WeChat alliance allows shoppers to skip the queue at Walmart’s stores in China
The world’s largest retailer has teamed up with internet giant Tencent to push mobile payments at its stores in China
Retail giant Walmart has expanded the roll-out of its “Scan & Go” mobile payment app from the United States to China, the world’s second-biggest economy and largest smartphone market.
Walmart is working with Tencent Holdings to test the app as a Mini Program on WeChat at select stores in Shenzhen, according to a Walmart spokeswoman.
Scan & Go enables shoppers at Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, to scan the bar code on items and bag these goods, including produce, while they shop and pay directly with their smartphones. There is no queuing up at the cash register.
As a Mini Program on Tencent’s multi-purpose WeChat social media-mobile messaging-and-payments service, Scan & Go gains exposure to a vast audience used to paying for purchases by scanning a merchant’s QR code with their smartphones.
WeChat, known as Weixin on the mainland, recorded more than 1 billion users last month, according to Tencent. While QR payment support has had limited popularity in the west, use of the two-dimensional bar codes is an everyday essential for consumers in China’s retail sector.
“We see Mini Program as an important tool to empower merchants and brands in acquiring traffic at a lower cost through WeChat’s large social network,” said Jefferies equity analyst Karen Chan in a report.