In The Time of Coronavirus, WeChat Pay Helps Digitalise European Retailers

London, Dec. 14, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As European merchants shift gear to online in the time of Coronavirus, China's all-in-one app WeChat saw strong year-on-year growths in Mini Program transactions from the EMEA region, showing a growing trend of Chinese consumers making global purchases before they could make global trips.

WeChat, the popular Chinese app with more than 1.2 billion users, recently held a webinar on how the WeChat ecosystem helps European merchants reach Chinese consumers as the pandemic rattles businesses. More than 200 brands from 14 countries attended the webinar, covering diverse sectors ranging from retail, luxury goods, e-commerce, travel and F&B.

"It is likely that the countries that re-open first will see a spike in tourism expenditures even above pre-covid levels. Therefore, the time is now to double down on investment to be online ready for e-commerce and offline ready for the tourism rebound," said Jeff Hu, EMEA Regional Director, WeChat Pay.

Hu revealed at the webinar that the number of WeChat Mini Programs from the region with active transactions more than doubled in November compared with a year ago, while the peak transaction volume jumped 300%.

WeChat Mini Programs, which give users instant access to enterprise services without having to download separate apps, were pioneered by WeChat in 2017 and today boasts over  400 million daily active users. WeChat's built-in payment service WeChat Pay offers users a seamless online-to-offline shopping experience within the app and handles over 1 billion daily transactions. It continues to grow its international reach with the growth of Chinese outbound tourism, offering cross-border payment services in more than 64 markets and 24 currencies.

WeChat data showed while offline payment volume in Europe dropped due to travel bans, online payment has enjoyed sharp growth, especially for e-commerce merchants. By setting up cross-border direct-mail online stores via WeChat Mini Programs, and leveraging products in the WeChat ecosystem including such as Official Accounts, WeChat Groups and livestreaming, more and more European retailers have successfully connected with Chinese consumers, bringing much needed relief and recovery to businesses in the time of Coronavirus.

"There is huge appetite for EU products from Chinese consumers," Hu said. "The trend of Chinese consumers making global purchases on their phones is here to stay, we hope to help our partners capture that trend and be ready for the tourism rebound."

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