merchant Support

Yu Wenqi stated that Douyin Life Services can help merchants bridge the "pre-store decision" gap by providing support in three areas:

• Audience assets: Introducing stores and products through content
• Self-operated hit products: Using products, vouchers, and promotions to attract customers to stores
• Content marketing: Identifying new customers based on redemption and consumption data, understanding their needs, and continuously managing membership and repeat purchases

This approach aims to transform one-time promotions into long-term business.

Platform Growth and Operational Shift

Huang Zhimiao, Operations Head of Douyin Life Services KA Daily Use Supermarket Industry, further explained that leveraging the platform's massive user base and round-the-clock coverage of life scenarios, the daily use supermarket business continues to grow. In the first half of 2026:

• Daily use supermarket transaction volume grew by 127% year-on-year
• Coverage reached 120,000 stores
• Daily average store visits per user increased by 40% year-on-year

As transaction scale and merchant coverage continue to expand, supermarket operations on the platform are accelerating their shift from "voucher-driven" to "hit product-driven" models. In the first half of 2026:

• The number of active merchants in the daily use supermarket industry grew by 85% year-on-year
• The number of active products grew by 69% year-on-year
• Among key merchants, 80% now operate branded self-operated products on the platform
• The platform has incubated over 270 products with transaction volumes reaching 10 million yuan
• New retail customers increased by 51% year-on-year

Product supply has become a key engine for merchant business growth.

Content and Marketing Synergy

Huang Zhimiao noted that as supply continues to enrich, the synergy between content and marketing further amplifies the value of product operations. The overlap among audiences reached through merchant live streaming, influencer live streaming, short videos, and search is only about 5%, meaning multi-channel coordination helps merchants reach a broader range of potential consumers.

Currently, over 3,000 supermarket merchants have launched brand co-branding initiatives. In this model:

• Brands provide products and related resources
• Supermarkets handle in-store sales and fulfillment
• The platform connects products with consumers through content

This tripartite collaboration among brands, supermarkets, and the platform drives new customer acquisition and accelerates the construction of an integrated online-offline supermarket operation system.

Platform Support and Merchant Success Stories

At the summit, Li Gujunjie, Head of Retail Industry Marketing at Douyin Life Services, introduced the platform's support in areas such as industry events and content distribution. Zhang Yue, Head of Retail Industry Product Operations, shared product features designed to help merchants track customer visits, product sales, and consumer feedback in real time.

During the merchant sharing session, Wang Chao, Deputy General Manager of Tao Xiaopang, a local Henan supermarket brand, reported that since joining Douyin Life Services in 2023:

• Cumulative transaction volume on the platform exceeded 268 million yuan
• Content exposure surpassed 100 million views
• New customers accounted for 46% of total customers
• Sales through the Douyin channel grew more than tenfold

Douyin Life Services has become an important channel for Tao Xiaopang's daily operations and new customer acquisition.

Roundtable Discussion: Turning New Customers and Self-Operated Products into Growth Certainty

In a roundtable discussion, participants including Tang Junzhang (CMO of FamilyMart), Chen Baihua (Co-founder of Jiu Xiao Er), Wei Jialei (Vice President of Biyouyou), Li Denghui (Director of Omni-Channel Operations at Ant Alliance), Han Jia (Host of Henan Radio and Television), and two representatives from Douyin Life Services explored the topic: "How supermarkets can leverage Douyin to turn new customers and self-operated products into growth certainty."

The consensus among guests was that attracting new customers in the supermarket sector cannot rely solely on low prices. Instead, businesses must ensure seamless coordination between online content, product stocking, in-store redemption, and store services. When managing self-operated products, merchants should focus not only on sales volume but also on quality, differentiation, and local demand. Continuous improvement based on refund reasons, user reviews, and repeat purchase data is essential to encourage new customers to return.