Chinese outbound tourists heading to Singapore will soon be able to buy goods at Changi Airport with a wave of their WeChat Pay app.
WeChat Pay, the e-wallet linked to China’s massively popular WeChat messenger has signed a three-year marketing partnership with the Changi Airport Group (CAG), it announced last week.
CAG envisions WeChat Pay to be rolled out at most of the brands at the airport, including its online store iShopChangi, by the end of the year, although it didn’t specify which brands exactly would be accepting the e-wallet app. Currently, there are more than 400 retail stores and 140 food and beverage outlets across the four Changi Airport terminals.
CAG will also provide WeChat Pay users exclusive discounts when shopping at Changi Airport and on iShopChangi.
According to CAG, Chinese travelers accounted for around one-third of Changi Airport’s total sales last year. In 2017, Chinese outbound tourists made up the biggest source of arrivals into Singapore, and they have also been rated the “biggest spenders” in the island nation.
Edwin Lim, a marketing executive at CAG, said in a statement that the company will be able to send targeted marketing messages to WeChat users.
Grace Yin, operations director at WeChat Pay, added, “Through this collaboration, WeChat Pay will provide a more convenient shopping experience to Chinese tourists in Changi Airport. We hope the collaboration will also provide fresh options and new perspectives to Changi Airport’s retail operations. We look forward to a long-lasting and stable partnership between WeChat Pay and Changi Airport.”
WeChat Pay’ biggest rival, Alipay, is also looking at Singapore as a key market overseas. It already inked a five-year partnership with CAG to roll out acceptance for its mobile wallet airport-wide in 2017, although no new numbers are available on how far that’s progressed. Alipay also announced today that it will extend its partnership with the Singapore Tourism Board to drive awareness and Chinese tourist spending.
Editor: Nadine Freischlad