Indian short-video apps bring back 97% of TikTok user base: RedSeer Consulting

Indian short form apps have retained about 67% of the TikTok user base, and added 30-35% new users in the past year according to a report by Redseer Consulting. The report, Short-form video- The Rise of Made in India digital content, said that the daily active users (DAUs) increased up to 97% as of June 2020 as a result of aggressive marketing and user acquisition by platforms. The time spent on the other hand has gradually increased, reaching 55% as of June 2020.

The new users who are on-boarded are largely from tier 2 cities, driven by a push on regional language content by these platforms. Overall, 60- 62% of the short-form users are from Tier 2+ cities.

The study shows that 75% current short-form video users will likely stick to these domestic apps and are unlikely to switch back to Chinese apps even if the ban was lifted.

The study covered major Indian shortform apps including Josh, Moj, MX Takatak and Roposo. “In less than one year post Tik Tok ban, Indian platforms have shown a strong V-shaped recovery, bouncing back to 100% of pre ban daily user base. This shows how platforms were able to design the product, execute their plans and market it aggressively in a very short period of time. This is a strong indicator of how the Indian digital ecosystem has matured in the last few years,” said Ujjwal Chadhury, associate partner, RedSeer Consulting.

Among the apps surveyed, MX Takatak leads in the net promoter score in the metro cities, while Josh leads in the Tier 2+ cities. Moj has been a strong gainer across consumer and business metrics, when compared to the last quarter, driving by regional language markets while Roposo has shown strong performance in Tier-1 cities compared to the smaller ones. “The job is far from done. The players still have to reach the global and cross sector benchmarks on engagement and retention- which will further grow the monetization potential for the entire ecosystem,” said Chadhury.

This growth is also bringing about better monetisation potential. Elite influencers with more than 10 million followers have a monthly earning of around $20,000-40,000. Influencers with 1 million followers can earn upto $1000-2.500 while budding creators with less than 1 million followers can earn $40-200, said the report.