By Eric Byron, Director, Client Services
WeChat is like the FaceBook of China with over 272 million active users and is growing rapidly worldwide. About 1/3 or 100 million active users of WeChat are outside of China. WeChat is part of Tencent’s suite of some of the most popular online services in China and the world. Tencent has been publicly traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange since 2004 and reported USD $2.5B revenue in the second quarter of 2013. Their revenue from eCommerce for the quarter rose over 100% YOY. This year they have introduced a powerful new application and payment platform that allows companies to sell directly and easily to WeChat’s enormous customer base. In the current version (5.0) of WeChat, the messaging platform is available in English but the application platform is only in Chinese. We expect that will change as TenCent invests in WeChat’s international growth.
What is A WeChat App?
A WeChat app is a essentially a marketing channel within WeChat, but it is intended to be more of a two-way conversation with users than the typical marketing campaigns you might see in other social media channels like FaceBook or Weibo. It is an app running within the WeChat platform that users can “follow”.  Apps are added as contacts, often by scanning a QR code. Users can also search for a company’s public account by name to find and add its app.
WeChat offers 2 types of public accounts: service accounts and subscription accounts.
- Service account apps provide a platform both for customer service interactions and retail purchases.  MacDonald’s provides a customer service app that helps find the closest MacDonald’s restaurant and see any special promotions offered there. China Merchants Bank Credit Card（招商银行信用å¡) offers a WeChat app that allows their credit card holders to check their card balance and points, split a bill, or make a payment. The app also allows non-card holders to apply for a credit card. Retail apps will let WeChat members make purchases using Tencent’s eCommerce payment service called TenPay (more on that below.)  One successful example let’s you order order food from a menu in the app and schedule it for delivery to your home or office.
- Subscription accounts provide a way for a company to update content and broadcast messages daily to their subscribers. WeChat members use subscription apps to receive timely information on promotion or events, or to receive frequently updated content such as daily tips and sports or financial news.  These apps can also take advantage of the TenPay eCommerce payment services, though most are free.
Below are just a few examples of existing service and subscription WeChat apps.
What is TenPay?
WeChat recently integrated payment services so users can easily and quickly make purchases. The service, called TenPay, allows users to skip the online shopping cart step during a purchase. By registering your bank card with WeChat you can just click on a product and purchase it directly with no need to go through 3rd party payment services. Let the importance of that soak in for a moment. How many sales are typically lost during the negotiation of 3rd party payment services? WeChat eliminated that step in the purchase process!
As evidence of just how easy it is to make purchases within WeChat, in November 2013 Xiaomi ran a special exclusive promotion on WeChat and sold out of 150,000 units of their new Mi-3 phone in just 10 minutes! This is the power of social networking and making eCommerce easy.
Tencent continues to develop the platform, integrating more social networking features, services, and games. It is rumored that Tencent is working with Chinese fund companies and will be adding financial services in December 2013 that will allow users to make bank deposits directly within the app.
Mobile Development at Dextrys
Dextrys provides mobile development services and mobile application management consulting that can help you navigate the decisions process towards determining the right approach for your organization. Dextrys is certified by Tencent to develop WeChat apps.
To know more about Dextrys and the services we offer please visit http://www.dextrys.com
