Wirecard Enables Mobile Payments via Alipay at Stockmann, the Leading Luxury Fashion Department Store Chain in the Baltics

- Stockmann offers premium selections of brands, excellent customer service and experiences in modern and inspirational multichannel shopping environments

- Thanks to Wirecard and Cimple Marketing, Chinese tourists will be able to use Alipay at Stockmann stores in Estonia and Latvia

ASCHHEIM, Germany, Feb. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Wirecard, the global innovation leader for digital financial technology, together with Cimple Marketing, a specialist in marketing towards the Chinese market, has integrated Alipay as a payment method in the department stores in the Baltics operated by Stockmann. The Stockmann Group offers a wide range of fashion, beauty, home products and food in its eight department stores in Finland and the Baltics as well as an online store in Finland. It also consists of Lindex, an international fashion chain with 474 fashion stores in 18 countries and an online store operating in 30 countries. In 2018, the Stockmann Group's revenue was over 1 billion euro.

With 520 million active users and more than 100 million transactions per day, Alipay is the world's largest mobile payment network. Wirecard customers who accept Alipay as a payment method make themselves more appealing to Chinese tourists which in turns leads to higher monetary spend amongst this target group. Experience shows that by offering Alipay, merchants can expect an increase of more than 350% in the amount spent by Chinese tourists within one year.

Andres Alango, Baltics IT Development Manager at Stockmann, said, "Especially when traveling to long-haul destinations, such as Europe, Chinese visitors seek to experience the local lifestyle which includes shopping, especially luxury brands. By partnering with Wirecard and Cimple to offer these travelers the possibility of using their preferred mobile payment methods, we look forward to differentiating ourselves from other retailers by providing an even better customer experience, and welcoming even more Chinese tourists to our stores in the future."

Thomas Wecke, Co-Founder at Cimple Marketing, added, "Our aim is to help retailers in the Baltics to improve their understanding of Chinese target groups and to bring the world's largest travelling nation to Baltic shopping destinations. Together with Wirecard, our partner for digital payment technology, we are glad to strengthen the connection between European retailers and Chinese travellers."

Catharina Tiede, Head of Partner Management, Consumer Goods at Wirecard, said, "Chinese tourists hold an enormous sales potential for European merchants. When travelling to Europe, Chinese guests spend on average 3,000 euro per person on shopping. We are pleased to help Stockmann to engage more effectively with this continuously growing target group, increasing customer satisfaction and in turn their sales figures."

For more information, please visit: https://www.wirecard.com/chinapayment/en/

About Wirecard:

Wirecard (GER:WDI) is one of the world's fastest growing digital platforms in the area of financial commerce. We provide both business customers and consumers with a constantly expanding ecosystem of real-time value-added services built around innovative digital payments by using an integrated B2B2C approach. This ecosystem concentrates on the areas payment & risk, retail & transaction banking, loyalty & couponing, data analytics & conversion rate enhancement in all sales channels (online, mobile, ePOS). Wirecard operates regulated financial institutions in several key markets and holds issuing and acquiring licenses from all major payment and card networks. Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (DAX and TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060). Visit us on www.wirecard.com, follow us on Twitter @wirecard and on Facebook @wirecardgroup.

About Cimple Marketing:

Cimple Marketing is the first full-range service partner in the Nordics to exclusively provide marketing and payment services towards Chinese consumers. Together with our partners, we provide companies in all sectors the opportunity to reach the world's most lucrative consumer group, Chinese consumers.

About Stockmann:

Stockmann, established in 1862, is a Finnish listed company engaged in the retail trade. It has almost 44 000 shareholders and about 7 000 employees. The Stockmann Group's revenue in 2018 was over 1 billion euro. Stockmann has three divisions – Stockmann Retail including 8 department stores in Finland, Estonia and Latvia and an online store in Finland, Real Estate managing Stockmann's own and leased real estate properties and the fashion chain Lindex operating 474 stores in 18 countries and an online store operating in 30 countries.

Wirecard media contact:

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

Cimple Marketing media contact:

Cimple Marketing
Thomas Wecke
Tel.: +46(0)8-22-39-04 
Email: thomas@cimple-marketing.com

Stockmann media contact:

Stockmann (Estonia)
Heidi Kukk
Tel.: +372-633-9555
Email: heidi.kukk@stockmann.com  

Stockmann (Latvia)
Dace Kokina
Tel.: +371-2-911-8809
Email: dace.kokina@stockmann.com