Honestly, WeChat’s struggles are shared by almost all of its competitors in the market. For example, Malaysian WeChat Pay users can’t use the money in their accounts or their bank cards to make payments when in China. Several of WeChat’s functionalities are absent in overseas markets, and when present, capabilities are limited. Tong emphasized that the success of the business is dependent on building a strong ecosystem across the region because that is what will help Chinese tourists traveling outside the country as well as inbound tourists traveling to China. “We’re focused on compliance and we’re keen on making sure we do the right thing for our customers, in China and in the other market where WeChat operates,” said Tong. It looks like the million dollar question that everyone at Tencent should be asking - and yet, from discussions between Tencent’s Tong and media at the recent company’s Global Digital Ecosystem Summit in Kunming, China, it seemed as though the focus is on building functionality for users. Soumik Roy | 5 February, 2019 Can Tencent replicate WeChat’s success outside China? WIPO DATA SUGGESTS CHINA FAR BEHIND US IN TERMS OF AI Banking and financial services, home rentals, and car sales are some examples. While much of the narrative about WeChat’s mini-program has been about shopping online, it does lend itself remarkably well to other kinds of applications. This simple action allows McDonald’s to customize food menus and Mercedes to assist with driver’s needs. When users open a mini-program, they’re asked if they’d like to allow the company to gain access to their data on WeChat to personalize the experience. Not only do WeChat’s mini-programs allow businesses to showcase products, add shopping carts, and transact on the platform, but they also make it easy to personalize the app and experience with less than three clicks in most cases. This is not to say that WhatsApp must ape WeChat and become the conduit between customers and businesses like its Chinese rival, but the latter has demonstrated that there are many merits to doing so. However, the interactivity and engagement levels are far lower - you can’t perform transactions on the platform.

WhatsApp has been experimenting with a version for businesses to help them communicate with customers and clients, through executives as well as chatbots. Its strategy to keep its platform open is quite a contrast to WhatsApp, the most popular messaging app outside China. Soumik Roy | 29 March, 2019 WeChat’s ecosystem makes doing business easy WHY ASIA NEEDS TO FOLLOW CHINA’S LEAD IN INFLUENCER MARKETING

Local Chinese users told Tech Wire Asia that it’s normal for people to open the WeChat app as many times as they pick up their phones, because outside of emails, all communications and transactions are performed on the app.įrom McDonald’s to Mercedes, it seems as though everyone has a mini-program to better engage with customers and provide users with personalized services with fewer clicks than anywhere else in the world.

In fact, when Tech Wire Asia was in China recently, we learned that everyday users prefer mini-programs despite the company offering standalone apps - Taxi service Didi being an excellent example of this. Since they don’t crowd the user’s phone or take up additional memory, users prefer them over traditional apps. Mini-programs are simple apps that work inside the WeChat ecosystem and don’t need to be downloaded to be used. WeChat opens itself up to businesses by allowing them to freely create mini-programs. “We don’t think of WeChat as just a messaging app, we think of it more like a public utility service - a platform that welcomes everyone, customers and businesses alike,” said Dowson Tong, Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent and President of Cloud and Smart Industries Group.

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