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ByteDance-owned TikTok explores local services markets in Indonesia and Thailand
- TikTok has initially enabled users in Indonesia and Thailand to obtain vouchers for restaurants, flights and hotels via links on their feeds
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Wency Chenin Shanghai
TikTok, the global hit short video platform owned by ByteDance, is set to jump into Southeast Asia’s local services sector, initially enabling users in Indonesia and Thailand to obtain vouchers for restaurants, flights and hotels via links on their feeds.
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Restaurants owners and merchants in those two countries are being encouraged to join the social media platform’s “TikTok Local Services”, according to a report on Friday by Chinese media outlet 36Kr. TikTok also plans to make a foray into leisure categories, allowing users to obtain coupons for flights and hotels provided by third-party service providers, according to an Indonesia-based source who declined to be identified because the initiative has not been made public yet.
On TikTok’s official recruitment website, there are nearly 30 related openings for its local services business in Singapore, Jakarta and Bangkok.
With dual headquarters in Singapore and Los Angeles, TikTok said in a statement to the South China Morning Post on Friday that local services operations in Thailand and Indonesia are still in the testing stage. It added that only a few users in those markets can see the local services offerings from merchants in their feeds, based on the app’s recommendation algorithm.
In Southeast Asia, TikTok also has plans to team up with established carriers for on-demand local services like food delivery.
![TikTok has started recruiting employees for its local services business in Singapore, Jakarta and Bangkok. Photo: Shutterstock TikTok has started recruiting employees for its local services business in Singapore, Jakarta and Bangkok. Photo: Shutterstock](https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/07/12/86d4e7ae-4bc0-444c-a1f5-1a41d36a455a_ee8c3fa0.jpg)
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