With merchants seeking new online revenue in the wake of Coronavirus, China's 
WeChat Pay is witnessing a significant uplift in the Oceania market and is 
committing more resources to support the digital transformation of local 
businesses. 

In an online conference with Australian and New Zealand business partners this 
week, WeChat Pay disclosed that the volume of transactions on WeChat Mini 
Programs in the region during Covid-hit 2020 increased by 480%, while the 
number of active Mini Programs grew by 180%. A "WeChat Pay Green Ocean Plan 
2021" was also announced, where WeChat Pay pledges to offer enhanced marketing 
support and subsidies for local partners. 

"The uptake in transactions in the Oceania market over the past year proves 
that the WeChat ecosystem not only brings huge traffic but is effective in 
helping merchants attract repeated purchases from customers, reduce costs and 
improve operational efficiency in the time of Coronavirus. In 2021, we are 
committed to creating even more value for our partners with the Green Ocean 
Plan," said Monica Zheng, WeChat Pay's regional managing director.

Faced with a sharp drop in tourists, a steep decline in offline income and 
surging costs, cross-border eCommerce brands and local businesses alike are 
actively seeking new ways to reach new customers and increase revenue. The 
charm of WeChat lies not only in its strong ecosystem traffic with 1.2 billion 
users, but also the powerful social marketing tools it offers merchants. 

WeChat Mini Programs, which give users instant access to enterprise services 
without having to download separate apps, were pioneered by WeChat in 2017 and 
today boasts over 400 million daily active users. WeChat's built-in payment 
service WeChat Pay offers users a seamless online-to-offline and 
offline-to-online shopping experience within the app and handles over 1 billion 
daily transactions. It continues to grow its international reach with the 
growth of Chinese outbound tourism, study and work, offering fast and secure 
cross-border payment services for Chinese tourists, students and resident 
Chinese with attractive exchange rates in more than 64 markets and 25 
currencies.

Lagardère, an established travel retail specialist serving over 25 million 
customers, accelerated digital transformation after COVID-19 with its deep 
integration into the WeChat ecosystem. Chris Laverty, Lagardere Pacific's Chief 
Merchandise Officer & Chief Digital Officer, said, "WeChat has always been an 
important tool for us, however over the last year we have had to look at new 
ways to reach customers who are no longer travelling." 

"By working with the team at WeChat we have been able to find new ways to 
enhance cross border e-commerce, using tools such as their unique CRM platform 
and Mini Programs, and by livestreaming to a wider audience. We have been able 
to keep in touch with our current customers, but also find a whole new market 
to speak to," said Laverty. 

With the newly launched Green Ocean Plan 2021, the opportunities in Oceania are 
only set to grow. WeChat Pay said it will offer more marketing and onboarding 
support for local merchants, financial institutions and service vendors, 
including enhanced rights and interests' packages. Service vendors could earn 
generous technical service subsidies. More product features, saleable 
categories, and traffic exposure will be offered to merchants of various 
sectors in Oceania. Interested parties may reach out to their relevant WeChat 
Pay business development representatives or email wechatpayglobal@tencent.com 
for more information.  

SOURCE: WeChat