As domestic competition intensified and mobile tech innovation faded away, there has been a common trend among domestic internet companies in China to cram more features into apps, leading to the birth of numerous super apps.

Meituan, which primarily focuses on local lifestyle services, have recently incorporated games and other digital entertainment service into its app. Chinese food delivery and local service giant has introduced the entrance for Genshin Impact within the Meituan app. When players click on the game logo, they can instantly play Genshin Impact within the Meituan app through cloud gaming without downloading the game. Meituan also has its game platform called "Meituan Games," which primarily drives internet traffic and user base for Meituan's core business. However, the platform mainly focused on introducing casual mini-games, similar to WeChat mini-games.

In addition, the Meituan app has also launched services such as a novel bookstore and short videos. Meituan began testing the "short video" feature as early as 2021, focusing on content related to product recommendations. The entrance to this feature can be found in the menu on the homepage of the Meituan app. As micro-TV dramas gained recognition among internet users, the short video feature on the Meituan app expanded to include the ability to watch TV dramas, primarily featuring collections of short drama content. On the other hand, the novel feature launched on the Meituan app last year, with content sourced from platforms like Qidian and Zongheng, which are popular online literature platforms.

It is quite surprising to see an app that initially started by providing users with group-buying, food delivery, and local lifestyle services now competing with platforms like Douyin (TikTok) and Tencent's game units. Meituan's expansion into short videos and entertainment areas signifies its ambition to diversify its offerings and capture a larger share of users' attention and engagement. This move allows Meituan to leverage its existing user base and provide them with additional entertainment options, potentially increasing user retention and attracting new users who may be interested in these features.

However, users may be more inclined to play games on WeChat or shop on Douyin rather than showing interest in playing games or watching videos on the Meituan app. It stems from apps like WeChat and Douyin possess strong social and content attributes, whereas the Meituan app is primarily a utility-focused application.

At the same time, ByteDance is also incorporating more features into Douyin by launching an online supermarket feature within the app. By integrating a supermarket function, ByteDance aims to provide users with a seamless shopping experience directly within the app, allowing them to browse and purchase products without leaving the platform.

ByteDance positioned Douyin Supermarket as a self-operated e-commerce business that aimed to compete with Tmall Supermarket and JD Supermarket. Douyin Supermarket represents another strategic move by ByteDance in the e-commerce ecosystem, following the success of live-streaming sales and the establishment of its e-commerce platform.

Douyin e-commerce has been actively introducing more low-priced popular products and recruiting many industry service providers since the beginning of this year, aimed at attracting more small and medium-sized online businesses to migrate to Douyin.

The model of creating independent apps for specific functionalities may no longer suit Chinese internet companies in the current situation.

ByteDance, often called an "App factory," has faced challenges with some of the apps it has launched in recent years. Applications like "Douyin Hezi," "Shi Qu," and "Ke Song" have struggled to gain significant traction and have not achieved the same level of success as some of ByteDance's other products.

Behind the multiple standalone apps' failure, the problem lies in the slow economic growth and the depletion of internet traffic in China. ByteDance's glorious moments of mass-producing popular apps occurred in 2017 and 2018, coinciding with the end of the widespread adoption of mobile internet in China.

Depleted traffic results in apps often needing help to overcome the initial phase. With the increasing cost of user acquisition and a relatively low success rate, the return on investment for independent apps becomes very unappealing for Chinese internet companies.

The competition in the Chinese internet sector is intense, with numerous apps vying for users' attention. By expanding their existing apps' functionalities and product offerings, companies like ByteDance and Meituan can strengthen their market position and compete more effectively against other players without starting from scratch with a new app.