[Shopify] Finally partners with Chinese payment giant Alipay, hoping for an influx of Chinese users

On November 17, 2020, Shopify announced a partnership with Alipay, a major Chinese payment company. Until now, Alipay could only be used through a third-party payment company, but this partnership will allow direct payments with Alipay.

US merchants can now use @Alipay , Asia's leading digital wallet platform, unlocking the power of cross-border commerce

The new payment gateway will allow you to seamlessly accept payments from 1+ billion annual active users in China alone. https://t.co/CDdBIrV85a

— Shopify (@Shopify) November 17, 2020

What is Alipay?

Alipay is a payment service provided by the Alibaba Group, China's largest online shopping company. It can be used not only for online payments on the Alibaba platform, but also for offline payments at food stalls and stores.

What is astounding is the number of users, with a market share of over 50% in China's mobile payment field and as of 2019, it has as many as 1 billion users. And it's not just users, it has over 1 billion active users and hundreds of financial partners around the world.

Shopify and Alipay Partnership Details

As mentioned earlier, this partnership will enable direct Alipay payments on Shopify stores. However, it is stated that this payment method is currently only available for stores in the United States (as of November 20, 2020).

Japanese merchants are not yet able to accept Alipay payments directly, and will have to make payments through a third-party payment company, just as they do now.

Kaz Nejatian, VP of Product Merchant Services at Shopify, had this to say about the partnership:

"To accelerate our merchants' businesses towards borderless e-commerce, Shopify needs to focus not only on their own markets, but also on international markets in a more fundamental sense. Therefore, for our (Canadian/US) merchants, the influx of Asian consumers is a huge opportunity. In particular, Alipay serves over 1 billion people in the Chinese market. Through this partnership with Alipay, we hope to provide the best possible shopping experience to new cross-border consumers."

In an official Shopify article, it is stated that the Alipay payment gateway is currently only available to American merchants, but will be available to stores in Hong Kong, India, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh in the future. Japan is not included in the list, so it may be a while before it is introduced in Japan.

Summary of the benefits Shopify will gain from partnering with Alipay

By partnering with Alipay, which has a huge number of users in China, Shopify can expect to see an influx of users using Alipay.

In particular, there is a high possibility that a large number of users will flock to Shopify stores during events such as the Chinese New Year in February (Spring Festival) and 11/11 (Singles Day). The partnership with Alipay lowers the barrier to purchase at Shopify stores, which is very appealing. Those who operate cross-border e-commerce sites may be able to achieve better results than ever before by running campaigns focused on Chinese events.

Thank you for reading to the end. Have a great day today!

(Reference article)

https://news.shopify.com/a-world-of-opportunity-shopify-launches-partnership-with-alipay-to-help-merchants-access-new-global-consumers

https://fashionunited.uk/news/retail/shopify-partners-up-with-alipay-to-unlock-cross-border-commerce/2020111852020