Alipay attracts new customers
The marketing feature of online payment provider, Alipay, is proving beneficial for many tourism operators.
The Christchurch Airport i-Site, which sells a number of services including tours, launched Alipay in December 2017, via the Christchurch International Airport project.
“A lot of people were excited and surprised to see we accept Alipay. They then decided to use Alipay to pay us instead of cash or a credit card, for instance,” said i-SITE Airport Manager Sue Siohane.
Siohane said they initially made between 10 to 20 Alipay transactions a day.
“It’s just about familiarity,” she said, of the global online payment provider.
Siohane said the most attractive feature of Alipay was its ability to alert nearby customers, who were existing Alipay users, that the i-Site was host to the online payment provider.
“The potential to reach customers before they even get to your door is really valuable, especially for a business like ours.”
They were now working on updating their Alipay listing to make it even more beneficial and effective.
“We are looking at creating Alipay coupons and promotions to let customers know the deals we can get for them, if they come in and use our service.”
“Alipay really is a valuable tool to promote or advertise our business.”
Once prospective customers were in the country, Alipay continued to help market the business to secure a sale.
“Essentially if they arrive here and have a spare day, our coupons and notifications they receive on the app will ensure they have plenty options to fill it.”
For i-Site, making customers feel comfortable was a number one priority, and the Airport's Alipay project had proved to be another way to help the business achieve that.
“Alipay means we are open to doing business with anyone – not just people who have visa cards. It helps us make Chinese visitors feel welcome and respected so it’s no wonder we are finding that Alipay is driving them to do business with us.”
