This presentation walks you through the super apps in China, including WeChat, Alipay, and Meituan. How do these super apps become what they are today and what are the real strengths of the super apps.

1. UNDERSTAND THE SUPER
MOBILE APPS IN CHINA
MIN WANG
WOMEN TECHMAKERS BERLIN JULY 2019

2. Survey : Have you been
to China in the past 3
years?

3. A day in
China
with my
mobile
A day in
Europe
with my
mobile
vs

4. Metro ticket
Farmer’s Market
Parking fee Jail service
Toll fee Digital ID

5. …...
+ +
+
+ + +
≈
≈
>
Apps in common

6. Why the differences?
Are the needs different?

7. Where to eat
What to do to have fun
How to make reservation
How to handle my utilities
…

8. Alipay by AlibabaWechat by
Tencent
Meituan by
Meituan Dianping
Meet the super apps in China

9. Source: What is a WeChat Shop? https://walkthechat.com/wechat-shops/
Wechat: from messaging to content to commerce

10. Alipay: the go-to everyday app in China

11. Source: Internet Report 2019 https://www.bondcap.com/report/itr19/
Meituan Mobile App Functions vs. Relevant US Peers
Meituan: the Amazon for service

12. Meituan Dianping

13. How do these super apps
become what they are
today?

14. Understand China in the
past 10 year

15. DEVICE

16. LABOR

17. CONSUMER

18. The real strengths of the
super apps

19. The super apps are unlocking
enormous user insights

20. Data source: Alipay (payment), Taobao (shopping), Eleme (food delivery), Cainiao (courier), Youku (video streaming), Damai (event ticketing),
Taopiaopiao (movie ticketing)
Source: “数说中国人的夜生活” https://www.weibo.com/1784473157/GuVeulgJV
Infographics by Alibaba: user behavior from 9pm to 4am
Key takeaways:
● Shanghai tops the sales volume in movie tickets
● Nanjing is the most active city buying book at night
● Fried chicken and BBQ skewers are the most popular
late night snack, not crayfish!
● Hangzhou has the highest alcohol sales volume
● With a longer radius, the suburban areas in Shanghai
and Beijing show more online activity than the old town
● The average taxi fee through ride hailing app is CNY 28
● Beijing witnesses the earliest peak in ride-hailing, at 5am

21. Report by Wechat: user behavior by age group
Key takeaways:
● The 00’s generation sleeps late and get up early. They have the shortest sleeping time
● The 90’ generation commute through public transportation most frequently-25 times per month
● The 55+ group has the habit of video chat with children after dinner

22. The super apps are going all out
connecting with everyday life
scenarios

23. What are we talking about when
we talk about Alipay and Wechat
Pay?

24. “Nobody goes shopping just to use
mobile payment”
CEO of Ant Financial (Alipay )

25. Forming the habit of payment on
the go by investing on high
frequency mobile use cases

27. High frequency use cases Low frequency use cases
Stickiness
A combination of tactics for expansion
Generate the traffic
Monetize
Retain the users
On-demand food delivery
Restaurant review, group
buying, payment
POS, ERP for merchants
Hotel, travel booking

28. Super apps are the major
enablers of the omnichannel
experience

29. The blurring line between online and offline
Alibaba ‘New Retails’ Strategy
Digitizing Various Retail Verticals
Source: Internet Report 2019 https://www.bondcap.com/report/itr19/

30. The 3 stages of online to offline (O2O)
Non-transactional location
based service
● Serve as yellow
page
● Crowd-sourced
review
Group buying service
● Direct traffic from online
to offline using low price
● Not sustainable for both
the merchants and the
customers
The new O2O service
● Form the habit of the customers by
enabling different scenarios, such
as food delivery, taxi-hailing,
hospital appointment;
● Enable the small merchants with
data mining and IT module
Enabler of the user side Enabler of both merchants
and the user side

31. Meituan Dianping’s business model as
example of O2O 3.0
Source: “Meituan Dianping Global Offering” https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2018/0907/ltn20180907011.pdf

32. Meituan Dianping integrated payment
system for merchants
Source: How Meituan Dianping Became The World’s Most Innovative Company https://www.dragonsocial.net/blog/meituan-dianping-2/

33. Meituan Dianping delivery rider order-tracking
Source: “Meituan Dianping Global Offering” https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2018/0907/ltn20180907011.pdf

34. Are the user needs that
different in China and in
Europe?

37. And one more thing,
data privacy...

38. Recap

39. My Linkedin