The rise of Indian short video apps

Indian short form apps have been able to retain over 65-70 percent of TikTok users, adding 30-35 percent of new users in the past year.

Thursday April 22, 2021 , 4 min Read

Last year, when the Indian government banned Chinese apps, including the popular short video app TikTok, there was a need for a similar platform. This led to the rise of homegrown platforms like Chingari, Josh, Roposo, Moj, MX Takatak, and more.

In its latest report 'The Rise of Made In India in Digital Content', RedSeer finds out that the short-form video user base is back to nearly 100 percent of where it was before the TikTok ban, with strong loyalty towards Indian apps.

Indian short form apps have been able to retain over 65-70 percent of TikTok users, adding 30-35 percent of new users in the past year.

RedSeer Report — Data and Image: RedSeer Analysis, Consumer Surveys

Moreover, most of these new users hail from Tier-II cities and beyond, positioning Bharat as a driving force for Indian short video apps.

Ujjwal Chaudhry, Associate Partner at RedSeer Consulting, says,

"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.”

Additionally, riding on the digital wave, strong network effects have been fuelling ecosystem growth, leading to large monetisation potential for both influencers and platforms.

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