{"id":47610,"date":"2019-05-16T06:03:31","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T06:03:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinesetouristagency.com\/?p=47610"},"modified":"2019-05-16T06:44:52","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T06:44:52","slug":"wechat-mini-programs-have-been-taking-chinas-ecommerce-industry-by-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesetouristagency.com\/wechat-mini-programs-have-been-taking-chinas-ecommerce-industry-by-storm\/","title":{"rendered":"WeChat mini-programs have been taking China\u2019s ecommerce industry by storm."},"content":{"rendered":"

WeChat<\/a> is the first information channel and means of communication preferred by the Chinese. With this application, you can do almost anything. 94% of Chinese users who have WeChat use it every day. They visit it on average 10 times a day. They can send messages and call their contacts. But also pay directly with the application, in stores or online. Sending documents to WeChat is now more convenient than using your mailbox.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> The application has more than a billion users in China, we could almost say that all Chinese people use WeChat. Thanks to mini-programs, WeChat has now become an e-commerce platform in addition to being a means of communication and payment.<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the WeChat mini-programs?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Built on WeChat’s existing platform and computer interface, mini-programs are mini-applications that customers can access and use without even leaving the WeChat application.<\/span><\/p>\n

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But what are they used for?<\/strong> Mini-programs allows users to book movie tickets, order food, buy beauty products, access information… They are substitutes for an application and increasingly important detail to engage customers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ease of access and social sharing features have been key to the success of mini e-commerce programs. 18% of mini-programs are dedicated to e-commerce and foreign brands have been slow to seize this golden sales opportunity. Despite two years of existence, only a few major global brands have started selling WeChat mini-programs to China<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Benefits of WeChat mini-programs <\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Transactions on mini-programs can be performed in a closed loop by users who can discover, browse and pay for items or services without downloading an application or even leaving WeChat.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mini-programs allow brands to be independent of a website and benefit from the WeChat user base. They can design their user interfaces as they wish and control their customers’ data. Their small size allows users to load them and share them very quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why should brands use all these mini-programs?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

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WeChat’s social nature leads Chinese consumers to share these mini-programs, promotions, and items that interest them with friends and family. Such elements are more visual and attractive. Indeed, it\u2019s better to share a mini-program, rather than a simple link.<\/span><\/p>\n

35% of users access these mini-programs through sharing them. The possibility of direct sharing between users reduces acquisition costs for new customers because brands no longer have to spend large amounts of money on advertising.<\/span><\/p>\n

Examples of international companies that already use this WeChat mini-programs<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Leading brands such as YSL Beauty, Dior, and Sephora use WeChat mini-programs to sell directly to Chinese consumers. Pinduoduo:<\/strong> It is a group buying platform that has increased its user base to more than 300 million in 3 years thanks to its very popular mini-program on WeChat.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today Pinduoduo is listed on the NASDAQ and has recently raised another $1 billion to compete with Alibaba and JD.com.<\/span><\/p>\n

YSL Beauty<\/a>:<\/strong> On the occasion of the last Chinese Valentine’s Day on August 7th, YSL Beauty launched a mini-personalization program to buy and send personalized gift boxes. To promote it, the company used WeChat Moments ads (which can be compared to Facebook News Feed). The clickthrough rate was 280% higher than the industry average and according to Tencent Data, YSL Beauty sold its two most expensive gift boxes in half a day.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Feelunique:<\/strong> The British beauty brand has launched a 6-day group buying campaign on its mini WeChat program. Customers could benefit from a 37% discount if they used a friend to buy the same product at the same price.<\/span><\/p>\n

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After confirming their order, customers had to share a promotional picture with their friends that allowed them to access a QR code to benefit from the discount.<\/span><\/p>\n

90% of the participants were new customers. Thus, this group buying promotion allowed Feelunique to reduce the costs of acquiring new customers without spending money on advertising.<\/span><\/p>\n

Online shopping is one of the major objectives of mini-programs<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

Of the 2.3 million mini-programs available on the platform, 18% are dedicated to e-commerce, making WeChat the most widely used shopping application in 2018 according to data provider <\/span>ALDZS.<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, all online shopping stores on WeChat benefit from the WeChat user base, which has more than a billion registered users who can use the payment function integrated directly into the application: WeChat Pay<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The convenience of WeChat and its all-inclusive ecosystem is part of the reason why Chinese Internet users spend a third of their time online on WeChat on a given day.<\/span><\/p>\n

What to remember: <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n