Alibaba Group has entered strategic partnership with Chinese footwear maker Zhejiang AoKang Shoes Co., Ltd. (SH:603001). The two parties will cooperate in the fields of mobile payment, membership management, online marketing and data analysis.
Under the deal, AliPay Wallet payment will be available at more than 5,000 of AoKang’s franchise stores nationwide from March 20. Users can pay by scanning QR codes generated from the cash register and the whole payment process takes no longer than 30 seconds, AliPay added.
Wang Lijuan, manager of AliPay O2O Department, thinks mobile payment not only adds a more convenient payment method for retailers, but also improves user experience and supports their online and offline market.
The transaction volume of AliPay Wallet surpassed 900 billion yuan (around US$146.61 billion) in 2012 with more than 100 million users, according to latest data released by the company.
Chinese Internet giants are riding a wave offline expansion and Alibaba is an avid follower of the trend. Now AliPay Wallet users can make payments for vending machine items in China’s subways, taxi fares, train tickets, goods at Yintai department stores or convenience stores. Setting sights on areas beyond Chinese mainland market, the service is currently available in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and will arrive in South Korea soon.
image credit: AliPay
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