Payment points, express delivery services...Is WeChat's next target Alipay?

Unconsciously, WeChat has become a super platform that aggregates various functions. We use WeChat to pay for shopping, to find nearby restaurants, and even use WeChat mini-programs to quickly handle personal government affairs, register, query personal information, etc. It can be said that our lives are strongly tied to WeChat.

Since entering 2020, WeChat has been updating its features at an ever-increasing pace and frequency. A few years ago, we might not have waited a year or two for feature updates, but now we can hear news about WeChat updating its features every now and then.

Not long ago, the news that WeChat officially launched the payment score went viral on WeChat Moments. However, everyone can see that the payment score function is highly similar to Alipay's "Zhima Credit" and the application scenarios are similar. Simply put, the payment score determines the credit rating of the WeChat account. A higher payment score means more rights and interests, such as free rental, experience first and pay later, no deposit for accommodation, etc.

From this perspective, does it seem like "WeChat is competing with Alipay"? But if we really talk about the comprehensiveness of functions, Alipay is still far ahead of WeChat.

Perhaps in order to catch up with Alipay, WeChat recently quietly launched the "WeChat Express Delivery" applet, which is very similar to the "Cainiao GOGO" function. Users can directly make reservations for express delivery through the platform. It is understood that WeChat opened its logistics assistant function to the public in March this year. With the official launch of the "WeChat Express Delivery" applet, WeChat's signal that it wants to build a lifestyle platform is becoming clearer and clearer.

Express delivery is more convenient, but still not convenient enough

The main interface of the WeChat Express app is very simple and can be divided into two major areas: the function area and the information display area. In addition, there is a search bar and a QR code scanning tool at the top of the app homepage, which can quickly find order information. The system will automatically identify the logistics company, which is quite convenient.

There are only two functions that can be clicked in the function area, one of which is "Send Express" - place an express order with one click, with Yunda, ZTO, Best and JD to choose from; the other is "My Express Order", which, as the name suggests, is to query the express information of orders that have been placed and those to be placed. The amount of information is not much, but it is enough.

The other area is called "Express of Interest", which literally means the area that displays logistics tracking information.

In addition, since this is a mini-program product based on the WeChat ecosystem, the location information in the WeChat address book can be directly called, which is quite convenient when filling in the sender. Generally speaking, the WeChat Express Service Mini Program is well integrated with the original WeChat ecosystem, and there is no sense of separation in the experience. If there is a need for express delivery in the future, Xiao Lei is likely to consider using this platform.

In daily life, Xiao Lei often encounters the need to send express delivery, but because WeChat did not have a similar aggregation platform before, Xiao Lei could only follow the official account of the corresponding express company and then place an order through the function on the official account. To be honest, this workflow is definitely not convenient, but now that orders can be placed through a unified platform, it is naturally much more convenient.

But it should be noted that Xiao Lei would only "consider" using this platform, not "definitely". This is not because Xiao Lei is biased against WeChat, but because this platform cannot use SF Express's services, and SF Express happens to be the express delivery company that Xiao Lei uses the most and trusts the most in his daily life.

In addition, the express delivery service integrated into Alipay is much more mature and richer in functions than "WeChat Express Delivery". It not only supports SF Express delivery, but also launches sub-functions such as direct delivery in the city, international tracking, and community life.

In Xiao Lei's opinion, the original intention of WeChat to launch a unified delivery platform may be to simply improve the convenience of express delivery for consumers, but in the long run, this is also the only way for WeChat to upgrade to a "life platform". In the social field, WeChat has become a "necessity" for 1 billion people, but the stickiness of WeChat in scenarios other than social is not very high. For example, in payment, shopping, and express delivery, there are many products that can replace WeChat. WeChat has a huge user base, but it cannot become a giant outside the social field.

“Accidental firing” between super platforms

Currently, there are not many softwares that are capable of being a "super platform". On the surface, WeChat, Alipay and Meituan all have such strength, but considering the user base, it is always a "two-person show" between WeChat and Alipay. In essence, WeChat and Alipay are completely different softwares. WeChat is a social platform, while Alipay is originally a payment tool. The two are not in the same competitive track.

However, as more and more functions are added to each product and the applicable scenarios become more and more diverse, the two giants in different fields are bound to face off head-on.

But judging from the current situation, WeChat and Alipay still have their own advantages. WeChat's main advantage lies in its dominant position in the social aspect, while Alipay, which transformed earlier, has become a mature and reliable function aggregation platform with more and wider application scenarios.

As WeChat adds more and more new features and covers more and more scenarios, direct dialogue between the two giants is inevitable. Not long ago, WeChat announced that WeChat IDs can be modified, which attracted heated discussions. At that time, Taobao responded with a sentence "no change" and quickly became a hot search. Are these two giants still indifferent to each other? It seems not necessarily.

In fact, Alipay and WeChat Pay have long been sworn enemies in the field of mobile payments. Alipay has also tried to build social capabilities to "steal WeChat's business", but each has been unable to do anything to the other. What WeChat needs to do is to speed up its pace to catch up with Alipay in terms of functional coverage. At first glance, WeChat's service coverage is already very comprehensive, but there is still a clear gap compared to Alipay in terms of specific experience and implementation.

Whether WeChat does it intentionally or not, the addition of functions such as payment points and express delivery aggregation will inevitably have an impact on Alipay. If WeChat's related functions continue to be improved, the number of users who turn to WeChat for the same function selection will probably continue to increase.

The prototype of "Galaxy Battleship"?

What is the future of WeChat? There may be thousands of answers, but WeChat’s future will definitely not stop at being a “social software” or a “chat software.” WeChat’s goal has always been to become a software that everyone cannot live without, just like we need to breathe to live.

WeChat certainly has its own anxieties. The growth in the number of active users has reached a bottleneck, and only a handful of the new features it has tinkered with over the years have become truly popular. As the overlord of the domestic software field, WeChat is constantly facing challenges from both new and old forces. Only by continuous experimentation and expansion can it find the answer to its development in the next decade.

In Xiaolei's opinion, for both new features, WeChat has a much higher chance of doing a good job in life-related features than in entertainment-related features. The representative of entertainment features is naturally the video account, which has been in public beta for several months but has not attracted much discussion, and the related content has not shown any trend of "breaking the circle".

On the contrary, there are many users who order takeout and delivery services on the WeChat platform. They may not specifically click on the "Video Account" to watch content, but they are likely to place orders for lunch, dinner or express delivery in the official account. The seamless integration into social scenarios is the main competitive advantage of WeChat's new function.

According to this development trend, the functions embedded in WeChat will be highly similar to those of Alipay in the future, and the life scenarios covered by the two are basically the same. However, WeChat has two advantages. The first is naturally the huge user base. With the support of the user base, WeChat life services have the possibility of bursting at any time, and it is not a problem to surpass Alipay in a short time; the second is the attribute of WeChat itself. The social software has a longer stay time, which is conducive to cultivating user usage habits.

When WeChat Pay was first launched, it was not well received because Alipay had the first-mover advantage and its functions were more mature. However, judging from the subsequent market share, functions integrated into the top social software always have a higher opening rate. "Since WeChat has to be opened for chatting, isn't it more convenient to open the payment code in WeChat?"

Becoming a life aggregation platform with additional social functions may be the true destination of WeChat.