Have you ever canceled a purchase because the payment method did not work for you? No company wants to lose potential customers at the finish line. Due to the enormous market penetration of WeChat's payment service, this hardly happens in China: The smartphone has become a wallet.
Companies in Europe are recognizing the enormous potential of the high-turnover Chinese market and are beginning to make it as easy as possible to spend money for Chinese citizens. This is especially true when this promising market is a regular guest. For example, purchases can now be made in more than 70 shops at Munich Airport using the app's payment service. The many possibilities of WeChat Pay are by no means limited to mainland China anymore. While companies that are active only in the West may not need to integrate WeChat and its many features into their communications and sales strategy (yet), this is not an option for companies already active or planning to become active in the Chinese market.
In Europe, a variety of payment options has been established. While transactions are still often paid by cash or credit/debit card and with the newer Near Field Communication (NFC) technology via smartphone or cash card in physical stores, e-commerce offers another set of options. In addition to direct bank transfer and credit cards, the online payment service PayPal should be mentioned here in the first place. As a company, you have to offer customers across Europe many payment methods to complete transactions. The problem: These payment methods do not work for all customers in China. From multinational companies to street food vendors: They all use WeChat Pay today.
The motto of WeChat Pay is anytime, anywhere. As a fully integrated payment service, it can be accessed via the menu item "WeChat Wallet". A wide range of transactions are possible among users:
In addition to a WeChat account, a Chinese bank card was needed to use the payment service. Meanwhile, the service also accepts international credit cards. This allows companies outside the Chinese market to offer this payment method (for example in e-commerce). Nonetheless, companies need an official WeChat account to offer products and services through the app. This requires either a Chinese business license or a trusted partner agency. We are happy to advise you personally on this.
The WeChat Red Envelope function is primarily used for transactions among friends (see below). There are four options for commercial transactions:
Gifts of money are very important for the Chinese New Year Festival. Traditional red envelopes, the hóngbāo, are used for this. Friends and family can exchange the red envelopes with each other in WeChat as well. The limit for this feature is about 33 euros. With the introduction of the WeChat Red Envelope, Tencent has successfully updated this old Chinese tradition for the digital age. More than 46 billion red envelopes were sent via the app in 2017 - and the trend continues to rise.
Brands have discovered the feature for themselves. This is a good opportunity to do market-specific marketing for businesses. For example, companies can use red envelopes to give customers small amounts of money or product credits. Even the smallest amounts can have a big impact here and strengthen the brand image - especially when compared to the budgets that are usually required to advertise in the app.
Read more about Digital Marketing in China.