A PROFITABLE ADAPTION
Over the past decades, thanks to the remarkable economic development in China, Chinese purchasing power has been on notable rise.
Chinese consumers become more and more important to many markets around the world, with no exception in Europe. European merchants know well about the importance of the potential of Chinese consumers, so that they are active in adapting themselves to the new Chinese consuming habits.
Value Retail is the developer and operator of a boutique collection of nine luxury outlet shopping villages in Europe, which include Bicester Village, the first and most successful one located in the UK, with 6.8 million consumers coming from all over the world each year. Among them, Chinese consumers are Bicester Village's highest spenders.
Sadie Tew, senior retail director of Value Retail, told Xinhua that at present 15 brands in the shopping village accept Alipay or WeChat Pay, and consumers can also use Alipay or WeChat Pay to purchase gift cards in the visitor center. Starting from next Spring Festival, most merchants in the shopping village will accept Alipay or WeChat Pay. "I am in charge of this project, and we recognize that this is very important to Chinese tourists," said Tew, who also showed her Alipay Application on her mobile phone.
WeChat Pay landed in Camden Market this November, a major consumption landmark in London. As the cradle of punk culture, there are massive different styles of stores, attracting tourists from all over the world who want to experience the avant-garde street culture of London.
Ceri Davies, the operation director of Camden Market, said he was delighted to introduce WeChat Pay into the sales system. "Hundreds of thousands of Chinese tourists come to London every year. We feel that this is another way to continue to carry the Camden Market forward, which will also help to attract new visitors to our shops, stalls and restaurants."
"Camden Market, as an enduring tourist place, attracts over 30,000 visitors per day and this way is believed as an effective way to adapt to the growing number of local Chinese and Chinese tourists. We have been looking for innovative ways to support businesses and hope that this convergence could enable us to continue to meet the diverse needs of London," he said.
Yin Jie, who is in-charge of WeChat Pay's cross-border business operations, told Xinhua that WeChat Pay focuses on Chinese tourists in the UK and has already been used in wide-ranging ways, such as for shopping, brand retail, hotel bookings and restaurants bills.
Yin said WeChat Pay supports the payment access in 19 foreign countries and regions and lands over 13 countries and regions and supports direct billing via 12 foreign currencies. "We also hope that the China's mobile-payment and intelligent life model can be explored in more countries in the future."
Valoot Technologies Limited is a Hong Kong financial technology company which facilitated the cooperation of WeChat and numbers of cross-border payment agencies and business owners in the UK. Zhou Bei, chief operating officer of the company, told Xinhua that the number of Chinese tourists with higher purchasing power going out is increasing and the scale is huge.
She said this has become an indispensable consumer power for local businesses, making it necessary for local businesses to adapt to Chinese consumers' payment habits, which helps to boost the rapid growth of China's third-party payment market.
Due to the huge impact of Alipay and WeChat Pay in Chinese market and their expansion in overseas markets, foreign peers have noted that China is already at the leading stage in the field of financial technology payments. Foreign countries need to learn from China in turn, said Zhou.
