Alipay "Tested" How Big The Macao Market Is

It is about to enter the Year of the Monkey, and the world has entered the "buy, buy, buy" mode, a new wave“ E-commerce Carnival ”Ready to go. Alipay, the largest third-party payment platform in the mainland, has brought new "benefits": Alipay's "code scanning payment" has been launched in more than 100 merchants in Macao. At the same time, the comprehensive cooperation between Alipay and Macao credit institutions and e-commerce is also under discussion.

Alipay "tested" Macao, making more mainland consumers keen on online shopping more concerned: when can we buy more good goods from Macao remotely through "online payment"? Macao residents are also looking forward to opening the channel for "shopping" on the mainland e-commerce platform. Small and medium-sized enterprises and time-honored brands in Macao are more concerned. How can they more easily achieve business in a larger market through e-commerce platforms?

It is understood that the first batch of access to Alipay“ Code scanning payment ”Macao merchants, including the largest department store in Macao, Eight Hundred Companions, time-honored shopkeeper Yingji Bakery, and some restaurants, coffee shops, digital appliance stores, drugstores and other stores frequented by mainland residents.

The reporter's experience found that consumers can easily complete payment by pointing the Alipay QR code in their mobile phones to the code scanner at the cash desk when they pay for their purchases. The amount settled in MOP will be converted into RMB for deduction at the exchange rate of the day when Alipay is accessed to the bank.

In July of this year, Alipay signed a cooperation agreement with Macau Connect, a Macau electronic currency smart card company, to promote the use of Alipay scanning code system among the merchants signed by Macau Connect. When Alipay "cross-border" settled in Macao, the first thing it solved was the risk of exchange between RMB, Macao Pataca and Hong Kong Pataca when mainland residents were shopping in Macao.

In fact, the emergence of "code scanning payment", in a sense, opened the prelude to the integration of Macao's e-commerce and the mainland market.

Ding Lianxing, Chairman of the Macao Monetary Authority, said recently that the Monetary Authority is actively working with the state departments to promote the development of e-commerce in Macao, including promoting cooperation between overseas payment institutions and Macao credit institutions, and promoting cooperation between local financial institutions and relevant institutions in other places to conduct business. This means that Alipay and "Macao local credit institutions" will generate more "sparks of cooperation".

In recent years, the scale of the mainland e-commerce market has been expanding, and online retail has achieved leapfrog growth, which has brought opportunities for the development of e-commerce in Macao. With the acceleration of the construction of the Macao World Tourism and Leisure Center and the strengthening of the role of the Sino Portuguese business service platform, the foundation has been laid for the cultivation of e-commerce formats with Macao characteristics.

In the policy address for fiscal year 2016 delivered by Cui Shi'an, Chief Executive of Macao SAR, in the policy policy in the economic and financial field, it was specifically pointed out that the development of new e-commerce industries should be promoted, and new driving forces for economic growth should be cultivated to promote the moderate and diversified development of industries.

It is understood that while Alipay focuses on the Macao market, the Macao e-commerce industry is also making efforts to actively connect with the mainland e-commerce network through the construction of payment platforms and commodity platforms, and cultivate the e-commerce industry chain with Macao characteristics. Macao, with a history of hundreds of years of import and export trade, is quietly ushering in the "e-commerce era".

According to Zhang Zhihua, the general manager of Macaotong Co., Ltd., Alipay is a third-party payment institution registered in the mainland. According to the laws of Macao, debit cards and credit cards of banks in Macao cannot be directly connected to Alipay. Through the cooperation between Alipay and local credit institutions such as Macintosh, the technical barriers between e-commerce in the two places are expected to be opened.

In addition, the reporter learned that the Macao third-party payment platform built by the local credit institutions in Macao has entered the final test operation stage and is waiting for the approval of the regulatory authority. At the same time, many banks in Macao also said that they would realize the access of third-party payment institutions in the near future through the construction of online banks.

The construction of commodity platforms with Macao characteristics has also achieved initial results. It is understood that "Western Street", an e-commerce platform featuring global imported boutiques and Macao's traditional high-quality brands, will be officially launched in the near future after two years of operation.

According to Li Wei, chief operating officer of "Western Street", there are nearly 100 merchants that have been launched on the platform in succession, and hundreds of merchants have signed agreements of intent. At present, the platform products cover clothing accessories, electronic appliances, mother and baby products, nutrition and health care, food and alcohol and other categories.

"The diversification of Macao's economy largely depends on the development power of small, medium-sized and micro enterprises. At present, Macao's economy is undergoing adjustment and transformation, and the construction of e-commerce platforms will open new markets and worlds for Macao's small and medium-sized enterprises and traditional industries. This is the best engine to help Macao's economy achieve diversified development." Li Wei said.

However, in Li Wei's opinion, Macao E-commerce The starting and development of e-commerce not only depends on the efforts of "industry", but also requires the government and even the whole society to jointly understand and build the potential of e-commerce.

"Macao has high-quality goods that have been washed down by hundreds of years of market economy waves, and also has a steady stream of characteristic 'foreign goods' gathered from Portuguese speaking countries, which is the foundation and foundation of Macao's development of e-commerce economy." Li Wei said that the future "Western Street" will not only be an e-commerce platform "existing in Macao", It will connect with the mainland e-commerce platform in some form.

"Macao is a small city with only 30 square kilometers, but 100 million customers in the Greater Pearl River Delta region and 600 million mainland netizens with overseas import demand are all potential markets for Macao's e-commerce," he said