(Yicai) Feb. 29 -- Lululemon Athletica is using Douyin, China's version of TikTok, to expand in the Chinese market after sales declined through its main e-commerce channels Taobao and Tmall.

The Canadian sportswear retailer started selling on Douyin late last year, holding 74 livestream e-commerce events from October to December before opening its official flagship store on Jan. 12.

Sales of Lululemon's yoga wear on Taobao and Tmall, both owned by Alibaba Group, fell 7.9 percent in 2023, according to data provider Moojing Market Intelligence. Shoppers on the two sites prefer classic yoga goods, while those on Douyin like new products, including bell bottoms, jackets, and down jackets.

Lululemon hosted eight fewer Douyin livestream events in January than in December, but its sales stayed between CNY10 million and CNY25 million (USD1.4 million and USD3.5 million), according to Feigua, a livestreaming sales data provider. The Vancouver-based firm climbed from 84th into the top 50 in the sports and outdoor goods ranking and was third in the yoga section.

The frequency and timing of new Lululemon product launches is also focused on Douyin. Its Douyin flagship store debuted 79 new products in 18 batches this month as of Feb. 20, while its Tmall store launched only 43 new products in six batches. 

Lululemon brought out Year of the Dragon-themed products on the opening day of its Douyin store, with three of the top 10 items in the shop included in last month’s promotional campaign.

Two of the top three best-selling products on Lululemon's Tmall flagship store last month were women's yoga pants released in 2018, according to Moojing. But yoga products made up only a quarter of its sales on Douyin, compared with half previously.

Lululemon's livestream studio on ByteDance-owned Douyin has attracted some consumers from cities where the brand does not have brick-and-mortar outlets, though its customers are mainly in the established first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen as well as new first-tier cities such as Chengdu.

Before Lululemon opened its flagship store on Douyin there were many low-priced imitation products of the brand on the platform, with more than 10,000 goods with the keyword 'lulu' available in the 30 days ended Feb. 20. The price per unit of the top five hot-selling imitations was as much as CNY130 (USD18).

Editor: Martin Kadiev