Tencent partners with Starbucks to launch WeChat ‘social gifting’ feature

Tencent Holdings has partnered with Starbucks to launch a gifting feature on its mobile social media platform WeChat, the latest innovation likely to help more foreign brands expand in China by leveraging the app’s hundreds of millions of Chinese users.

Hong Kong-listed Tencent, which operates China’s largest mobile social media network, announced on Friday an in-app feature that enables mainland WeChat users to purchase a Starbucks beverage or digital gift card for their friends or family.

“We are excited to partner with Starbucks to bring our users closer to their friends and families with a unique gifting experience on WeChat,” Li Peiku, vice general manager of the app’s open platform division, said in a statement. “We will continue to connect our users with more quality services through an enhanced and constantly evolving digital experience.”

Starbucks is the first retail brand to tap into WeChat’s 846 million global monthly active users to offer such a gift service for China. The launch follows the December announcement of a strategic partnership between the two companies, which allowed Starbucks customers to use WeChat Pay, a popular digital payment in China, to make purchases at up to 2,500 Starbucks stores across the mainland.

Tencent said the social gifting feature will gradually be opened to more “qualified” retailers in the future.