Vinomofo co-founder Justin Dry says a recent deal between payment giant Stripe and Chinese digital wallet providers Alipay and WeChat Pay is “very welcome news” for its Asian expansion plans.
Stripe announced yesterday that its customers will now have access to millions of Chinese consumers, through a partnership with Alibaba’s Alipay and Tencent‘s WeChat Pay.
Together the wallet services claim more than one billion users and are estimated to have processed sales of almost $3 trillion in 2016, according to a UN affiliated report conducted by Better Than Cash Alliance.
Vinomofo co-founder Justin Dry, who runs 90 per cent of his business through Stripe platforms, said he sees WeChat pay being at the “core” of its communications with customers in China, noting that the extended services will be tools in the arsenal for the company’s plans in the region.
“We can see WeChat Pay especially being at the core of our communications over there, it’s an awesome social platform with a massive user base, perfect for us as a content-led tribe retailer,” he said.
Stripe, based in Silicon Valley, works with a variety of e-tailers Down Under, including Vinomofo, Catch Group and Shoes of Prey.
Under the deal Stripe’s withstanding partnership with Alipay in North America will be expanded to the Chinese market for one-time payments and a beta-test will be kicked off on WeChat Pay support and recurring payments.
Stripe co-founder John Collison said he hopes the deal will catalyse more trade between Australia and China, noting where consumers maintain high demand for Aussie products, particularly wine and produce.
“There is already impressive demand among Chinese consumers for Australian goods and services, and this presents a vast growth opportunity for Australian internet businesses” Collison said.
Chinese retail e-commerce sales were worth US$376 billion in 2016 and are projected to more than double to US$839 billion by 2021, according to data portal Statista.