Tencent Technology News On July 16, local time in Osaka, Japan, the first smart flagship department store outside of China, jointly built by WeChat Pay and Hankyu Hanshin Department Store, was officially unveiled at the Hankyu Department Store Umeda Main Store in Osaka. In addition to connecting all stores to WeChat Pay, Hankyu Hanshin Department Store leverages the WeChat smart ecosystem represented by mini-programs to upgrade services for Chinese tourists throughout their entire spending experience. This cooperation marks another acceleration in the development of WeChat Pay's cross-border payment business in Japan. On July 18, the WeChat team will also go to Tokyo to host the 2019 WeChat Open Course in Tokyo to explore the potential commercial value of the WeChat smart ecosystem in marketing for Chinese tourists visiting Japan with nearly 200 Japanese brand executives, marketing leaders, and WeChat Pay service provider partners.

Using mini-programs to solve the consumption pain points of Chinese tourists in Japan

With 1 million applets and 200 million daily users, the WeChat applet ecosystem has quietly matured, and user habits have gradually developed. The “no installation required, ready-to-use and go” applet is a universal key to smart upgrading of consumer services in travel, shopping and leisure scenarios with high traffic, short stay time per unit, and diverse needs.

Hankyu Hanshin Department Store fully integrates WeChat ecosystem capabilities and launches four convenient mini-programs for Chinese tourists in a targeted manner. The “Code” addresses the various needs of Chinese tourists in the consumption process: the “Smart Brand Search Mini Program” provides Chinese intelligent tours, smart brand search and other services to help visitors quickly locate interested merchants; the “Buffet Ordering Mini Program” will provide visitors with Chinese ordering and WeChat payment services, achieving zero language barriers; through the “Hankyu Cosmetics Reservation” beauty pre-order applet, visitors can order beauty products in advance and pick up the goods on site. Don't wait in long lines Session: The “Hankyu Hanshin Department Store VIP Membership” applet opens up the Hankyu Hanshin Department Store member identification system. Chinese consumers only need to scan the code to experience member benefits such as points, discounts, and a green channel for tax refunds. Since then, they have bid farewell to the restrictions of traditional physical membership cards.

In addition to the convenience brought by a series of customized mini-programs, Chinese visitors at the Hankyu Hanshin Department Store can also scan the code to obtain discounts such as exclusive coupons and premium exchange rate vouchers through the “Overseas Tour Package” applet, and can also scan the “Tencent Tax Refund Pass” WeChat to get real-time tax refunds.

Mr. Naoya Araki, president of Hankyu Hanshin Department Store, said at the press conference: Deeply connecting with the Chinese customer base and providing them with convenient and caring services is the key to Hankyu Hanshin Department Store's marketing breakthrough. We are very happy to cooperate with WeChat Pay to create a smart flagship department store, using the social and marketing capabilities of the WeChat ecosystem to provide first-class service and a perfect shopping experience for Chinese tourists.”

Mr. Li Peiku, vice president of WeChat Pay at Tencent, said, “Hankyu Hanshin Department Store's advanced customer service concept coincides with WeChat Pay's product strategy of focusing on upgrading the user's entire consumption experience. The launch of this smart flagship department store will become a benchmark for the intelligent transformation of the global department store industry. ”

The number of indirect entry-level stores increased by 665% in one year, and WeChat Pay achieved leaps and bounds in Japan

According to data from June 2019, the number of WeChat Pay connected stores in Japan increased 665% year on year, covering mainstream drugstores, convenience stores and many restaurant chains in the Japanese market, and the number of transactions increased 108% year over year.

WeChat Pay has many excellent samples of industry solutions, such as “the first smart flagship airport abroad” Hokkaido New Chitose Airport, “the world's 100th smart flagship store” Don Quixote Drugstore, “the first overseas smart flagship park” Fujikyu Land, and the “first overseas smart flagship department store” Hankyu Hanshin Department Store, which was released this time, bringing more smart business upgrade possibilities “beyond payment” to the Japanese market, which has won wide recognition from the Japanese business community.

Currently, WeChat Pay has 800 million card bound users and has complied with access to more than 49 overseas countries and regions, supporting direct transactions in 16 currencies. The “smart life solution” with WeChat Pay as the core covers hundreds of industries, tens of millions of offline stores, and has exported a large number of excellent examples of smart business solutions, injecting unprecedented innovation momentum into overseas business. WeChat Pay will continue to promote the implementation of the “Ecological Outbound” strategy, help service providers reach continuous two-way communication with overseas merchants, quickly transplant China's smart lifestyle model, and provide Chinese tourists with a more convenient consumer experience.