What do TikTok, Temu and YouTube have in common? User-centricity

Shopping with Temu

Temu, short for "Together, Enjoy More", is a relatively new e-commerce platform and was Apple's most downloaded free app in the USA in 2023. Temu, a Chinese e-commerce company, has achieved the longest usage times with its app compared to Amazon. Temu is particularly popular for its low prices. It is known for its aggressive marketing strategy and wide range of products. Mass production and direct sourcing from manufacturers are similar to other Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba and Shein.

Buying groceries

Not only Aldi, but also Jumia, a pan-African e-commerce platform, is discontinuing its grocery delivery service to focus on the physical goods business. The service, although growing, was not profitable. Jumia will retain JumiaPay and focus on growth markets. This decision reflects the trend in the food delivery sector and is in line with current macroeconomic challenges.
  
Spend money on TikTok

TikTok was the first non-gaming app to reach the USD 10 billion mark in consumer spending, primarily through in-app purchases of "coins". The app saw 61% growth in 2023, generating $3.8bn on top of the existing $6.2bn. The majority of spending came from the USA and China. This puts TikTok well ahead of other non-gaming apps such as Tinder and YouTube. TikTok could reach 15 billion US dollars by 2024.

Exchange iMessage

Beeper, a startup, has made iMessage accessible to Android users, but Apple has blocked their app Beeper Mini. Beeper argued that its app increases security for iPhone users by enabling encrypted messages. However, Apple sees iMessage as a key element of user engagement and blocked Beeper Mini to protect user privacy and security. The future of Beeper Mini is unclear as Apple has concerns about the verifiability of end-to-end encryption by unauthorized apps.
  
Learning with YouTube

Google Classroom has introduced a new feature that allows teachers to embed interactive questions into YouTube videos. Teachers can create open-ended or multiple-choice questions and provide feedback, while a dashboard provides insights into student progress. Students can recognize their mistakes and learn from them. The feature, available to users with the Education Plus plan or Teaching and Learning upgrade, will be fully rolled out over the next few days and should benefit both students and teachers.