The rising popularity of mobile payments and QR codes in China has changed the way Chinese people purchase products and services. Chinese consumers prefer using mobile payments because it’s convenient and efficient. Giant retailers like Louis Vuitton and Zara to small family-owned stores and restaurants are all adapting to this new payment method. It is even possible to go to a small fruit stand on the street, and they will accept cash and mobile payment.
Insight Focus Academy invites you to explore the O2O market in China with us. O2O is a marketing strategy that uses social media and online to attract potential consumers to purchase products and services offline. O2O is a very profitable market since the smartphone came out. People walking in the streets, taking the metro, and shopping in a mall can all be seen using a smartphone. So many people are now on their phones using mobile data to go online. Mobile payments have definitely benefited China’s O2O market.
An example of an O2O business in China is a food delivery app service like Ele.Me or MeiTuan Waimai. People can order food using Ele.Me on their phones and conveniently pay using mobile payments. The ease of using mobile payments to make purchases is what makes the O2O market very profitable. According to Insight Focus research, the number of Chinese people who used a food delivery app to order food grew from 100 million to 150 million from Winter 2015 to June 2016. Even Alibaba saw the huge market potential of the food delivery market and is planning to lead a $1 billion investment into Ele.Me. Alibaba partnering with Ele.Me is a smart move because they can persuade Ele.Me users to pay for their food using Alipay.
QR codes can be seen everywhere in China. Companies and small businesses use these QR codes as a marketing strategy to attract more customers. People can use WeChat to scan these QR codes to follow companies on WeChat and look at their posted content. Brands also post QR codes on their physical products to attract customers to scan it for promotions, discounts, etc. People can also use QR codes for WeChat Pay and either scan the store’s QR code or let the cashier scan their WeChat Pay QR code to pay for transactions. QR codes have changed the way companies and small-family owned stores do business in China.
Try it out yourself, scan Insight Focus' QR code here for the latest updates!
WeChat is a main reason why O2O businesses are so popular in China. WeChat has almost reached 1 billion monthly users now. Everywhere in the country, people can be seen on their smartphones using WeChat. Alvin Huen, Managing Director of Insight Focus, has confidence that WeChat is the next generation of marketing strategies. Many brands have their own accounts on WeChat that consumers can subscribe to and follow for their latest updates. A brand’s account can be used to attract potential customers by posting high-quality media content like photos, voice messages, video messages, and text messages for their followers.
New technology and Chinese consumers’ fast moving lifestyles contributes to the different marketing approaches done by Chinese companies. More and more Chinese people are on social media now and Insight Focus believes that companies will need to understand how to use social media to its fullest potential if they want to successfully market to Chinese consumers.