Alipay Finds Significant Growth of Chinese Consumers Participating in U.S. E-Commerce Holiday Season
~ Young Millennials Replace Middle Class as Strongest Shopping
Segment
~ Fashion, Beauty, Baby Products and Health & Wellness Top List of
Most Purchased Items
HANGZHOU, China–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Representing a record-breaking year, the number of China-based consumers
shopping U.S. brands online over the holiday season has increased 7
times over last year, according to Ant Financial Services Group’s
Alipay, which enables leading U.S. brands and retailers to easily sell
and ship directly to customers in China through its Alipay ePass
cross-border e-commerce solution. The result was uncovered as part of
Alipay’s early holiday shopping review conducted from November 17th
through November 30th, when the Company also found that total
sales from China-based consumers purchasing U.S. products through Alipay
ePass increased 15 times versus last year.
Interestingly, Millennials represented the largest group of consumers,
replacing the middle class as China’s strongest online shopping segment
for cross-border purchases. Topping the list were shoppers born in the
90s, with 34% of the shoppers born after the 90s (which increased 3
times over last year), closely following those born in the 80s. Shoppers
were predominantly female (70%), with fashion, beauty, baby products and
health & wellness categories representing 75% of total transactions.
Further, 80% of total transactions were made by new Alipay ePass users.
Overall, the most consumption took place in Shanghai and Beijing,
followed by Guangdong, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang.
“Among the savviest shoppers in the world, Chinese consumers are
continuously seeking high quality U.S. products and Western merchandise
that they can’t find in China,” said Jingming Li, President, Alipay US.
“With better logistics and localized payment options now available to
make cross-border purchases, we expect this tremendous growth of Chinese
consumers to continue throughout the holiday season, particularly as
U.S. e-commerce retailers provide more discounts and promotions.”
Launched in September 2014, the Alipay ePass program is a cross-border
e-commerce solution that enables U.S. brands and retailers to sell
directly to Chinese consumers using localized payments and direct
shipping. Through the program, Alipay’s 400 million registered users in
China can shop its retail partners’ full online assortments at the same
retail prices offered to U.S. consumers, while receiving Alipay’s fast,
reasonably priced shipping, customs clearance, and door-to-door delivery
anywhere in China. Further, Alipay ePass removes all currency and
logistics barriers, providing Chinese consumers a convenient shopping
experience that is easy, safe and consistent with what they know and
trust. For more information on Alipay ePass, please contact: alipayus@list.alibaba-inc.com.
About Ant Financial
Ant Financial Services Group is focused on serving small and micro
enterprises as well as consumers. With the vision “to turn trust into
wealth,” Ant Financial is dedicated to building an open ecosystem of
Internet thinking and technologies while working with other financial
institutions to support the future financial needs of society.
Businesses operated by Ant Financial Services Group include Alipay, Ant
Fortune, Yu’e Bao, Zhao Cai Bao, Ant Micro Loan, Sesame Credit and
MYbank.
About Alipay
Alipay is the world’s leading third-party payment platform, with 400
million registered users and more than 200 financial institution
partners. With mobile payments accounting for more than half of Alipay’s
over 120 million transactions per day, the company most recently
launched Alipay 9.2 as its latest smartphone app. In addition to
traditional online payment functions such as online shopping, money
transfers, and utility bills, Alipay is expanding its applications to
include wealth management services, and provides local services to over
200,000 restaurants, shops and offline merchants. As of October 2015,
Alipay’s barcode payment is accepted in about 50,000 oversea retail
stores, and tax reimbursements via Alipay are supported in 24 countries.
Contacts
Media:
Berns Communications Group
Stacy Berns/Michael McMullan
212-994-4660
or
Rebecca
Lui
Ant Financial Services Group (US office)
rebeccalui@alipay.com
or
Miranda
Shek
Ant Financial Services Group (China)
Haymanmiranda.shm@alipay.com
