WeChat: how to turn a mobile app into a really big business
The app has become the first social network in China and has now many other strategies to monetize and get even bigger.
Probably you have downloaded it on your phone, for free. Or maybe not, because you are convinced that WhatsApp gives you everything an instant messaging app could possibly do.
I’m talking about WeChat, mobile app that was born in the East but has very precise business strategies for the whole World.
The WeChat app is owned by the Chinese company Tencent and is a powerful tool for mobile communication: you can send text messages, voice and hold-to-talk voice messaging, share videos and photos but also create a group chat. WeChat works on all major mobile devices (including Symbian and Blackberry).
This app also provides a number of features typical of a social network as for example the shared streaming content feeds and the location-based social plug-ins to chat and connect with local and international WeChat users.
In short this is a complete tool and the development strategy designed for it followed an anything-but-random upward trend.
WeChat was born in China in January 2011 originally named Weixin, which in Chinese means micro messages, then it acquired the international language support in October 2011 and in the end it got re-branded as WeChat in April 2012.
In 2013, with the growth of the online payments phenomenon, in order to ensure monetization WeChat decided to follow that trend. Paying users could take advantage of convenient shortcuts in games, invite more friends to chat, but also add a delivery address to their profiles, which eases the sending and delivering of physical goods purchased on Tencent’s Yixun ecommerce platform. In fact, Yixun appears to be deeply integrated into WeChat and its products can be purchased using the app’s payment feature. Last year WeChat has heen experimenting various other forms of ecommerce: in September 2013 WeChat launched and distributed its branded vending machines in China. During a month-long test 300 of these vending machines, placed in Beijing subway stations, allowed users to pay for their bottled drinks directly from the app, using the mobile payments tool. In November 2013 Xiaomi started a test about selling its MI3 flagship smartphones on WeChat.
The online shopping has not yet fully been implemented, but it’s a matter of time. If Tencent succeeds in using WeChat as a strong source of ecommerce revenues, it will change the entire balance among China’s Internet giants. The Worldwide leader Alibaba has already started fighting this battle, for example by pushing its own messaging app, Lai Wang.
In 2014 WeChat has updated to version 5.2 for both the domestic Chinese version and its international counterparts.
The new update presents a better user experience: for example users can now bind their LinkedIn profile to their WeChat account. Other new features include stickers, location sharing, universal search, group chat mentions.
Tencent also launched Licaitong for WeChat, a Chinese consumer investment fund that lets users store savings into a fund with a return of 7% each year. The Financial Times stated that the fund has surpassed 1 billion RMB after its second day of activity. WeChat’s red envelope gifting scheme, which takes advantage of the Chinese tradition to send a monetary gift during holidays or special occasions just like the New Year, has gone viral: in order to participate in it users had to bind their bank cards to the WeChat app, taking them one step closer to Licaitong.
In 2014 the company introduced StoryCam, WeChat’s photo editing and sharing app. Photos can be taken and edited with different filters, placed into a photo journal and shared with other users.
The challenge to WhatsApp and Instagram is launched, and it’s also clear from the recent introduction of Instagram Direct that top players have to fight on the territory of instant messaging and photo sharing put together.
Exclusively eastern phenomenon? Of course in China this app has become the first social network, a blogging platform and a powerful marketing tool all in one, but according to Tech in Asia in the U.S. there are verified accounts of celebrities like Matthew McConaughey.
In all this, the incredibile goes, as always, to the numbers: in May 2011 WeChat had 4-5 million users, by the end of 2011 it had 50 million users and there were more than 100 million users by March 2012. In July 2013 Tencent announced WeChat had 70 million users outside China.
You certainly have seen the commercial: the famous soccer player Lionel Messi was chosen as official ambassador.
According to Tech In Asia, a few days ago during the Chinese New Year, 10 million messages in a minute have been sent with WeChat.
This blog is written by the members of the FBDA / GROUP team. Learn more on www.fbdagroup.org
