The Body Shop Launches With Alipay in Three Major London Store Locations Powered by Wirecard Technology

ASCHHEIM, Germany, September 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

China's largest mobile wallet Alipay has started to expand in the UK. The Body Shop, one of Britain's best-known and biggest cosmetics and skin care companies, will launch the service in three major London stores, Covent Garden, Oxford Street and Regent Street using the new Scan Alipay App provided by Wirecard. The launch takes place on October 1st, parallel to the start of China's national Golden Week. This date marks a week-long national holiday during which millions of mainlanders set off on vacation and hit the European shopping streets. London is expecting to see thousands of Chinese tourists during this time.

The Chinese tourism market is growing constantly in Europe and offers enormous revenue opportunities for retailers. According to VisitBritain, more than 250,000 Chinese tourists visited the UK in 2015, an increase in 45% from the previous year and spending a total of £586.22m Alipay will offer a convenient and secure payment method for Chinese tourists through a simple mobile payment.

Simon Coble, UK General Manager at The Body Shop said: "China's beauty market is the second biggest in the world. The Body Shop is extremely popular with the global Chinese Shopper and accounts for a significant percentage of sales in our major UK stores. With over 100,000 Chinese customers in the UK we want to offer a great shopping experience, including simple and secure payment. We already have Chinese speaking Beauty Assistants and product translations, so we believe offering the convenience of accepting Alipay will offer a truly holistic experience for the Chinese shopper - and Golden Week is the perfect time to launch."

"We are delighted that we've partnered with The Body Shop as the first great retail chain to deliver Alipay payments to their customers via the Alipay App," said Jörn Leogrande, Executive Vice President Mobile Services at Wirecard. "It's a great chance for retailers to provide Alipay and to decide afterwards if the leading payment method in China should be integrated in the central till system."

For retailers, the app offers a simple way to benefit from Alipay payment acceptance: a customer making a cashless payment with their Alipay App simply needs to show the retailer the barcode on their smartphone display. All the retailer is required to do is enter the amount payable into the 'Scan Alipay' App on a mobile device and then scan the QR code on the customer's smartphone. Payment processing and aquiring is handled by Wirecard.

Wirecard media contact:
Wirecard AG
Jana Tilz
Tel.:  +49(0)89-4424-1363
E-Mail: jana.tilz@wirecard.com

About Wirecard:  

Wirecard AG is a global technology group that supports companies in accepting electronic payments from all sales channels. As a leading independent supplier, the Wirecard Group offers outsourcing and white label solutions for electronic payments. A global platform bundles international payment acceptances and methods with supplementary fraud prevention solutions. With regard to issuing own payment instruments in the form of cards or mobile payment solutions, the Wirecard Group provides companies with an end-to-end infrastructure, including the requisite licences for card and account products. Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Securities Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060, WDI). For further information about Wirecard, please visit http://www.wirecard.com or follow us on twitter @wirecard.

About Alipay:  

Launched in 2004, Alipay is the world's leading third-party payment platform. It currently has over 450 million active registered users and more than 200 financial institution partners. During the 2015 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, China's equivalent of Cyber Monday, Alipay processed RMB 91.3 billion worth of transactions from Alibaba's marketplaces. In addition to online payment functions such as online shopping payments, money transfer, and utility bill payments, Alipay is expanding to offline payments both inside and outside of China. Over 600,000 brick-and-mortar merchants and over one million taxis now accept Alipay as a payment method across China. As of December 2015, Alipay was accepted in more than 50,000 retail stores outside of China, and tax reimbursement via Alipay is supported in 24 countries and regions, including South Korea, Germany and France. More than half of the transactions processed by Alipay are conducted on mobile devices. Alipay has evolved from a digital wallet to a lifestyle enabler. Users can hail a taxi, book a hotel, or buy movie tickets directly from various modules within the app and purchase wealth management products such as Yu'e Bao.

The Body Shop media contact:
The Body Shop
Kate Levine
Tel.:  +44(0)7815-005-303
E-Mail: kate.levine@thebodyshop.com

About The Body Shop:  

Founded in 1976 in Brighton, England, by Anita Roddick, The Body Shop is a global beauty brand. The Body Shop seeks to make a positive difference in the world by offering high-quality, naturally-inspired skincare, hair care and make-up produced ethically and sustainably. The Body Shop pioneered the philosophy that business can be a force for good and after being acquired by L'Oréal in 2006, it is scaling up its vision. The Body Shop spans 3,000 retail locations in 66 countries.

In February 2016, The Body Shop launched its Enrich Not Exploit™ Commitment, a pioneering new global CSR strategy that underpins all aspects of the company's operation and supports The Body Shop in its aim to be the world's most ethical and sustainable global business. More information about the Commitment is available here - http://www.thebodyshop.com/commitment/