It looks like luxury brands love the WeChat messaging app.

High-end designer labels such as Louis Vuitton, Cartier and Bulgari
are increasingly using the WeChat messaging app to connect
with millions of consumers in China.

This shows a shift in the Chinese luxury shopping market.

Earlier, Chinese consumers would visit
high-end designer stores for their luxury shopping needs.

Today, China’s largest messaging app WeChat is taking over.

Research shows similar trends.

As per market research firm Gartner L2, 60% of the
fashion luxury brands own at least one WeChat store.

That’s a 24% growth from 2018.

Tencent Holdings launched the social media app
Weixin in January 2011.

Today, the rebranded app WeChat has
over 1 billion monthly active users.

WeChat vs Facebook vs Alibaba

Businesses can set up online shops on WeChat.

The process is pretty much the same as you would do on Facebook.

Unlike Alibaba, WeChat is not a marketplace.

That is, it does not have a search engine indexing all its sellers.

Think of WeChat as a website store.

You can discover a WeChat store by scanning a
QR code at a physical store downtown.

Or click on an embedded ad in a blog post.

The possibilities are endless…

Tencent Holdings, WeChat’s parent company,
has been posting decent revenue growth YOY.

See below:

Loyalty Is Key

Another reason why luxury brands love
WeChat messaging app is that it helps boost customer loyalty.

As a shopper, you can talk to shop assistants via WeChat.

You can also check your membership status
using a few taps on your smartphone using the app.

The CRM (customer relationship management) side of WeChat
is proving to be its USP (unique selling proposition) amidst
ecommerce giants such as Alibaba.

WeChat does not earn a commission from ecommerce transactions.

How does it make money then?

Through processing transactions inside the WeChat app.

The e-wallet WeChat Pay fills in the gap
where Alibaba’s Alipay is not available.