Shinsegae Duty Free has announced it is to offer a membership club service via WeChat Mini Programs, in a bid to target Chinese tourists.

WeChat Mini Programs were developed in 2017 by Chinese IT firm Tencent, using the popular WeChat service as its platform.

They allow users to run applications without downloading separate apps, while providing features such as e-commerce, coupons etc., as well as facilitating QR scanning.

According to the figures, more than 600 million people used the WeChat Mini Programs in 2018, with about 230 million actively using the service on a daily basis.

In addition, the number of mini programs available increased to 2.3 million, reportedly surpassing the number of apps offered in the Apple App Store.

In 2017, Shinsegae built the infrastructure for WeChat membership registration, attracting 150,000 members in the first 18 months.

In 2018, it opened a mini-site exclusively for WeChat members, with the aim of providing convenient shopping for Chinese customers with a simple membership registration process and promotional benefits.

With the addition of the WeChat Mini Programs membership service, shoppers will be able to access more information about products, store branches and discount benefits, as well as more promotional items.

Shinsegae Duty Free has also established a platform exclusively for individual tourists and VIP customers, allowing the former to become members through affiliates, while also offering benefits such as dedicated mobile coupons and prepaid cards.

Finally, it plans to develop a 1:1 chatbot service exclusively for VIP customers to lure “higher spenders” from China.

A representative from Shinsegae Duty Free said: “Shinsegae Duty Free will develop various mini-apps in cooperation with large related affiliates such as aviation companies, hotels, and foreign exchange companies in China in the future.

“Our ultimate goal is to inspire strong loyalty to Shinsegae Duty Free among individual tourists from China by providing a wide range of services to make travel more convenient for them.”