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On September 30, WeChat released version 6.0, a major update. The two most important features are micro-video and the native card and coupon system. The native card and coupon system is a very important capability for WeChat's commercialization, opening the door to O2O for struggling department stores and offline retailers, bringing unlimited imagination.
With the "Card Wallet," merchants can apply through their WeChat official account backend and, once approved, use this feature via the WeChat public platform or open APIs.
From now on, traditional vouchers, discount coupons, group-buying coupons, gift certificates, coupons, airline tickets, movie tickets, admission tickets, membership cards, and red packets can all be stored in WeChat and managed uniformly. Users no longer need to worry about having too many cards, being messy, or being difficult to manage, to the point of expiration before use. Merchants also don't need to worry about losing contact with users after distributing coupons. From membership cards and micro-stores to the native card and coupon system, WeChat has established a main channel from online to offline. This is the first time an internet company has built a true O2O closed loop.
WeChat's O2O Closed Loop Needs Third Parties
WeChat's commercialization has always been committed to achieving an O2O closed loop for business integration, linking consumers with businesses through WeChat as the entry point by providing services that better match user needs. With the launch of the native card and coupon system, the main channel for this link has taken shape, and the first large-scale O2O closed loop in China has officially closed.
Traditional enterprises have offline services and urgently need "user traffic, portable electronic membership cards, payment channels, purchase experience, consumption data..." To support this, they need WeChat stores, online payment, points systems, CRM, card and coupon systems, and verification systems. WeChat can provide all these services. At the same time, WeChat O2O faces millions of merchants, which determines that WeChat can only provide basic, standardized products in areas like micro-stores, membership cards, cards and coupons, and verification. More in-depth and professional services must rely on third parties. Only third parties can provide sufficient technical and service support to merchants in specific segments. WeChat does not have enough technical staff to handle the diverse needs arising from differences in region, business type, business model, operational status, and technical capability. The basic needs are met by WeChat, while the personalized parts can only be provided by third parties relying on WeChat's business chain.
The value of third parties to WeChat is to act as scavengers in its vast ecosystem. WeChat needs these third parties to solve problems that arise in business services. This also determines that only professional third parties can survive in WeChat's ecosystem. Merchants can use WeChat's micro-store to open a store, but if they need a WeChat store with complete supply chain management and customer relationship management, they might use Koudaitong. Merchants can issue coupons on WeChat and verify them by scanning at the cash register, but if they need to verify users' WeChat cards and coupons without modifying their existing POS system, they would need Kelaile's physical store WeChat solution, which uses secure cash register peripherals to complete verification without changing the user's shopping and payment process.
Solutions like Kelaile are special because they are hardware services in the WeChat ecosystem. Other parts of the WeChat ecosystem are soft, but only the verification link requires hardware. Verification scanning either requires modifying the existing cash register system or adding peripherals. Adding peripherals has two options: one is to add a peripheral to the cash register system to print QR codes for users to scan; the other is to add a handheld device for the cashier, where the user shows the coupon QR code and the cashier scans it.
Modifying the cash register system can only be done by wealthy merchants, and it cannot be changed on demand. Adding a handheld device for cashiers changes cashier habits and user payment habits, which is making simple things complicated. The only solution is similar to Kelaile's approach of adding peripherals to the cash register system, which does not change merchant or user habits and accurately completes verification. Other verification solutions are unlikely to survive long-term in the WeChat ecosystem. This is the inevitable cleanup after WeChat completes its O2O closed loop, leaving only the right ones.
Card and Coupon System Changes from "Push" to "Pull"
The so-called O2O business model actually has two types. One is the "push" user model, where users have a consumption need and need to accept merchant recommendations. A typical product is Dianping. The usage scenario is: when a user has a need to eat but doesn't know what to eat, they search through Dianping's WeChat official account, and the system pushes a store that fits their budget, taste, and distance, but may be unfamiliar, and then the user goes to consume.
The other is the "pull" user model, with the most typical product being coupons, which is now the native card and coupon system provided by WeChat. WeChat provides users with discount coupons and vouchers to attract them to consume. When users have a need to eat, the coupons they have for nearby restaurants will pull them to consume.
The first model is media-oriented, with the logic behind it being "let more users know me, let more users come in to consume." The second model is service-oriented, with the logic being "serve better, let more old users come back repeatedly." WeChat has never taken the media path but rather social-based business services. This is why the new version of WeChat includes the native card and coupon system, hoping to connect merchants and users through service rather than marketing.
WeChat's commercialization expansion is still in exploration. In the future, WeChat commercialization will be a standard entry point, mobile payment, offline verification, open API interfaces, open merchant WeChat public platforms, integrate life services, increase the weight of professional third parties, and consolidate the WeChat O2O ecosystem.
Source: Huxiu.com
Daonong's Note: The launch of WeChat 6.0 marks the official closure of the first large-scale O2O commercial system in China, which is of great significance to the entire domestic business system. As an enterprise-level public account, it is no longer just about pushing messages or scratch card activities. The emergence of the card wallet gives enterprises more unlimited operational and imaginative space. However, if enterprises want to play tricks, it depends on the operator's own level and depth of industry understanding.
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