Douyin E-commerce tests “city self-operated stores,” re-entering local e-commerce with “Next-Day Delivery.”

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Recently, Douyin E-commerce quietly launched several online self-operated flagship stores named after cities within its app.

At present, key cities such as Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Wuhan are included, with stores named directly as “Douyin E-commerce Shanghai Self-operated Flagship Store”, etc., mainly promoting local quality products.

From the front end, this is a precise segmentation of categories and regions; but from the perspective of the backend fulfillment chain, it means Douyin E-commerce is delving further into the “deep waters” of traditional e-commerce. All products are shipped by Douyin’s own stores or partner warehouses, and the system will give priority to dispatching from local or nearby city warehouses based on the delivery address. In some regions, this has achieved “next day delivery” or “delivery within two days”, significantly shortening logistics time.

This is not just an isolated business trial, but a key step for Douyin E-commerce in fully integrating city-specific and national e-commerce businesses and addressing fulfillment shortcomings by 2026.

The concentrated launch of Douyin’s city self-operated flagship stores has been foreshadowed for some time.

Just over a month ago, on April 1, Douyin E-commerce underwent a major structural adjustment: the independent store system of the original instant retail “next day delivery” was fully shut down, and related merchants were asked to migrate to Douyin E-commerce’s main platform by activating the “next day delivery” service to continue their business.

This means Douyin has thoroughly abandoned the dual-line strategy of separating instant retail from the main site, instead fully integrating local supply into the main platform’s huge traffic pool.

In this context, the logic behind the launch of these “city self-operated flagship stores” becomes very clear.

Douyin E-commerce is attempting to eliminate system barriers between national and city businesses in the same backend, within the same app. For the platform, the same short video or live content can now simultaneously direct traffic to both locally supplied “next day delivery” goods and nationally shipped goods with regular delivery, maximizing traffic efficiency.

Choosing to first pilot the self-operated model in key cities like Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Wuhan is Douyin’s “heavy asset” exploration. Self-operation means the platform must directly participate in product selection, pricing, warehousing, and delivery. Although this increases operating costs, it maximizes control over product quality and fulfillment efficiency, using reliable service to cultivate user habits for “routine repurchase” on Douyin.

Looking back at Douyin E-commerce’s development trajectory over the past two years, 2025 is regarded in the industry as a year of systematic “addition and subtraction”: strengthening shelf-based scenarios, weakening reliance on top streamers, and most importantly, patching the shortcomings in fulfillment and services.

The underlying logic of interest-based e-commerce is product finding people, relying on algorithms to stimulate users’ unplanned impulse purchases.

However, unplanned consumption often comes with high return rates and low tolerance for fulfillment delays. When GMV surges to a certain level, relying solely on traffic monetization inevitably hits a ceiling. The ultimate competition in e-commerce will always return to a comprehensive contest in supply chain, trust, and logistics fulfillment.

Promoting “local quality products” with “next day/two-day delivery” is Douyin E-commerce’s important move to construct “deterministic demand” outside of interest-based e-commerce.

When consumers buy local specialty products or high-frequency daily necessities, they usually have clear expectations regarding delivery speed. By stocking products in local or nearby warehouses in advance, Douyin not only reduces the cost of inter-provincial long-haul logistics, but also—with the “next day delivery” badge—steps directly into the “proximal e-commerce” territory occupied by JD Supermarket, Tmall Supermarket, and Meituan.

Compared to Meituan’s “half-hour delivery” instant retail, Douyin’s current “next day/two-day delivery” is a compromise. It does not require the heavy cost of last-mile delivery by takeout riders, yet it is 1-2 days faster than traditional nationwide “three links and one delivery” services, finding a subtle balance between cost and experience.

Despite possessing massive daily active traffic and unified traffic scheduling at the front end, Douyin E-commerce is not without concerns in this “proximal fulfillment” battle.

First, the core challenge behind city self-operated stores and “next day delivery” is ultimate warehouse and distribution integration capability.

This cannot be solved by just a few lines of algorithm code—it requires real investment in warehouse node construction, optimization of inventory turnover, andextremely complex system integration with third-party logistics providers such as SF Express Local and Dada. The traditional “air force” traffic strategy must now be grounded into a “infantry” push.

Second, local quality products and the self-operated model place great demands on the supply chain. How can the platform accurately predict local consumer demand in different cities? How to manage shelf life and loss of high-frequency goods? Facing Tmall Supermarket and JD’s already well-established regional grid warehousing, Douyin, as a newcomer, has considerable “tuition fees” to pay.

Overall, the launch of city self-operated flagship stores in cities like Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Wuhan means that Douyin E-commerce has moved beyond mere traffic monetization and is now directly competing with established e-commerce giants in heavy-asset supply chains and localized fulfillment.

Shifting from “distant” to “proximal” e-commerce, using “next day delivery” fulfillment capabilities to meet local needs, is an essential path for Douyin E-commerce’s maturity—a protracted battle of endurance and operational sophistication.

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