A new partnership between Chinese e-commerce giant Alipay and the online food and travel marketplace HarkHark is set to bring Australian restaurants and Chinese consumers closer together, with a free translation and mobile scan-to-order platform to be rolled out down under.
Announced on Tuesday, the joint initiative already has 500 restaurants across the country signed up to the Alipay platform with plans to attract around 2,000 over the next few months.
According to Alipay ANZ Banks's Country Manager George Lawson, the technology which allows Chinese customers to scan an in-restaurant QR code, bring up a translated digital menu, self-order and pay for their meal on their smartphone, will make it much easier for Aussie restaurants to market themselves to the lucrative Chinese tourism sector.
"Chinese tourism is an essential contributor to Australia's thriving hospitality sector," he explained.
"And we are committed to helping merchants tailor their offer to meet the needs and expectations of this key market through our new mobile ordering and translation service, and our other mobile payments, lifestyle and marketing tools."
"Anyone who has traveled to a country with an unfamiliar language knows the challenge of trying to read a menu or communicate with restaurant staff."
"This is no different for many Chinese guests in Australia. This initiative will enable Chinese guests to more effectively interact with Australian restaurants and thereby create a better overall customer experience," Lawson added.
Coming off the back of a recent report titled 2018 Trends for Mobile Payment in Chinese Outbound Tourism, a survey conducted by Nielsen and Alipay outlined the importance of offering more dynamic payment methods for Chinese visitors.
The findings showed that mobile payments made up 32 percent of all transactions made by Chinese travelers, surpassing cash for the first time.
The report also indicated that of the 1,244 overseas merchants who adopted Alipay, 60 percent of them saw a boost in revenue and foot traffic.
In Australia, the first business to go online with the new Alipay platform is Nicholas Seafood, at the famed Sydney Fish Market.
"Chinese visitors have always been an integral part of our customer base," manager Jason Berkeley said.
"Now in addition to our fresh, high-quality seafood, we're excited to offer this new app-based translation and ordering service to create memorable dining experiences, and best-in-class customer service."
