China has become a significant market for tourism in Norway, so much so that Alibaba’s online payment system Alipay has launched in the Nordic country.
Alipay, which facilitates mobile payments and includes a marketing platform, enjoys the lion’s share of the mobile payment market in China. It has also been operating in Europe since 2016, and now has its eye on a few other countries in the Nordic region as well.
Alipay is expected to enhance the shopping experience for Chinese tourists in Norway, which GB Times reports numbered almost 32,000 in the first quarter of this year, and to improve the ability of businesses to connect with them.
The benefits of Alipay in Norway
Alipay launched in Norway in early September 2017, and is known as APay Nordic AS. According to a China Daily report, APay Nordic AS was jointly set up by Oslo-based company GoDigitalChina and e-commerce market leader Nordkost.
With credit cards not being the most favoured option for payments in China, Alipay overcomes this barrier and enables faster payments for Chinese travellers.
It also provides a point of contact between businesses and Chinese customers, and offers them opportunities to reach tourists currently in the country with targeted marketing campaigns and offers.
The importance of making transactions easy
Credit cards and cash are fast becoming things of the past in China, with consumers paying for more and more items using QR codes or virtual wallets on their smartphones.
This includes payments not only for physical goods but also for bills, transport, accommodation, plane tickets and a whole host of other services. China’s shoppers can also pay for items from vending machines by simply waving their smartphone in front of the machine’s sensors.
It’s becoming more and more possible for people to go about their business in China’s bigger cities armed with nothing but a smartphone, and to leave the wallet behind altogether. There are even reports of street beggars using the Alipay app!
Many Chinese citizens love to travel to travel and enjoy experiences they wouldn’t be able to have at home. It makes a lot of sense for tourism destinations such as Norway to capitalise on this preference for mobile, and introduce the convenience of Alipay online payments so travellers can pay in their own currency using a method they are familiar with.
Jumping aboard the mobile payment train
Mobile payments needn’t be restricted to the travel and tourism industry either.
Anyone involved in digital marketing to China’s consumers needs to consider how they can make it as quick, easy and convenient as possible for their target audiences to pay for goods or services.
For more information on Alipay, or any aspect of digital marketing in China, feel free to contact our multi-lingual marketing team.