Zhou Xin never felt that he could monopolize the global payment market with the help of the small technical advantage of QR codes.
To put it more directly, the arrival of the mobile Internet wave ahead of schedule means that offline electronic payments will be more mature than in the future. This cake cannot be eaten by him alone.
Just for the previous electronic payment on the computer, he needed to share the benefits of NewPay with investment institutions such as Goldman Sachs and Morgan, not to mention offline payment. Offline payment is to grab the bank's cake. Once combined with financial technology, it is equivalent to A comprehensive financial group.
Zhou Xin believes that now is a better time to open up QR code technology to the outside world, because NewPay has already occupied a certain advantage. This advantage can be maintained with technology, but it is not as good as more capital to invest in electronic payment. After publicity, it is much easier to expand the entire user group.
Opening up technology to the outside world doesn’t mean that Zhou Xin has to sit back and wait for death. Microsoft can acquire it, but Zhou Xin can’t let WeChat die?
Instant messaging software such as WeChat is a natural carrier of electronic payment.
Tencent has completed internal development a long time ago and conducted a large number of tests to ensure that there are no accidents after it goes online.
Zhou Xin said: "If WeChat Pay wants to become a mainstream payment software, the WeChat red envelope we communicated before is equally important. Red envelopes are a very common folk custom in China. After WeChat goes online, we will put in a lot of advertisements to let consumers accept this kind of payment from China." country’s folk customs.”
WeChat red envelopes helped WeChat achieve a counterattack in the payment battlefield. Subsequently, WeChat was successfully promoted to offline merchants. A large part of the reason was that WeChat users relied on WeChat red envelopes to realize the original accumulation of funds. The money in the red envelopes was spent in their accounts. stay home.
Only when offline merchants realize this through the introduction of WeChat local pushers will they accept WeChat payment as one of the offline payment methods.
It can be said that if there were no WeChat red envelopes, WeChat Pay would lag far behind Alipay, instead of a 50-50 situation.
However, WeChat red envelopes are obviously not that easy to use in Americen. Americen does not have this custom at all. It can only let Americen consumers know what red envelopes are and why they should send them out through advertising.
Pony nodded: "We have invited the most professional advertising team in Silicon Valley to shoot a set of videos about WeChat red envelopes, and we have also found the media to put them in.
Including the WeChat flower delivery function, we have also completed system-level docking with large supermarket chains such as Walmart, Carrefour, and Target.
The adaptation of visual animations in WeChat between different smartphone platforms has also been completed.
After the user receives the flowers from others, there will be an animation display, followed by a QR code. The user can show the QR code to receive a bouquet of flowers at the corresponding price at the supermarket we cooperate with.
Our price ranges are $4.9, $9.9 and $14.9. "
Sending flowers via WeChat was their second plan. Although red envelopes would be promoted with great efforts, neither Tencent nor Zhou Xin were sure how many Amerikans would accept red envelopes.
Sending flowers seems to be full of ritual in this era when there are no takeaways, especially for long-distance couples or online dating couples, it is very meaningful.
This set of gameplay can only be played and has more advantages.
Because WeChat is an instant messaging software, sending a bouquet of flowers to the other party during a chat will look very romantic.
When NewPay sends flowers, it may take ten and a half days for the other party to see them.
As for other electronic payment companies that want to play, they need to understand the QR code first. If they want to talk to so many supermarket chains, it is also because Tencent and Alibaba have been serving Americen’s consumer companies all year round. This has happened three years ago. The seeds that were planted a few years ago have only blossomed today.
When he first talked to Zhou Xin, Zhou Xin thought it was very innovative. Sending QR codes online and picking up flowers offline was creative enough, which was equivalent to linking shopping behavior and social behavior.
The built-in animation effect while delivering flowers makes the act more textured. The different pricing strategies made Zhou Xin say that Tencent is worthy of being a goose factory. Even if it relies on enterprise software to prosper, it has not forgotten the DNA. Special skills.
If only one price is provided, obviously the price of $4.9 is the most reasonable, because now a bouquet of flowers costs almost that much.
But with three levels of pricing, users who want to send flowers will not choose the 4.9 level, at least they will be $9.9. This is human nature in consumption.
Just like the same car, there are many configurations, but only a few actually choose the lowest gear and the highest gear. The proportion of choosing the lowest gear is even lower than the highest gear.
Tencent’s pricing strategy is equivalent to giving consumers only two options: US$9.9 and US$14.9.
Zhou Xin naturally knows this logic very well, so he thinks that Tencent has the style of a later generation of profiteers, "I have no objection, you have already considered it very carefully.
It’s just that I have always felt that sending flowers through WeChat is more attractive and more in line with the American market. Why do you choose to focus most of your energy on sending flowers through WeChat? "
Zhou Xin believes that sending flowers to WeChat as a promotional video, placing advertisements, and then seeking trolls to form public opinion on online forums will definitely have good results.
Investing publicity resources in WeChat red envelopes is very likely to achieve twice the result with half the effort.
Pony replied confidently: "It is precisely because sending flowers on WeChat is easy to gain popularity, and WeChat red envelopes have a threshold for consumers of Amerikan, that we formulated this strategy.
First promote WeChat red envelopes to let users have an idea of WeChat red envelopes. Some users have tried to use the WeChat red envelope function.
Then wait until Christmas to launch a large-scale advertising video for WeChat flower delivery. Yes, WeChat flower delivery will also shoot a promotional video.
Sending flowers is a festive or cyclical behavior, and there will be a time interval. After the user completes the first flower delivery, they will remember that there is a WeChat red envelope, and then complete their first WeChat red envelope.
This is a supporting marketing thinking. We first promote flower delivery on WeChat, and then promote WeChat red envelopes. WeChat red envelopes will not have a memorable point, and the effect is not as good as the former. "
Zhou Xin was very pleased because he found that neither Tencent nor Alibaba had lost their original characteristics due to his acquisition.
When Alibaba came to Silicon Valley to develop, it was also good at helping its partner companies. Tencent came to Silicon Valley and also had its own thinking and approach to products, which did not change because of Zhou Xin's storm effect.
Zhou Xin said: "Okay, I have no objection. You go ahead and do it. The payment license is expected to be issued this week."
Zhou Xin opened up the QR code technology to other electronic payment software, and the rewards he received included a new electronic payment license, which happened to be used by WeChat.
WeChat Pay has been somewhat tepid since users at the beginning of the millennium did not associate instant messaging with payment.
Why should a communication software be interspersed with payment behavior? This is very strange.
Something you are not used to, even if it is so reasonable, can seem strange.
Competitors obviously will not underestimate Zhou Xin and WeChat Pay. In their view, electronic payment endorsed by Zhou Xin is a strong competitor.
"Why?" Most of the competitors' executives are sober and will not look down on WeChat Pay, but not everyone is sober, and some are obviously not sober.
“Because WeChat Pay has no user cost, they don’t need to consider acquiring users. WeChat users are WeChat Pay users.
Do you know what this means? This means that WeChat naturally has tens of millions of users. As long as WeChat does a good job of publicity and finds payment scenarios, WeChat Pay can easily form a strong scale effect. "Tsai Chongxin is the sober person.
Yes, Alibaba also wants to do electronic payments.
They are unwilling to accept that a large part of the cake in foreign trade has been eaten by NewPay. There are too many articles that can be done around accounts receivable, which is also the core key of supply chain finance. This piece of cake is now firmly in the hands of NewPay. .
Alibaba can only eat this part of the channel cake. Channel fees belong to Alibaba, and financial service fees belong to NewPay. Alibaba is obviously not satisfied with the status quo.
The reason why we didn't move before was because NewPay controlled more than 90% of the market share, and Alibaba didn't dare to move. If Alibaba did, NewPay's failure to support them would affect Alibaba's foundation.
In this way, whoever NewPay supports will quickly become a giant in the B2B field. NewPay can easily recreate Alibaba.
The reason why we are moving now is because after NewPay announced that it will make the QR code public, all companies that think they are qualified to take a share of the electronic payment pie are starting to get ready to take action.
Alibaba also wants to cut a piece of cake from NewPay. As for the future? Obviously, he is cutting his side of the cake bigger and bigger.
"This means that we have to openly confront Newman. Newman is our largest shareholder besides the founder team. Are we really ready for this?" Tsai Chongxin really wanted to do electronic payment, but Jack Ma has not decided.
What worries him is Zhou Xin's attitude. Anyone with a discerning eye can see that NewPay is Zhou Xin's core industry. If Alibaba and NewPay are going against each other, Jack Ma doesn't know what Zhou Xin will think.
“On the one hand, we are the largest shareholder, and on the other hand, we are currently cooperating very happily with Tencent and NewPay. If we want to grab NewPay’s cake, it will inevitably destroy the original cooperative relationship.
What should we do if we announce our entry into the electronic payment field and NewPay announces it will stop cooperating with us?
Neither Amazon Pay nor eBay Pay have reached the point where they can replace NewPay.
The more critical point is that none of these electronic payment companies have Chinese electronic payment licenses. Even we ourselves will not be able to obtain China's electronic payment licenses in the short term. "Jekma mentioned a bunch of realistic factors that kept him from making a decision.
Cai Chongxin is also worried that he also doesn't understand Zhou Xin. Zhou Xin is seen by the outside world as a thunderous person. As long as he regards you as a competitor, he will use various means to target you.
If he does not use all possible means to deal with you, it means that he does not regard you as an opponent. It is precisely because of this view from the outside world that it is generally believed that Zhou Xin has strong confidence in the field of smartphones and does not take Nokia and Motorola seriously at all.
But Tsai Chongxin knew that he needed to convince Jack Ma, because electronic payment is too important to Alibaba. Without electronic payment, Alibaba is just a small company, or an ordinary company. Only with electronic payment, Alibaba can leapfrog from This is the threshold from ordinary companies to famous companies.
“We only cooperate with NewPay, but NewPay does not only cooperate with us. Since the year before last, NewPay has successively cooperated with other e-commerce platforms to provide a series of services such as electronic confirmation, electronic guarantee, and supply chain finance.
NewPay did not consider us when cooperating with other e-commerce platforms. This is a business behavior, and I believe Newman can understand it.
Moreover, Newman also owns a large number of Alibaba stocks. Alibaba's interests are also his interests. He has no legitimate reason to oppose Alibaba's construction of its own channels.
Secondly, it is true that we will not be able to obtain an electronic payment license from China in the short term, but if we are only doing supply chain finance business, we do not need it. What we need is a quasi-financial license.
We just need to find a bank to cooperate and let the bank act as an intermediary. The current situation is that overseas ones are all on the demand side, and those in China are on the supply side. The demand side pays, and we can collect money through electronic payment software, and then the money stays in our account. superior.
Domestic suppliers can see the deposit through our software, and the cooperative bank will call them after completing the transaction.
Because it involves delivery and verification of whether the goods meet the requirements, our electronic payment software does not require real-time arrival or real-time completion of payment, so we do not need a domestic electronic payment license to achieve this function.
As for NewPay stopping to cooperate with us, Jack, don’t worry, they won’t do that.
Both Peter and Newman are mature businessmen. They know that cooperation will bring benefits to both parties and separation will bring disadvantages to both parties.
If Alibaba makes its own payment software, their interests will definitely be affected, but having a piece of cake is better than not having one, and a slowly getting smaller piece of cake is better than having no cake.
If Newman is young and thinks it is unacceptable, then Alibaba will have short-term pain, but in the long run it will be a huge benefit. We just have a legitimate reason to switch users from NewPay to Alibaba's payment software. "
Indeed, as Zhou Xin thought, Alibaba also has its own thinking and persistence, and will not give up its enterprising spirit just because it is doing well now.
For NewPay, it faces unprecedented challenges.
After hearing this, Jackma said: "Let me think about it, I need time to think, don't force me to make a decision so quickly.
There is another question, that is, how can we obtain Amerikan’s electronic payment license? "
Tsai Chongxin said: "You don't have to worry about this. Whether it is Goldman Sachs or Merrill Lynch, they can help us do this. Furthermore, there were still some small companies that obtained electronic payment licenses in 1998. You can just acquire one." Solve the problem."
(End of chapter)
