Why WeChat Mini Programs can be key for UK brands wishing to test the market in China

WeChat is truly a giant of the app world, with over 1- billion users it easily surpasses the likes of Twitter which totals just over 320 million users.

WeChat is often compared to, and referred to as the ‘WhatsApp of China’, though it is better described as an ‘eco-system’ over a traditional social media app. 

Tencent’s vision (WeChat’s parent company) is for WeChat users to utilise the app regularly throughout their everyday lives; using it for posting social media, making calls, messaging, playing games, paying bills, buying products, and even hiring taxis.

What are WeChat Mini Programs?

Mini Programs are best described as ‘apps within an app’. A WeChat Mini Program sits on Tencent’s server and not on the users’, and as such, they are typically very fast to both access and operate.

For UK brands looking to enter the Chinese market, taking part in a Mini Program can have huge benefits. The whole sales process is completed within the WeChat app, where the Mini Program adds lots of additional functionality and takes care of the transactional leg work. You can sell directly to consumers via a shop front, easily add booking engine functionality to take direct bookings, and all payments are handled by WeChat Pay – the official WeChat payment gateway.

As such, UK brands wishing to test the waters in China, WeChat is the ideal vehicle. Serving as a strong base to build brand awareness, and as a route to establishing Chinese sales.

Building a shopfront on WeChat

By using a Mini Program, UK brands can build a shop within WeChat at relatively low cost. The process typically involves taking a product data feed of product SKUs and marrying this up with design templates for the shop front. The whole process can take as little as 4 weeks to build; this is significantly less than setting up a Shopify or Magento e-commerce channel.

Building up an audience on WeChat

The WeChat advertising platform allows brands to target users based on age, gender, education, location and most importantly, on search behaviour. Meaning that over time, brands can build up a highly targeted audience.

The other main channel to help build up an audience is via Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs). KOLs are China’s version of social media influencers and like in the UK, they hold a huge sway in the Chinese marketplace.

It has never been easier to set up a WeChat verified account

It’s now easier than ever to set up an official service account on WeChat for overseas brands. The days of requiring a Chinese business licence to register a verified account are long gone. UK brands can use their UK business licence and the whole process takes 2-3 weeks to process, which is faster than ever! And another huge improvement is that ownership now resides with the brand, not a third party.

All of this makes for exciting times post-Brexit; China accounts for a fifth of the world’s internet users, and 40% of worldwide e-commerce. Regroup China has been working with Tencent to produce some of the best known Mini Programs from the UK, including the WeChat shop for the Best of British event in Shanghai in 2019. An event where they onboarded over 30 UK luxury brands to sell product direct to consumers via WeChat, successfully using WeChat Pay as the payment gateway.

Why should UK brands be excited about this?

We’ve gathered the top reasons why we believe that now is a great time for British businesses to start selling in China on WeChat:

• WeChat is getting bigger all the time, with well over 1 billion users and counting.
• Establishing an official WeChat account has never been easier for foreign businesses, and the process is very fast where you own the account and not a third party.
• UK brands can build up brand awareness via WeChat ads, building up a highly targeted follower-base.
• UK brands can set up a shop front easily, quickly and relatively cheaply on WeChat. Providing a direct route into this ever-growing market.
• UK brands can take payments using WeChat Pay, with each transaction costing only around 2% per transaction in commission and the acquirer’s fee.
• All of this adds up to providing a unique opportunity for UK brands wishing to test the market in China. As a proof of concept, no other channels provide the ability to build awareness and sales, at low cost.

As such, we are of the view that WeChat is the priority channel for UK brands getting established in China, as a phase 1. Once the concept is proved, then we advise moving into key e-commerce channels such as Tmall and JD, who collectively own 70% market share of b2c e-commerce in mainland China. Getting active on these channels is not a small consideration and requires investment. But building brand awareness and sales is far safer on WeChat as an initial undertaking.

For more information on reaching the World’s largest marketplace please contact us today. We’d love to hear from you.