With over 1000 million monthly active users, WeChat is one of the largest and most-used social media platforms in China. People use it not just for staying connected with family, friends, and acquaintances, but also for playing games, shopping, banking, trading, and more. To boost eCommerce, Tencent added support for mobile payments in 2013, and by the following year, had made it possible for everyone to set up their own branded WeChat shop.
As long as you have a verified WeChat account and qualify for WeChat Payment, you can use the web-based online dashboard to create and manage a WeChat shop. WeChat users can visit WeChat shops from multiple access points, and they can enjoy a seamless shopping experience due to convenient features like the one-click-payment, automatic log-in, and automatic address collection. They can also share the WeChat shops with their friends and help increase your sales conversion rate.
How to create a WeChat shop
It is possible to create your own WeChat shop from scratch. However, most people prefer to take the more convenient option of using third-party WeChat eCommerce platforms like YouShop, Youzan, Paipai, Weidian, and jd.com WeChat store.
Many of these offer free basic platforms and easy-to-use templates that will let you set up an online shop within minutes. The templates generally include a product display page, a magazine page, a customizable slide show with music, a customizable button, and a menu bar. If you are just starting in eCommerce, it may be a good idea to use the basic platform and features. As your business grows, you can consider if you need more advanced features and design solutions, and then you can go for the paid options.
The benefit of using these eCommerce platforms is that you can quickly set up a shop with a clean interface, for free or for a fee. You can also set up promotions and offer discounts, and customers can track shipping. The disadvantages are that design customization is limited, so your eCommerce shop will be similar to others on the platform, you can only use the features it allows, and order management can be difficult. However, these issues may not significantly affect sales as many brands use WeChat stores as additional venues to sell their products and also conduct eCommerce on their official websites and other places.
Designing a WeChat shop
After creating your WeChat shop, you use the interface to upload your product information, pictures, and discounts. You can sell everything from essential items to luxury items via your WeChat shop. Whatever you sell, you need to design more with pictures as people find images more appealing than text when shopping on mobile phones. Provide context about your brand as well as proof about the authenticity of your products.
Set up a payment system
Consumers can buy from your store using their smartphones and can pay using WeChat Payment or Alipay. You can connect your WeChat account with your bank account to receive payments from customers anywhere in the world. WeChat Payment handles the monetary transfers, including currency conversion and overseas transfer.
Generate traffic to your store
You can generate traffic to your WeChat shop by roping in social media influencers to help you with promotions, and by using CPC platforms and affiliate programs. You can target users based on their shopping behaviors and send them WeChat ads and messages to let them know about your products. You can inform them about promotions and offer Wechat coupons for group buying discounts when they buy with friends. You can also provide QR codes so that WeChat users can have offline to online conversion access to your store.
Furthermore, you can also offer reliable customer service via your official WeChat public account. By responding quickly to concerns and queries, you will be able to create a positive image of your brand with consumers, and that will help you to build better relationships with buyers and gain more followers and fans. You can track the traffic to your store and your follower growth in real-time.
As you see, setting up a WeChat shop is an excellent way of introducing Chinese consumers to your products and furthering your brand influence in the country.
