Super apps: How the rest of the world is following in China’s footsteps
If you move in digital circles, have spent time in or have done business with China in the past five years, chances are high that you’ve heard of WeChat.
All the digital news stories you missed this week
Digital news this week has been corking – nothing massive, but all very interesting and plenty that has flown under the radar.
Updates come from Google, Uber, Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Alibaba and Tencent.
Here’s what you missed…
A beginners’ guide to Alibaba’s Tmall
For those of you new to Tmall, Alibaba’s B2C marketplace, I thought I’d write a brief introduction.
I’ve included detail of market share, sales, delivery, payment, brands and more.
And for more on this topic, download our China Digital Report, Q1 2016.
Alternative payments used for 43% of online transactions: report
Alternative payments only account for a small proportion of ecommerce transactions in the US and UK, however methods such as e-wallets, direct debits and cash on delivery continue to show strong growth in other regions.
Therefore it’s a feature that businesses can’t ignore, particularly at a time when many e-tailers are seeking to expand into international markets.
A new report from WorldPay highlights the way in which the use of alternative payments (AP) differs across global markets, with PayPal shown to be the most popular AP method globally, though Chinese companies Alipay and Tenpay are also popular and growing at a faster rate.
It’s estimated that alternative payments accounted for 43% of all online transactions in 2012, a figure that is predicted to rise to 59% by 2017 (though predictions should always be treated with some scepticism).
Six key considerations for succeeding with digital transformation
This is a summary of the six key points from a talk I made in Shanghai (with Tencent) on behalf of Econsultancy on strategic management issues in digital transformation.
In addition, I’ve given my first reflections about the Chinese digital market.