WeChat’s miniprograms : a new opportunity for e-commerce

[Jahangir655]

China is without a doubt one of the most connected countries in the world. Since the economic development of the country, the inhabitants got wealthier and most of the population now owns a smartphone. In a country with more than 1.4 billion people, this automatically represents a huge market. One of their favorite app is called “WeChat“. Not really famous in the West, it is though used by more than 900 million users every day! It is also the most used messaging app in China. However, WeChat is more than just an app. Developed by Tencent, WeChat has many features: it can send texts or vocal messages, take photos and videos, send locations to friends, pay for shopping or rent, make an appointment to the doctor and many others. WeChat brings together all of the most useful features in Chinese’s life in one single app. But since January 2017, a new system has been integrated into WeChat: mini-programs.

While we could have think that WeChat already had everything that the Chinese needed in one app, Tencent hit hard with the arrival of the mini-programs. One year after its launch, there are already more than 580,000. In order to compare, the App Store has launched 500,000 new app between 2008 and 2012. The rhythm in which mini-programs have developed is thus spectacular! Today, they have nearly 170 million users every day. But, what exactly are WeChat’s miniprograms?

Mini-programs: The WeChat revolution is coming
This new feature can be described as a kind of “sub-application”. That is, one egypt telegram number app inside another (in this case, WeChat). Mini-programs can therefore be compared to “mini-apps” built into the WeChat app itself. As a result, users will no longer have to use or download new apps because they may already be in WeChat!

The mini-programs concern all types of services: sales, e-commerce and government services. Here is an example of use of mini-programs with the suggestions that are proposed to me after the app geolocated myself:

Following this example, it would therefore be possible for me to deliver food to my home directly through this mini-app. The
official app of this fast food chain would be useless, because
WeChat was able to bring them both together. These mini-
programs are therefore big competitors to classic stores.

Moreover, it is a competitor almost unbeatable because no
Chinese can survive without WeChat.