Alipay Releases Epass: For European And American Businesses To Enter China

September, China

The giant Alibaba came to the us to complete the IPO (initial public offering), which reflects the enhancement of China's economic influence in the global retail industry.

At present, it is the online payment platform that Alipay shows its global influence.

Recently, Alipay launched Alipay ePass to help retailers in the US and other European and American countries cover China's increasingly large middle class and new rich consumers.

Alipay President Li Jingming said in New York on Tuesday afternoon that ePass solved many of the problems faced by European and American retailers in dealing with Chinese consumers, such as exchange rate fluctuations, tariffs, and logistics and pportation.

On the basis of logistics issues, Alipay will also provide marketing assistance to US retailers.

These retailers try to cover Chinese consumers, but there are no physical stores in China.

"We have been involved in this field for 14 years: we understand

Familiar with marketing channels.

Li Jingming said, "we know how to turn visitors into real shoppers."

San Francisco based American taxi service Uber has started using Alipay, and other European and American retailers are also testing Alipay.

Gilt, a fashion and lifestyle e-commerce site in New York, will start using the ePass platform at the end of this month.

According to Alipay's data, Chinese consumers spent $33 billion on foreign websites last year to continue shopping, and this figure continues to grow exponentially.

In contrast, consumer spending in the US last year was $40 billion.

Li Jingming said Alipay will attract all retailers who want to do business globally, such as many market based e-commerce websites.

He did not disclose whether he had discussed with Amazon, nor did he disclose the possibility of cooperation with eBay.

EBay recently announced that it will split its payment service PayPal, and may choose to cooperate with Alipay in the future.

Li Jingming said: "we are happy to cooperate with any merchant in the US who want to sell goods directly to Chinese consumers."

Then, when retailers sign up to use Alipay, what kind of convenience will they get? First, retailers need to integrate Alipay into their website in API (application interface).

Retailers also have the option to choose currencies for sale.

Shoppers from China can access these American e-commerce sites through desktop or mobile terminals.

After identifying the IP addresses from China, these shoppers will see the hint information and inform them that they can use it.

Payment is completed.

Most of Alipay's employees are located in China, but they have set up offices in Santa Clara, California.

This is also the location of Alibaba's US office.

It is not clear how Alipay will charge retailers.

Alipay will charge a certain percentage of its sales, but Li Jingming said the rate will vary.

He also refused to disclose the range of rates.

In China, Alipay has 300 million real users.

These users use Alipay to pay their bills and shop.

Li Jingming said that in China's 500 million electricity supplier shoppers, "it is hard to find someone without Alipay account".

He is currently in charge of Alipay's global business.

"By 2020, the scale of the electricity supplier market will reach US $650 billion."

Li Jingming said, "pnational and international shopping will become an important part of it."

If Chinese tourists' ability to purchase abroad reflects a certain trend, it will be a major move to bring these Alipay users to the new market.

Alipay estimates that in 2012, Chinese consumers reached about 100 million overseas trips.

They travel to cities like Paris and New York to find popular brands in physical stores.

In China, it is difficult for them to buy these brands online.

A big factor hindering Chinese consumers from shopping online through these websites is that these websites require Chinese consumers to use international credit cards, but few Chinese users have such credit cards.

Similarly, shipments to China are also very difficult, because these goods may face problems through China Customs.

Li Jingming said that as a company familiar with China's regulatory requirements, Alipay is ready to solve these problems.

Alipay is currently working with a number of partners to break the barriers to logistics and pportation.

However, Li Jingming did not disclose details of Alipay partners.

So what is the attraction for US retailers? If they want to gain sales growth through developing markets like China, then Alipay will help.

In 2013, the total retail sales in the US amounted to US $4 trillion and 530 billion, up 4.2% over the same period last year.

Electricity providers have contributed greatly to this growth.

According to eMarketer, a market research firm, in 2013, the total retail sales in the US amounted to nearly $40 billion, up 16.9% over the same period last year.

If US retailers can cover the Chinese market, this growth rate will also increase significantly.

According to the Alipay team, Chinese consumers are eager to buy American goods, not just the hottest brands.

Alibaba split Alipay in 2011.

Before IPO, the company had a strong blow to the fake products on the electronic business platform.

However, "Shanzhai" has always been a big problem that plagued China's retail market.

Li Jingming said that many young Chinese professionals can speak fluent English and have received education in Europe and America.

They hope to establish contacts with European and American brands directly, so as to ensure that they can buy genuine products.

Although these consumers usually live in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, a large part of them live in two or three line cities.

In a survey of consumers across the country, 80% of respondents said they had been shopping abroad or had learned online about retailers outside China.

Of those who did not do so, 25% said they intended to do so.

Li Jingming said, "there are many excellent brands that have not yet been known to Chinese consumers."