WeChat practicality +1, it’s finally open!

The payment interoperability between WeChat and Taobao has always been a focus of attention in the Internet field. Recently, Taobao Special Edition App (Tao Te) has made an important update in terms of payment methods, adding WeChat payment options, although there are still certain restrictions on its use. This update not only improves the user experience, but also marks the further deepening of the cooperation between Alibaba and Tencent in the field of payment.

In the early days of the Internet, people had high expectations for this new channel for obtaining and exchanging information, imagining that the Internet could lower the cost of obtaining and exchanging information and reduce intermediary fees. They never expected that the Internet would build new "barriers". The most intuitive example was that when using social, shopping, video and other software, people were often forced to "choose one of two" by the platform, or when forwarding some content, different platforms blocked each other's URL links and were unable to interconnect. This not only brought great inconvenience to users, but also suspected of abusing monopoly position.

Take shopping for example, when will Taobao be able to use WeChat Pay? When will Alipay be able to be used to pay when shopping in WeChat mini-programs? These questions have always troubled everyone.

Earlier this year, many netizens discovered that some Taobao orders could be directly transferred to WeChat Pay for payment.

However, the service is only gradually open to some users and can only be selected when purchasing some products. At that time, Taobao customer service said that it would gradually cover all users in the future, and the time would not be too long.

Half a year has passed, and the service is still under testing, and not all Taobao users can use WeChat Pay to pay.

Recently, the Taobao Special Edition App (Tao Te) has also made important updates to its payment methods, adding the WeChat payment option.

Currently, when users use the Taote App to shop, they can see the WeChat Pay option on the payment interface, which is located behind Alipay. By clicking WeChat Pay, they can jump to the WeChat App to complete the payment operation. The whole process is smooth.

According to netizens’ feedback, there are still some restrictions on using WeChat Pay for Taobao. For example, the price must be less than 100 yuan; there is a limit on the purchase quantity; virtual transactions such as phone recharge are not supported, etc.

In response to this, Taote customer service said that although WeChat Pay has been open for some time, not all users can use it.

It is worth mentioning that some products in the Taobao App that cannot be ordered using WeChat Pay can be paid for through the Taobao Special App.

First, add the desired products to the shopping cart on Taobao, download the Taobao Special App on your mobile phone, log in with your Taobao account, and the products in the Taobao shopping cart will also appear in the Taobao Special shopping cart. Then place an order in the Taobao Special App and choose WeChat Pay to pay.

The left is the Taobao payment interface, and the right is the Taote payment interface

As to whether the current order supports WeChat payment, it depends on the page where the user places the order.

Previously, Alibaba Group has stated that the news that its applications have been gradually connected to WeChat Pay is true, and emphasized that sharing, connection and openness are the foundation of a healthy digital ecosystem.

The update of Taobao Special App not only enriches users' payment options, but also further deepens the cooperation between Alibaba and Tencent in the field of payment, indicating that more payment interoperability scenarios may emerge in the future.

In fact, WeChat and Taobao have a long history of cooperation in payment interconnection.

As early as 2021, Taote internally tested the payment method of WeChat Pay. However, it is not directly connected to WeChat, and it cannot jump directly to the WeChat payment page, but "WeChat scan code payment" - first save the QR code, and then scan the code to complete the payment.

In March 2022, Taobao also conducted internal testing of WeChat Pay, but it did not directly jump to WeChat Pay and required the payment method of scanning the QR code.

Overall, the payment process is still quite cumbersome. Although it is not the direct connection with WeChat Pay that everyone expected, for ordinary users, the experience is indeed much improved, and it is also a major breakthrough in the interoperability of the two giants.

This is all thanks to clear regulatory requirements.

In September 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology held an "Administrative Guidance Meeting on Blocking URL Links" to require Internet companies to solve the problem of blocking URL links. At the end of the month, several apps under Alibaba applied to access WeChat Pay.

It was also from then on that, under the promotion of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments, the blockade between giant platforms such as Tencent, Alibaba, and ByteDance gradually loosened.

In November of the same year, WeChat released the "Update on WeChat External Link Content Management Specifications", announcing that external links will be directly accessible in point-to-point chat scenarios, and that the direct access function for e-commerce external links will be opened on a trial basis in group chat scenarios.

Since then, users have discovered that WeChat and Taobao have achieved further interconnection. Sharing Taobao products on WeChat is no longer a bunch of garbled text, but can display the complete link and product information, and at the end it says "click the link to open directly". WeChat users finally no longer need to copy the link to the browser to open it.

The "shopping cart" function can also be used on the page after the jump. After clicking "Buy Now", log in to your Taobao account and you can place an order directly on WeChat.

This is the first time that WeChat and Taobao have achieved interconnection after being blocked from each other for nearly 8 years.

In addition, the links of Xianyu App and Douyin e-commerce can also be opened directly in the WeChat dialog box. However, when clicking on Taobao Xianyu and other links to purchase goods in WeChat, WeChat payment cannot be used.

Over the next year or so, both sides began to gradually test the possibility of "tearing down the wall."

In addition to the aforementioned "WeChat Scan Code to Pay" entrance that was internally tested in March 2022, in October of the same year, users discovered that Alipay already supported transfers to WeChat QQ friends. This is a new way of transferring money that does not require an account.

Although users need to go through a series of troublesome operations before transferring money - first generate a QR code for the transfer through Alipay, then send the QR code to the WeChat friend who wants to receive the money, and the friend needs to scan the code through Alipay after saving the picture to complete the transfer, and after the code is scanned, the money does not go directly into the WeChat account of the payee, but into the Alipay account of the payee. However, this is still seen as a signal of interconnection between Alibaba and Tencent in the payment field.

In September 2023, Alibaba and Tencent teamed up again, and Taobao ads were launched on WeChat Moments for the first time. Click to jump to Taobao. It also supports WeChat QR code payment or WeChat asking friends to help pay, but WeChat payment cannot be used directly.

At that time, not only Moments, but also WeChat video accounts and mini-program ads could directly jump to Taobao.

So, after several years of advancement, why has the payment interoperability between Taobao and WeChat still not been fully opened?

Experts pointed out that the difficulties are that, first, Taobao and WeChat have large user bases and the technology involved is more complex, requiring both parties to consider more comprehensive and prudent solutions; second, the issue of interest distribution. Combined with market attitudes, Alibaba is more open than Tencent in interconnection. Therefore, while WeChat Pay is connected to Alibaba e-commerce to obtain scene dividends, it should also adhere to the principle of mutual benefit, take the initiative to open its own scenes, and promote the sustainable development of interconnection.

In the industry's view, whether from a regulatory perspective or from a business logic perspective, the full interoperability of Taobao and WeChat Pay is an inevitable trend, and it is only a matter of time before major payment institutions interoperate with each other. As experience and technology gradually mature, the process of interoperability between enterprises will inevitably accelerate.