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Tag: McDonalds

  • McDonald’s China in massive expansion plan

    McDonald’s China in massive expansion plan

    McDonald’s China is set to be supersized as the US fast food giant pursues growth offshore.

    The company’s Chicago-based CEO Steve Easterbrook has revealed more than 1500 new stores will be opened across China, Hong Kong and Korea over the next five years. About 1300 of those will be in Mainland China.

    McDonald’s already operates some 2200 restaurants – its new target is 3500.

    In a clear strategic shift the company says it is seeking “strategic partners who will add value and unlock growth potential in key markets” in Asia.

    “This will allow McDonald’s to accelerate our growth and scale faster across diverse markets placing us closer to our customers and the communities we serve,” Easterbrook said in a statement.

    “We’re in the midst of transforming our business and taking a strategic and thoughtful approach to enhance our ability to grow around the world. These actions build on our turnaround efforts and will advance local ownership, enable faster decision-making and achieve restaurant growth.”

    Once the target is reached, China will become McDonald’s second largest global market after the US.

    It is not clear how many new stores will open in Hong Kong, where the company already has 230 outlets, but in an email to the South China Morning Post, Easterbrook indicated opening more McCafes will be a priority in the territory.

    The company is also actively seeking partners in Taiwan, and in Japan where it is midway through a major overhaul and repositioning of the brand after incurring massive losses.

  • Chicking Indonesia launched

    Chicking Indonesia launched

    UAE-based halal fast-food chain franchisee Chicking Indonesia has signed a master franchise agreement to open 20 outlets, starting with Java and Sumatra.

    Competing with major international brands like Burger King, KFC and McDonald’s, Chicking serves fried chicken and related products.

    The master franchise agreement is between BFI Management (DMCC), the franchise management division of Chicking, and PT Ayam Top Dubai for the Indonesian market. Chicking founder and Al Bayan Group MD AP Mansoor says the company will be opening its first European outlet in London next month as part of an aggressive global expansion.

    “We currently have 100-plus outlets in nine countries, and the plan is to reach 500 by 2020,” says Mansoor, who founded the brand 16 years ago.

    “In the UAE we will be opening three more outlets within a couple of months to add to the 17 we already have. We are very confident about the expansion in Southeast Asia after entering Malaysia last year.”

    DMCC CEO Fariq Halim says the appointment of an Indonesian master franchise is a major milestone. Shops will be opened throughout Indonesia, with its growing Muslim population of 200 million people. The flagship outlet will open in Jakarta by the end of the year, and PT Ayam Top Dubai will aim to have 20 outlets within five years.

    PT Ayam Top Dubai was founded by Raymond Bambang Widjaja with Hengki Setiawan and Hermanto Simon, who collectively have more than 75 years’ experience in doing business in Indonesia and Australia.

    “Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world and is one of the key markets we have been monitoring,” says Widjaja, who has F&B business and master franchises for national and international brands in Indonesia and Australia.

    “The QSR industry in Indonesia is diverse and predominantly controlled by domestic brands. It is a competitive and challenging market, but we believe we have the right partners to make Chicking a leading brand in Indonesia.”

  • McDonald’s Japan rebounds

    McDonald’s Japan rebounds

    McDonald’s Japan has recorded its first increase in customer numbers in nearly three years.

    Preliminary figures released internally by the company show footfall at stores which remained open for more than one year rose by more than 10 per cent Japan-wide. Better yet, same-store sales rose by as much as 30 per cent, according to a report by Reuters.

    McDonald’s Holdings Co (Japan) has projected a net profit of about 1 billion yen (US$8.47 million) for the year to December 2016 – which would mark its first time out of the red in three years since a food safety scandal relating to expired chicken hit the brand in 2014. In January last year sales plunged 38.6 per cent, customer ranks depleted by 28.5 per cent.

    In April last year the company unveiled a plan to cull its restaurant network and revamp remaining stores after a US$319 million loss.

    It also revised its menu, adding salads which has clearly drawn customers back to restaurants.

    Analysts say that despite the apparent recovery, the work is not complete with a long road ahead to restore profits to pre-2014 levels.

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  • Yum! China fortunes rebound

    Yum! China fortunes rebound

    Yum! China has showed progress with a system wide sales increase of 3 per cent in the latest quarter – or 7 per cent on a constant currency basis.

    Same restaurant sales are now in positive growth, although by a fairly meagre 2 per cent given the 16 per cent decline in the same quarter last year. Nevertheless, the strong pace of 743 new restaurant openings, combined with some good productivity gains, helped to swell operating profit by 200 per cent.

    Given the big differential in growth prospects and the fact that China faces a very different set of problems and opportunities, it is hardly surprising that Yum! is looking to split its business into two separate companies. This is a sensible step that will allow Yum! and Yum! China to focus on their respective priorities. However, without the boost to growth provided by China, the legacy business will need to work much harder to reestablish its relevance if it is to grow in a much more competitive market.

    Globally, Yum! produced a set of results that exactly mirrors those of last quarter.

    KFC has ended its fiscal year with a fairly solid set of numbers. That said, the growth figures are expressed on a constant currency basis and so exclude the negative impact of the strong US dollar. When this is factored in the outcome is a little less rosy with total revenue for the quarter falling by 1.2 per cent over the prior year.

    Behind the numbers, both KFC and Pizza Hut continue to struggle with system wide sales, including the impact of exchange rates, falling by 5 per cent and 2 per cent respectively. Fortunately this has been somewhat offset by the rebuilding of restaurant margins, but not by sufficient enough a degree to prevent profits at KFC dipping and profits at Pizza Hut virtually flatlining. Across the quarter, these two traditional engines of growth simply failed to propel the company forward.

    One of the key issues for both brands is the relatively slim growth within the US, which in the case of KFC is the division’s single largest market, and in the case of Pizza Hut accounts for the majority of the division’s sales. In our view both suffer from the challenge of maturity and, while they remain popular, the rather tired nature of the brands and a lack of meaningful menu innovation means they struggle to compete against rivals like Chick-Fil-A which are seen as more interesting by consumers. In many ways, both brands need to take a leaf out of the McDonald’s playbook in terms of reinventing themselves to become more relevant to diners.

    In contrast the Taco Bell division saw a strong rise in sales on at both total and same restaurant level. Restaurant margins also increased thanks to some favorable cost changes for commodities. While the combination of these things should have resulted in a good uplift in operating profit, a number of one-off costs – which included investment spending, legal fees, and the creation of a scholarship program – put pay to that. For the quarter Taco Bell operating profit declined by 7 per cent.

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  • Burger King Vietnam ‘not shutting down’

    Burger King Vietnam ‘not shutting down’

    Burger King Vietnam has refuted media claims the company is planning to exit the Southeast Asian nation.

    The US fast food chain entered Vietnam in 2012, initially opening in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat international airport, before progressively moving into suburban locations in the city.

    At the time the company projected it would open 60 stores within five years, but three-quarters of the way into that timeline, it still has just 16.

    The closure of three stores in recent months has fuelled speculation the brand may exit the market. But CEO Nguyen Gia Thanh told news website Dau Tu this week that was not the case.

    He said two stores in Ho Chi Minh City were closed to relocate in better sites with more affordable rents.

    The third store closed was in the capital, Hanoi.

    Thanh said Burger King will continue to expand in both cities and is not closing down in Vietnam.

    Vietnamese are not known as big consumers of burgers and Burger King arrived in the market with higher price points than established rivals Jollibee from the Philippines, Lotteria from Korea and fried chicken and burger chain KFC from the US.

    Rival Carl’s Jr has also struggled to make an impression in the market, largely targeting the expat market in districts of Ho Chi Minh where foreigners reside.

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  • McDonald’s China plans 250 new stores in 2016

    McDonald’s China plans 250 new stores in 2016

    McDonald’s China is shifting its focus from tier 1 and 2 markets to smaller cities as it expands its footprint in the mainland.

    The US fast food operator plans to open 250 new stores in the lower-tier cities in 2016 which represents its biggest expansion plan in any international market.

    Phyllis Cheung, CEO of McDonald’s China, says the company will target third and fourth tier cities, along with developing digital ordering and offering customised burgers.

    Cheung says 150 stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou will have self-service kiosks introduced this year allowing customised ingredients. The build-your-own concept is called My Burger and has already been introduced in some Asian markets, including Thailand.

    “Within two to three years, we hope mobile ordering and other digital capabilities would cover all of our restaurants in China, and we will also launch our proprietary smartphone application for ordering by the end of this year,” Cheung said in an interview.

    The Us chain opened its ‘Experience of the future’ flagship restaurant in Beijing’s Wangfujing St this week which features table service for customers who order using the WeChat app.

    McDonald’s China boasts more than 2200 stores already.

  • McDonald’s is back

    McDonald’s is back

    Turnaround efforts are paying dividends for McDonald’s.

    The fast food giant’s latest results show continued progress with global comparable sales up 5 per cent, while the US had a very strong quarter with comparable sales rising 5.7 per cent.

    This momentum is important as it signals McDonald’s is reconnecting with consumers which is driving both customer traffic and sales. This has been the result of a number of changes, especially in the core US market.

    The first of these is the reengineering of the menu, including the introduction of all day breakfasts. While this has added to operational complexity, it has been a vital step in providing more choice and variety – which, according to our research, are two of the main things that lapsed McDonald’s customers mentioned as reasons for their defection. The early signs are that this step change has been successful in attracting back lost customers, especially over the important lunchtime period.

    Menu enhancement has also resulted in the addition of more premium and healthy options; something that will continue into this year as McDonald’s tries out new items like kale salads. While these changes are unlikely to attract highly health conscious consumers, and arguably will never be the mainstay of McDonald’s menu, offering them is an important positioning statement. It will help the company compete more successfully against some of its more premium rivals, as well as ensuring that the needs of all members of families or groups who visit are satisfied.

    Making menus more premium is all well and good but this forms part of a difficult balancing act – not least because low prices and good value remain key motivating factors for trips to McDonald’s. Here we are encouraged by the company’s decision to roll out the new McPick2 menu (in the US), which allows a choice of two options for $2. After the abandonment of of the popular Dollar Menu, and the bungled attempts at replacing it with unsatisfactory alternatives like the Dollar Menu & More, this gives McDonald’s US the firepower to compete against rivals like Wendy’s and Chik-fil-A.

    The final positive shift is the demonstration of greater flexibility in menu options through things like digital menu boards, which allow changes to be made according to weather and other conditions. This has helped to increase conversion rate and average spend per customer.

    Naturally, the downside of all this greater flexibility is that it adds to complexity, cost and makes operations somewhat slower than they once were. This has, in fact, been the main source of complaint from some franchisees. However, in our view this is very much a case of there being no alternative: the market has changed and the customer has slightly different priorities now to 10 years ago. McDonald’s had to move with the times or face continued deterioration.

    At a corporate level, the decision to convert more stores to the franchise model is savvy. The next few years are likely to see more operational complexity and higher costs for developments like store enhancements. These things will be easier and faster to manage, both operationally and financially, via the franchised model.

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  • McDonald’s wins with all-day breakfast, China back on track

    McDonald’s wins with all-day breakfast, China back on track

    McDonald’s Corp smashed analyst expectations for quarterly same-restaurant sales as the launch of all-day breakfasts proved a hit with diners in the United States and demand continued to recover in China.

    The performance adds fuel to McDonald’s revival, after the chain had seen its US sales fall for two years up to the third quarter of 2015 following a series of missteps under former chief executive Don Thompson, who left the world’s biggest restaurant chain last year.

    “Once upon a time, under previous leadership, it seemed like McDonald’s became a less nimble company where it took a really long time to roll out new products and innovations,” said Morningstar analyst RJ Hottovy.

    New Chief Executive Steve Easterbrook implemented a turnaround plan last year that involved making the menu simpler, improving service times and raising worker wages.

    McDonald’s also launched all-day breakfasts in October in the United States, a move aimed at countering increasing competition from chains such as Wendy’s Co, Starbucks Corp and Burger King.

    “All-day breakfast positions us to regain market share we had given up in recent years,” Easterbrook said on a post-earnings conference call, adding it would take at least six more months of positive sales to cement a more sustained turnaround.

    Sales at US outlets open at least 13 months rose 5.7 per cent in the quarter ended December 31 – the best quarterly growth in nearly four years and far ahead of forecasts of 2.7 per cent.

    Shares rose 3 per cent to a record of $121.90 on Monday.

    China back on track

    In China, where McDonald’s and rival Yum Brands Inc are still recovering from a July 2014 food safety scandal, same-store sales rose 4 per cent, the second straight quarter of growth after four quarters of falling sales.

    The growth, however, was slower than the 26.8 per cent jump in the July-September quarter, when sales ticked up sharply against a steep drop in the same period in 2014 immediately following the food scare at key supplier OSI Group.

    McDonald’s and Yum, the parent of KFC and Pizza Hut, are slowly turning things around in China, although same-restaurant sales for both firms remain below pre-scandal levels, according to a Reuters analysis of available data.

    “It’s back to par rather than getting ahead too much, but it’s good for them to see stable sales,” said Ben Cavender, Shanghai-based principal at China Market Research Group.

    He added it would be tough for the firm to re-ignite the kind of rapid growth it enjoyed before 2012, as Chinese diners now had far greater choice and often looked for more healthy options.

    What’s more, the recovery comes as the world’s second-biggest economy faces its weakest growth in 25 years, a slowdown that has roiled global markets in the past few months.

    Globally, McDonald’s same-restaurant sales rose 5 per cent, above the 3.2 per cent expected by analysts polled by research firm Consensus Metrix.

    Fourth-quarter net income rose 9.9 per cent to $1.21 billion, or $1.31 per share, on revenue of $6.34 billion, handily beating analysts’ estimates.

    The company also said it was exploring a sale of a portion of its Japan business, confirming earlier reports on the move.

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  • McDonald’s Japan arrests sales decline

    McDonald’s Japan arrests sales decline

    McDonald’s Japan has lost 29.2 billion yen in the first nine months of this year, roughly US$236.8 million.

    However, the beleaguered fast food business, which launched a Business Revitalisation Plan involving closing 131 stores in April, says it has arrested its sales decline.

    Same store sales in the third quarter of this year slid by four per cent – a fraction of the massive 32.3 per cent drop in its horror first quarter.

    In the first nine months of the current year, system wide sales have decreased by 70.1 billion yen (US$568 million) to 273.9 billion yen ($2.221 billion).

    While sales and profit have declined significantly, the company said the BRP is progressing “broadly in accordance with schedule, and the business is on the path to recovery”.

    On October 26, McDonald’s Japan launched ‘Otegoro Mac’, part of a “Shin Otegoro Sengen” initiative designed to provide better, more consistent every day value for money. The company says that has been well received by customers to date.

    “We will continue to focus on ensuring food quality while making additional progress on our modernisation plan, delivering customer visible points of change, accelerating business recovery, and achieving long-term growth.

    “We are committed to providing customers the best possible dining experience by delivering the highest possible level of quality, service and cleanliness, with an unwavering focus on

    building stronger relationships in local communities.”

    McDonald’s Japan’s new vision is of “becoming a modern burger restaurant that connects with our customers”.

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  • McDonald’s China rebounds

    McDonald’s China rebounds

    After a long running series of quarterly sales declines, McDonald’s says it global sales rose four per cent in the last three months.

    And McDonald’s China has played a key role in the recovery.

    President and CEO Steve Easterbrook said the company was encouraged by its operating performance for the quarter, with positive comparable sales across all segments, including the US, “as well as sales recovery in China following the prior year supplier issue”.

    “In the High Growth Markets segment, third quarter comparable sales increased 8.9 per cent, reflecting very strong comparable sales performance in China and positive performance in most other markets. Operating income increased 39 per cent (68 per cent in constant currencies). Emphasis on value and breakfast during the quarter contributed to China’s sales recovery.”

    The company suffered a major setback in China a year ago after some of its stores were found using expired products.

    Elsewhere in the world, McDonald’s has also seen recovery in the UK, Australia and German markets.

    Easterbrook said the latest figures underline the “fundamental strength of the McDonald’s System”, perhaps a reference to recent media commentary questioning the concept and estimating as many as 30 per cent of McDonald’s franchisees in the US are technically insolvent.

    Unfortunately, the company did not releases specific breakdowns on sales by country market within its ‘High Growth Markets’ business unit which comprises countries like China and Vietnam.

    In its home market, initiatives like extending the breakfast menu to all day and new product lines were helping lure customers back in store.

    In tandem with its results announcement, the fast food company made a commitment to phasing out chicken fed antibiotics.

  • McDonald’s China to accept Alipay

    McDonald’s China to accept Alipay

    Alibaba’s AliPay has received a major boost in its quest to become a generally accepted payment system in the mainland.

    McDonald’s China has announced it will accept Alipay in more than 2100 restaurants.

    The launch will commence in Shanghai this month and spread across all the fast food chain;’s locations in China by March 2016.

    “McDonald’s will work together with Ant Financial and Alipay to upgrade its services by integrating data technologies,” Ant Financial sais in a statement.

    “All restaurants in China are undergoing system upgrade and the set-up will be complete to accept Alipay as its new payment method by March, 2016.

    “It will take customers only two seconds to pay their meals at McDonald’s after introducing Alipay to its outlets by scanning the QR code in users’ Alipay. It will be more convenient and efficient for both customers and cashiers.”

    Another venture set up between Alibaba and Ant Financial – Koubei – allows consumers to pay for goods using their smartphones. Koubei is expected to be accepted by McDonald’s China also.

    Alipay’s McDonald’s China deal follows another announced last week with hotel chain Marriott as Alipay gains growing momentum in gaining market share from more traditional systems like UnionPay and even cash. Walmart starting accepting Alipay in May and KFC announced a partnership in June.

    “Alipay is now accepted in over 200,000 offline retailers and eateries across China and another 30,000 shops in Seoul, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Germany,” Ant Financial.

  • McDonald’s India to double network

    McDonald’s India to double network

    McDonald’s India says it plans to open a new restaurant every week for the next five years.

    That’s 250 restaurants by the end of 2015, more than double its current network of 231.

    McDonald’s India master franchisee is Westlife Enterprise, whose vice chairman Amit Jatia says the growth focus will be on the western and southern parts of the country.

    McDonald’s launched in India 20 years ago, essentially the first of the crop of global fast food chains to establish a presence there. Now it faces growing competition from the likes of Burger King, Domino’s and Pizza Hut for a share of the growing fast food market.

    Jatia says McDonald’s will be expanding its coffee offer, opening the McCafe concept within its fast food restaurants as part of a move away from softdrinks.

    “We offer a range of smoothies, besides coffees and this encourages customers to opt for non-carbonated drinks,” he said in an interview with the India Times.

    The McCafe network will be expanded from the current 45 to about 140 within two years.

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  • Studio City retail tenants revealed

    Studio City retail tenants revealed

    Studio City and Taubman Asia, have revealed the lineup of fashion brands that will open inside The Boulevard at Studio City.

    A mix of fashion-forward labels and internationally-renowned luxury brands include Macau’s first Balmain, Macau’s first Belstaff, and Tom Ford’s largest store in Asia, amongst many others. The selection was assembled by Taubman Asia and Melco Crown Entertainment’s combined team of retail specialists to meet Chinese consumers’ increasing desire to express their individuality through high quality, expertly crafted clothing and accessories. Bespoke and personal services will be offered to ensure our shoppers take center stage.

    Taubman says The Boulevard at Studio City will bring “an unparalleled shopping experience” to Studio City.

    “Unlike any retail offering to be found in Asia, the unique 35,000 sqm ‘immersive’ retail entertainment environment brings shopping to life by ‘transporting’ visitors to high-energy street-scapes and entertaining them at every turn with featured streets and squares inspired by iconic shopping and entertainment locations, including New York’s Times Square and Hollywood’s Beverly Hills,” Taubman said in a statement.

    “At the futuristic Times Square Macau, inside The Boulevard at Studio City, a variety of entertainment from ‘virtual’ musicians to film stars will be shown through holographic projections.

    “Leveraging our global expertise increating extraordinary retail environments, and our exceptional relationships with the world’s leading brands, our talented team in Asia has brought together an exciting mix of brands for The Boulevard at Studio City,” said René Tremblay, president of Taubman Asia.

    “Our merchandising and management services are the industry standard for performance and excellence. We are thrilled to welcome these brands to our latest project and are committed to supporting them for the long term.”

    List of brands:

    Aeronautica Militare
    Balmain
    Bank of China
    Belstaff
    Boss
    Bottega Veneta
    Bulgari
    Cigar Emporium
    Coach
    Cosmos Food Station
    Din Tai Fung
    Dunhill
    Emporio Armani
    Fendi
    Girard-Perregaux
    Givenchy
    Glashutte Original
    Graff
    Gucci
    Hide Yamamoto
    Hublot
    ICBC
    Trattoria Il Mulino
    Image Digital
    IWC Schaffhausen
    Jaeger-LeCoultre
    Jaquet Droz
    kate spade new york
    Kenzo
    Longines
    McCafe
    McDonald’s
    MCM
    Michael Kors
    Montblanc
    Philipp Plein
    Piaget
    Prada
    Rainbow
    Rimowa
    Roberto Cavalli
    Saint Laurent Paris
    Shiki Hot Pot Restaurant
    Starbucks
    Tag Heuer
    T Galleria Beauty by DFS
    Tiffany & Co.
    Tom Ford
    UM
    Vacheron Constantin
    Valentino
    Van Cleef & Arpels
    Versace Collection
    Ermenegildo Zegna
    Zenith

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  • McDonald’s make Minions

    McDonald’s make Minions

    Sales of products affiliated with animation characters – such as ‘Minions’ and the cast of Frozen – are soaring.

    According to McDonald’s, Happy Meals with Minion toys are in high demand in South Korea.

    The ‘Minion Happy Meal Special Set’, which consists of five Minion toys, one Happy Meal, and four coupons for Happy Meals were all sold out the minute they were released on July 23, with people queuing for hours before their 3pm release. With stock limited to 100 per store, the Minions disappeared fast.

    From July 24, McDonald’s started to sell Happy Meals including one Minion toy each.

    “It is hard for us to reveal how many Happy Meals are sold in a day, but ever since we gave out Minion toys, sales definitely went up.”

    McDonald’s said Minion-themed products such as the ‘Minion Shrimp Beef Burger’, ‘Minion Yellow Muffin’, ‘South Pole Lemonade’, ‘Ba-nana Shake’ and ‘Ba-nana McFlurry’ are also popular among customers.

    McDonald’s is planning the second release of the ‘Minion Happy Meal Special Set’ for August 9, at 3pm. The five Minion toys will be different from the previous event. The fast food chain is expecting another early sell-out.

    McDonald’s is not the only company using cute Minions in marketing.

    Sam Lip General Foods released four types of Minions bread in time for the movie’s release.

    Not to be outdone, Binggrae’s ‘Yomamte’ yogurt ice cream is affiliated with the beloved characters from Disney’s ‘Frozen’. According to Binggrae, sales of the product tripled compared to 2013.

    The places selling the ‘Frozen‘ Yomamte’s were shared on online communities, and consumers gave cute nicknames to the products. Named after the characters printed on the packages, Elsa, Anna and Olaf, the popsicles were named ‘El-mamte’, ‘An-mamte’ and ‘Ol-mamte’.

    Officials from Binggrae are looking into expanding their product line.

    “There were six different designs from ‘Frozen’ printed on the packages in the early stages of the renewal, but we are planning to expand the designs to 23 different types so that consumers can have a wider variety of choice.

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  • Using WeChat to Grow Your Business in China

    Using WeChat to Grow Your Business in China

    In the world of mobile commerce, all eyes are on China.

    Even as China’s economy and overall retail sales growth drops, business-to-consumer (B2C) online sales are growing by 25 per cent each year. Data gathered from iResearch in a March 2015 report states that China’s gross merchandise volume (GMV) of the mobile shopping market reached 929.71 billion RMB in 2014, increasing by 239.3 per cent from the previous year.

    The growth was significantly larger than that of the overall GMV of the online shopping market. China has the world’s largest digital marketplace, and is predicted to grow three times faster than overall retail. The industry is primed for growth not only in the first-tier cities, but also in the third-tier and lower cities with an estimated half of total online sales coming from the lower tier cities by 2018.

    When considering the mobile commerce industry in China, one name stands out: Tencent’s WeChat has long been impacting the lives of Chinese consumers, and with its move to digital payment systems it now has the ability to revolutionise the mobile commerce industry in China.

    WeChat has a massive scale, with over 468 million monthly active global users and 25 per cent of users checking WeChat over 30 times a day. Last year, users spent US$15.3 billion on mobile data using WeChat.  As the fastest growing social media platform in the world, and the primary source of interaction between brands and Chinese consumers, foreign investors looking to be successful in China should take note. Chinese consumers actively embrace mobile commerce due to its easy to use, cost-effective payment and delivery system.

    There is huge potential for foreign investors to take advantage of WeChat payment systems for their Chinese consumers and to maximise their profits. WeChat allows foreign investors to interact with their consumers in a way that has not reached the same scale in the Western world.

    Fewer than 20 per cent of internet users in the US have used their mobile phones to pay for services and goods while more than half of users in China have done so. Multiple incentives exist for Chinese consumers to make their purchases through WeChat; enabling businesses to use these schemes to generate profit. Loyalty cards, membership schemes and discounts for paying online all compel cost-effective shoppers to make a purchase.

    In addition to this, due to the convenience of paying through WeChat, there is a higher chance of impulse purchases. However, this ease does not simply apply to the consumer. Brands are able to bridge the gap between attracting new consumers and engaging with paying consumers, which has already begun to change the face of shopping and retailing worldwide. Businesses utilising WeChat payment systems are already experiencing huge profits, and Tencent has stated that several official accounts are now making over US$1 million.

    Not only can consumers purchase items, but can also purchase services inside WeChat. Businesses with service accounts can take advantage of WeChat’s online-to-offline (O2O) business model. Both online and offline purchases are available to consumers. Customers can either pay for services or items by scanning the QR codes of products provided by offline retailers, or pay on web pages inside the app.

    All vendors, from big name brands to small and medium-sized enterprises are able to create service accounts in WeChat. Big name companies like McDonalds, Starbucks, Xiaomi, Watsons, and Pacific Coffee have all created service accounts. WeChat allows all vendors the potential for success and the ability for SMEs to create accounts is an important aspect for foreign investors to capitalise on.

    Certain industries, such as food, beverage and retail, tend to generate more profit as they are more primed for mobile commerce. That being said, taxi companies, airlines, newspapers, government organisations, and pharmaceutical companies are all using WeChat payments to their advantage.

    Tencent has now enabled users to pay their utility bills through WeChat, and more and more businesses are finding a way to use WeChat mobile payments to grow their business and attain a competitive advantage.

    It is crucial for foreign businesses entering a new market to take advantage of domestic trends in order to be competitive in that marketplace. Mobile commerce in China is constantly evolving and businesses like WeChat are revolutionising how business is conducted. WeChat allows both big name brands and SMEs to compete in the same market space which has the ability to change the entire industry. Entering the Chinese market has its difficulties, but applications like WeChat make it easier for foreign investors to communicate effectively with their Chinese consumers.

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