Will WeChat and WIFI give birth to an O2O magic tool?

Free wifi has always been highly anticipated by the giants, who expect it to become another entrance to the mobile Internet era. Previously, Baidu, Xiaomi, 360, etc. have launched wifi hardware products, hoping to occupy user terminals with the popularity of free wifi, but none of them achieved the expected results. Can WeChat create such an O2O closed loop with its huge number of users?

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Last week, WeChat quietly launched the WeChat Wi-Fi function, which caused widespread discussion in the industry. Many people exclaimed that WeChat launched the Wi-Fi function to seize the entrance to O2O, and some people believed that WeChat Wi-Fi will completely change offline business. So, is the WeChat Wi-Fi function really so magical? Will it drive the development of commercial Wi-Fi services and give birth to an O2O magic tool?

Answer 1: WeChat connecting to Wi-Fi is a scenario driven by rigid demand

Yang Zichao——Founder and CEO of AiBili Light Diary Community

Very good, scene driven.

1. There is an activation function for users for merchants.

2. Users can use the Internet for free.

3. For Tencent, it is a valuable thing to expand the free WIFI market and take the lead among other Internet companies.

When a big company does something, it must think it through before doing it, so this is a good thing. The core of O2O is 2, and 2 is the scenario. No matter what, Tencent has grasped this scenario, and it is a rigid demand. As for the fact that Tencent can also build big data based on CRM statistics and charge merchants for more related value-added services, Meituan and Alibaba are probably getting impatient. Baidu's direct number has no chance to rush, and Baidu itself is still confused. In addition, this is a headache for 360. After all, it is a competition for the entrance to free wifi, and it is directly throttled on the WeChat side. It seems that 360's mobile guard and WeChat will have to fight a protracted war in the future.

Of course, if we compare it to the European and American markets, the 3G and 4G popularization of Chinese operators will be quite powerful in the future, so free wifi is currently an excessive product. However, it will take another five years for operators to raise their awareness to the level of Europe and the United States. If it is really popularized, the value of free wifi will not be very great.

Answer 2: WeChat Wi-Fi is an attempt by the Tencent WeChat team. Whether it can give birth to an O2O artifact remains to be considered.

Taowanzi

Free wifi and routers are considered by many to be the next gateway to the Internet. When 360 launched its portable wifi, Baidu, Xiaomi and Tencent followed suit and launched their own wifi products, but none of them were very popular. The same is true for routers. Although Xiaomi routers were very popular during the promotion, the response was average after the actual product was launched. It can be said that all the major Internet giants are exploring and trying, hoping to grab a piece of this big pie.

So I think WeChat Wi-Fi is just an attempt by the Tencent WeChat team. Whether it can give birth to an O2O artifact remains to be considered. There are mainly the following concerns:

1. Through some soft articles, I found that although a direct entrance is given on the homepage, specific details still need to be clicked to the secondary page to view, which will somewhat reduce a certain amount of traffic;

2. If WeChat wants to complete the closed loop of this link, it must add payment. However, there are still many areas that need to be optimized in the entire WeChat payment process experience.

3. Judging from the frequency of refreshing the Moments, it is obvious that the activity of WeChat is declining. If we add business advertisements through WeChat WiFi connection, will it affect the user experience and cause user disgust?

PS: Tencent is so rich, it would be nice if they could spend more money to give back to us loser users.

Answer 3: WeChat Wi-Fi is the first step in planning a wireless city

Sispher——We Media Person

In fact, WeChat has already reserved wifi modules and interfaces, but has been privately planning and testing them without making them public. However, on September 17 this year, Tencent announced its participation in creating secure Wi-Fi service standards, and established the "Tencent Secure Wi-Fi Alliance" with several domestic commercial Wi-Fi service providers such as Maiwei Di and Guangyin Network, as well as Starbucks, Wanda Plaza and other merchants.

In fact, it is not just Tencent, Baidu, and Alibaba that are also making plans. The three major operators also have their own plans and began planning wireless cities several years ago.

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The following content comes from the [Heiwen Column], the original author is Li Donglou.

Last week, WeChat quietly launched the WeChat Wi-Fi function, which caused widespread discussion in the industry. Many people exclaimed that WeChat launched the Wi-Fi function to seize the entrance to O2O, and some people believed that WeChat Wi-Fi would completely change offline business. So, is the WeChat Wi-Fi function really so magical? Will it drive the development of commercial Wi-Fi services and give birth to an O2O artifact? Donglou might as well interpret it.

1. Can WeChat and Wi-Fi become the entrance to O2O?

Why has the launch of the WeChat Wi-Fi function attracted so much attention? This is mainly due to two reasons.

First, WeChat has a huge number of users and is the product with the most active users in the entire mobile Internet industry, especially in second- and third-tier cities, where it is more popular. Therefore, a product with this base is actually a veritable entrance to the mobile Internet.

The second reason is that free Wi-Fi has always been highly anticipated by the giants, who expect it to become another entrance to the mobile Internet era. Previously, in the personal user market, Internet companies including Baidu, Xiaomi, 360, etc., have launched Wi-Fi hardware products, hoping to take advantage of the popularity of free Wi-Fi and then occupy user terminals. However, due to the limitations of personal Wi-Fi, it has not achieved the expected results, and it cannot be said to become an entrance.

The launch of the WeChat Wi-Fi function has helped manufacturers who have been working silently in the commercial Wi-Fi market find a direction. According to the official description of this function by WeChat, WeChat Wi-Fi can connect users and create an O2O closed loop of effective online and offline interactions through the WeChat system. If merchants want to access the WeChat Wi-Fi function, they must have a commercial Wi-Fi, and if they want to achieve actual results, they must introduce an O2O smart service solution based on WeChat.

2. What is the perfect scenario for WeChat to connect to Wi-Fi?

WeChat officially mentioned the three major features of WeChat Wi-Fi, and the core one is actually the near-field service. In fact, telecom operators have been promoting mobile payment products a few years ago, eyeing the huge offline business market, hoping to install payment chips on mobile terminals, and then take the lead in near-field services. However, due to the lack of popularity of user terminals and the lack of acceptance by merchants, not much progress has been made. This time, WeChat, based on its own huge number of users and the merchant base of WeChat service accounts, launched this function, also hoping to extend to offline businesses and create an O2O business closed loop through the WeChat system.

In fact, when WeChat launched the Wi-Fi connection function, it had already formed an alliance with several leading commercial Wi-Fi service providers in China. It is understood that as one of the first certified service providers to form an alliance with WeChat, Shenzhen Wuweibuzhi Digital Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Wuweibuzhi) has already made a full exploration and layout of Wi-Fi intelligent near-field services in retail scenarios such as shopping malls, department stores, and brand chain stores.

So, what is the most perfect O2O business scenario through the WeChat wifi function?

In fact, as early as before this year's National Day, Tencent had teamed up with Wuweibuzhi to test and promote the WeChat Wi-Fi function in a shopping mall in Chengdu, the Global Center. Consumers go to more than 100 designated brand stores in the Global Center and scan the QR code on the window with WeChat to connect to the store's free WiFi. Not only does it save you from the tedious password input, but you can also experience smart mall services such as receiving red envelopes and coupons. For the Global Center, after accessing the WeChat Wi-Fi service, it can understand, classify, and track store users. In addition, you can simply draw a behavioral trajectory of a consumer going to the Global Center in the business district, analyze his consumption habits, and push content services to him in a targeted manner in the future.

Moreover, when the amount of data is large enough, it is also possible to analyze what type of store is more popular with users, and the Global Center can effectively adjust the store division rules based on this data. In addition, users can also purchase goods, order meals, order dishes, and complete payment and other consumption links through the Global Center's official account.

From this consumption process, we can see that the WeChat Wi-Fi function not only meets the user's basic need for free Internet access, but also guides users through the medium of Wi-Fi and analyzes consumer behavior. This is the most ideal state.

3. WeChat Wi-if needs to overcome three obstacles to succeed

However, we can see that the WeChat Wi-Fi function is still in the internal testing stage, and it is still far from becoming a real O2O portal. Donglou believes that the following three core issues need to be resolved:

(1) User privacy and security issues

The first thing that needs to be addressed is the security of free WIFI. The media has reported on the problem of privacy leakage in free WIFI many times before, especially through WeChat as one of the most mainstream instant messaging tools nowadays. A large amount of work and life information of users is stored in it. Once a leak occurs, the consequences will be more serious.

(2) Cultivating user consumption habits

Secondly, we need to solve the problem of how to guide users to use WeChat to shop in stores. Only when users pay or shop through WeChat can we accumulate more accurate data. Otherwise, it is difficult to accurately judge users' preferences and purchasing habits based on their free Wi-Fi Internet access habits.

(3) Big data analysis capabilities

After merchants have acquired service capabilities through O2O smart service providers such as Wuweishouzhi and users have formed consumption habits, the most difficult issue is how to push the most needed messages to users through big data analysis. This is the core of the entire near-field service and the core of O2O business. Because O2O may not ultimately solve the problem of online-to-offline conversion, but how to further promote users to consume more and more frequently based on their consumption behavior.

In short, the WeChat WIFI function does have great potential because it solves the problem of merchants' near-field services, and will therefore give rise to the prosperity of the wifi service provider market. However, the WeChat WIFI function is still "nascent" after all, and it may take a long time for the market to mature. Before that, WeChat, merchants and wifi service providers need to work together silently.

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