When Tencent started during the 2014 CCTV New Year show to promote giving red envelopes online, few realized it was the successful kick-off what is now known as WeChat Pay, says WeChat expert Matthew Brennan to the JingDaily. Some luxury brands did not like the concept though: “The idea of a discount communicates value and is generally not an incentive that luxury brands want to be associated with.”Read More →

Cash was king, not so long ago in China. But as wealth and the middle class increased, mobile payments had an advantage, says business analyst Ben Cavender. Because other payment tools like cards did not have a solid footprint, eager smartphone users adopted mobile payments quickly, he tells That’s Magazine. But: “Realistically, I don’t think cash will go away entirely, but it will certainly be relegated to a less important role.”Read More →

Tencent’s WeChat has been a winner in China in terms of users but might even beat its Western competitors in terms of functionality, writes WeChat analyst Matthew Brennan at the China Channel. The bigger question is will the tech giants outside China ever be able to catch up?Read More →

Most internet startups are at the mercy of Facebook, Google, and in China Tencent or Alibaba. William Bao Bean, managing director of Shanghai-based SOsV, co-founded the Mobile Only Accelerator MOX, an independent platform offering not only capital but also an audience to launch, he explains in the News Lens.Read More →

A strong shift from real estate tycoons to IT-giants marks a shift at China’s economy in the ongoing political meetings in Beijing, says author Shaun Rein of The War for China’s Wallet: Profiting from the New World Order to the South China Morning Post. “China is picking five to 10 private technology companies to make them national champions.”Read More →

China is leading the way in digitalizing the consumer experience in retail, but both major competitors – Alibaba and Tencent – have different retail strategies, says WeChat expert Matthew Brennan to the News Lens. Alibaba focuses on the offline experience, Tencent’s WeChat will stay online. In 2018 the battle will be on mobile payment, he adds.Read More →

In less than 15 years China changed from a copy-cat factory floor of the world into a leading innovation platform, says former Baidu communication director Kaiser Kuo to India Today. When the perception of China as a copy-cat nation still persists, it is the time to change, he says.Read More →

E-commerce giant Alibaba launched this week a special app for the older people at Taobao, its online shopping website. A logical step, says retail analyst Ben Cavender to Reuters. “It’s easier now than it was in the past to get some of these older users to actually open up their wallets and spend.”Read More →

Tencent’s WeChat, one of China’s leading data companies, might be easier in sharing data with the government compared to its Western competitors, says WeChat expert Matthew Brennan. But when it comes to sharing data with marketeers, the company is way more restrictive, he tells in Harvard Political Review.Read More →