Some netizens recently posted on social media claiming that their Taobao can be paid through WeChat, and "Taobao allows WeChat payment" has become a hot topic.
On February 20th, Taobao customer service responded that WeChat Pay is a service launched by Taobao and is gradually opening up for orders through WeChat Pay. At present, WeChat Pay is gradually being opened up only for some users, and only supports the option to purchase certain products. The customer service has not responded yet regarding when it will be fully covered. During the Taobao shopping test, a reporter from Nandu found that the WeChat payment option did not appear at the time of payment.
It is understood that this is not the first time Taobao has been trending on WeChat Pay.
In October last year, Taobao launched the "WeChat QR code payment" option, where users need to save the payment QR code first and then scan the WeChat code for payment, which is a complex operation. The WeChat Pay being tested on Taobao this time is the same as the usual WeChat Pay, without the need for other complicated operations. After selecting it, it will directly jump to WeChat Pay, enter the password, and the payment will be successful.
This ice breaking move has attracted attention from all walks of life. Liu Run, a well-known domestic business consulting consultant and chairman of Runmi Consulting, also quoted previous comments, saying, "But one day, when Taobao really starts supporting WeChat Pay in the face of changes in the landscape, it indicates that Alibaba has abandoned its past successes and started to transform and transform.". Netizens, on the other hand, said, "The wall breaking action has finally arrived at the core of Taobao order payment, and the Alibaba landscape has opened up."
Previously launched WeChat QR code payment for direct payment, currently still under testing
"When can Taobao use WeChat payment" has always been a hot topic of concern for consumers in recent years. It is understood that as early as October last year, some netizens discovered that there were WeChat payment related methods when making payments on Taobao, namely "WeChat scan code payment" and "go to WeChat to find friends to help me pay".
It is understood that "WeChat QR code payment" requires users to save the payment QR code on the order payment page, and then use WeChat to "scan" to identify the QR code for payment. During testing by reporters from Southern Metropolis Daily, it was found that after placing an order on Taobao, some merchants displayed "use first, pay later" and "ask friends for help to pay" functions on their payment pages, but did not directly display "WeChat scan code payment".
Regarding this, Taobao customer service told Nandu reporters that "WeChat QR code scanning" is a function being tested during payment, and whether it can be used depends on the page. It is also reminded that orders with WeChat code scanning payment cannot be switched back to Alipay payment, and unpaid orders will be closed within 2 hours.
In addition, from the Taobao payment page, the "Go to WeChat and find a friend to help me pay" function has now been iterated to "find a friend to help me pay". After the user clicks this function, the page will display four options: WeChat, QQ, Alipay, and scanning code in person. Among them, after clicking on WeChat, a password is generated, and users can paste it to their friends on WeChat.
At present, after "WeChat QR code payment", the Taobao payment page has for the first time introduced the option of direct "WeChat payment". However, currently the service is only open for testing functions for some users, and it is unclear when it will be fully covered in the future.
Alibaba and Tencent have "broken down" each other and entered the stage of Taobao order payment interoperability
The breakthrough between Alibaba and Tencent began in 2021. In September of that year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology held a meeting to rectify the shielding of external chains between Internet platforms. Afterwards, the two giants, who had been fighting against each other for many years, ushered in a historic moment and began to demolish the wall. Tencent's WeChat account has released a statement, allowing external connection access. Alibaba has stated that it will work together with other platforms to face the future and move towards the same direction.
Subsequently, both parties attempted to cooperate. In September 2021, Alibaba's applications such as Ele.me, Youku, Damai, Kaolahaigou, and Shuqi were connected to WeChat Pay. Jumping to Taobao shopping through social media and supporting WeChat QR code payment; In November, Taobao and Tmall product sharing links can be accessed directly through one-on-one chatting on WeChat with one hop; In March 2022, Taobao launched an internal test of WeChat Pay. Some users can choose to "scan WeChat for payment" or "go to WeChat to find friends to help me pay" when making Taobao payments; In October of the same year, Alipay supported transfer to WeChat QQ friends. However, this function is not a direct transfer, but rather generates a QR code, which is a cumbersome process.
By 2023, both sides will accelerate cooperation. The ads at the bottom of the articles on the WeChat official account can jump to Taobao in February, and the ads in WeChat circles of friends can jump to Tmall Taobao in May. Before last year's Double 11, Tencent's video account business, which was the pillar of its advertising revenue, was also connected and could directly jump to Taobao with just one click. What's even more surprising is that Alibaba Mama has partnered with Tencent Advertising to deliver high-quality advertising traffic such as WeChat video accounts, Moments, and mini programs through Alibaba Mama's UD effect, allowing users to directly access Taobao and Tmall merchants' stores, product details, and Taobao live streaming rooms.
The "wall breaking" between both sides has finally moved from the traffic channel to the core stage of Taobao order payment interoperability. This time, some Taobao users can directly make payments through WeChat, which is seen as another major interoperability move after the deep cooperation between Alibaba Mama and Tencent, attracting industry attention.
On February 21st, Liu Run posted on Weibo, saying, "One word becomes a prophecy, bless Alibaba.". The picture on Weibo shows that when he mentioned in 2020 that Taobao really started supporting WeChat Pay, it indicates that Alibaba has abandoned its past successes and started to transform and transform.
Putting user needs first, Alibaba is opening up a new landscape in the process of transformation
Alibaba's accelerated wall dismantling is in sync with its transformation. Alibaba's newly appointed CEO, Wu Yongming, mentioned in a comprehensive email released in September last year that in order to create the best user experience in the industry in the new era, it is necessary to be more open, and all businesses actively seek the widest range of openness and cooperation from a user first perspective, including companies that traditionally compete.
The third quarter financial report of the 2024 fiscal year shows that Taotian Group's revenue was 129.07 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 2%. This quarter, Taobao and Tmall focused on improving user experience and pricing strategies, with strong growth in transaction buyers and order volume. The initial results of the transformation are evident. Wu Yongming once again stated in the financial report that in the next year, Alibaba will increase investment in improving the core user experience, providing them with better products, better prices, and better services.
The user first Alibaba has targeted consumers for frequent roast about payment interworking, and the pattern is open. Pan Helin, co-director and researcher of the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center at the International Business School of Zhejiang University, told Southern Metropolitan Daily reporters that if this opening is implemented, it indicates that the interconnection between giants is further advanced, the era of confrontation between Tencent and Alibaba is coming to an end, and a larger ecological cooperation alliance is about to emerge.
From last year's "WeChat QR code payment" to this year's partial use of WeChat payment by some users, Taobao's payment interoperability has been in the internal testing stage. He believes that interoperability is mutual, so the difficulty lies in negotiating equal benefits, including channel benefits and future mutual openness between Alibaba and other fields of WeChat, after all, both sides pay more attention to their respective strategic interests.