Discover how WeChat is conquering Europe

See as being the essential marketing tool in China in the following article named: “WeChat, the future of Social CRM“. We can also see that WeChat is gaining more and more market shares internationally and exerts its influence especially in Europe. But where does this trend come from? How does it translate? And how can European companies benefit from this opportunity?

1. The increase of Chinese tourism

The main reason comes from the influx of more and more Chinese tourists abroad. In 2018 there were 150 million Chinese travelers and this figure continues to climb every year. As 200 million Chinese citizens are expected to travel by 2020. WeChat is the favorite communication channel of Chinese people. So, it is essential for foreign business to grab their attention through the best way.

Source: Paris2Beijing

Shopping in big shopping centers or in luxury shops, visiting tourist sites, museums are some reasons to spend. But the main reason that motivates more Asian customers to buy are the fluctuations between the prices they know in China compared to those offered in Europe. You should know that on average Chinese tourists spend between 1500 and 3000 euros per person per trip in Europe. And a third of their expenses is dedicated to the purchase of luxury goods, a trend that grows by 9% each year.

That is the reason why WeChat is developing more and more partnerships with western companies. The first step is to offer its mobile payment service named WeChat Pay to as many Chinese tourists as possible.

2. Partnership development

Among these partnerships there is for example the RATP case. The Parisian rail company has taken a train in advance by offering the possibility to Chinese tourists to pay their tickets in yuan through the WeChat application from China directly and / or from France. Today there are already more than 34,000 subscribers on the official account of RATP on WeChat. Feature to which are added other advantages such as the consultation of the subway city map and some tips for travelers wanting to discover Paris for example.

Source: Les Echos

3. European companies opportunities

In this crazy race for profit, Tencent through WeChat Pay and Alibaba its direct competitor with Alipay not only seeks to request companies where Chinese people buy directly. But also banks and manufacturers of payment terminals. By adapting the devices given them the ability to scan the QR codes of customers. However, this trend only concerns payments and does not deal with the use for other marketing and communication purposes for the moment.