10年前，微信“红包”在春节前上线，凭借对用户心理的精准拿捏，从除夕到初八，超过800万用户参与了抢红包活动，超过4000万个红包被领取，对用户银行卡绑卡、支付上量起到现象级作用。10年后，“蓝包”登场。同样依托微信强大社交的属性，同样在春节前有所动作。微信能通过“蓝包”切入电商，让微信支付更上一层楼吗？① The demand for the "blue package" during the New Year will be stronger, but the probability of it becoming a main scenario for daily gifting is low. After the peak, the development space for the "blue package" depends on a clear, defined main scenario. ② In the short term, it is still bullish for the development of e-commerce, while the impact on WeChat Pay still requires further observation.
On December 24, the Financial Link reported (Journalist Guo Zishu) that WeChat recently conducted a gray-scale test for the gift-giving feature, signaling Tencent's return to the e-commerce market. Under this market expectation, shares of WeChat Small Store concept stocks surged. Among them, Micro Wall, WeChat's largest third-party service provider for small and medium enterprises, saw a rise of over 31% today.
According to Financial Link reporters, the WeChat Small Store's "gift-giving" feature is similar to "red envelopes", where the giver selects products that support "gift-giving" in the WeChat Small Store and, after completing payment, sends them to a designated WeChat friend. Upon receiving the "blue package" gift in the chat interface, the friend fills out the delivery address to confirm and can then accept the gift. In addition to credit cards, the payment methods supported by the WeChat Small Store for the gift-giving feature also include WeChat Wallet, WeChat Pay, and other Tencent financial products.
Ten years ago, WeChat "red envelopes" went live before the Spring Festival, precisely capturing user psychology; from New Year's Eve to the 8th day of the New Year, over 8 million users participated in the red envelope grabbing activity, with more than 40 million red envelopes being claimed, which phenomenally boosted users linking their bank cards and payment transactions. Ten years later, the "blue package" debuted. Similarly relying on WeChat's strong social attributes, it also made moves before the Spring Festival. Can WeChat leverage "blue packages" to penetrate e-commerce and elevate WeChat Pay further?
It helps e-commerce entry and increases payment flow.
Analyst Wang Pengbo from Broadcom Consulting in the financial industry analyzed to reporters from Financial Link: "WeChat's 'blue package' closely combines social gift-giving scenarios with e-commerce shopping payments, making payments no longer limited to mere product purchases or fund transfers. From the payment perspective, this adds a social emotional attribute to payment actions, indirectly increasing users' reliance and usage frequency on WeChat Pay, further enhancing WeChat Pay's already high market share. At the same time, this will further consolidate WeChat Pay's position in the e-commerce payment sector. As the foundation platform for WeChat's 'blue package', the WeChat Small Store, once closely integrated with WeChat Pay, will attract more e-commerce platforms or merchants to settle in the WeChat Small Store."
A person from a South China payment company agreed: "The most direct impact is that as e-commerce grows payment flow, it will also rise accordingly. In fact, the WeChat payment tool itself is already quite powerful, just waiting for business scenarios to trigger it."
In Wang Pengbo's view, this will encourage other payment platforms to launch more personalized, differentiated payment products and services, placing greater emphasis on diversified development, not just limited to payment functions, but also innovating more in the integration of payment with social, entertainment, and life services.
The main scenario still needs to be clarified, and the impact on WeChat Pay remains to be observed.
However, industry insiders have differing expectations for the development of 'blue envelopes'. A representative from a South China payment company stated that the traffic in the main scenario of Douyin live commerce is stable. The demand for 'blue envelopes' during the New Year gift-giving season will be stronger, while the likelihood of becoming a main scenario for daily gift-giving is lower. After the peak, the development space for 'blue envelopes' depends on a clear, well-defined main scenario.
A leading figure in the payment industry pointed out that 'blue envelopes' are still in the gray testing phase, and in the short term, it remains bullish for e-commerce development. The impact on WeChat Pay still requires further observation.
From the perspective of the Industry, the current impact of 'blue envelopes' on the payment market structure is limited. Wang Pengbo analyzed that, on one hand, WeChat’s small shops need further development to expand their market share in the e-commerce sector; on the other hand, looking at the overall trends in online and offline payments, the current payment market has already entered a maturity phase. The recovery of consumer spending will still take time.
