Throughout recent years, Thailand has seen an influx of tourists hosting over 10 million travelers from China annually. Thailand, Japan, and Singapore are named the top 3 destinations for Chinese tourists when traveling abroad. The Center for Economic and Business Forecasting of the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce (TCC) has estimated that consumer spending during this year would see a record high of 10 years. At least 58 billion THB will be spent due to the influx of tourism, high demand and the increased price of goods. Aside from the traditional methods of payment like cash and credit cards, over 63% of Chinese tourists said that they used Alipay to pay for shopping, dining, and other tourism-related activities while traveling abroad.

How many people use Alipay?

By accepting Alipay, you are welcoming over 500 million registered users of the world’s leading online payment platform to your store. In recent years, the acceptance of Alipay has exploded not only in Thailand but across 110 countries and supports transactions in 15 major currencies including Thai Baht. Thailand was ranked the 2nd most popular destination for Alipay transactions overseas in 2018, trailing only to Hong Kong. Now there are over 20,000 Thai businesses that are accepting Alipay with the convenience of the QR code payment system.

What payment methods do Chinese tourists prefer to use?

A survey by Nielsen shows that 94% of Chinese tourists would prefer to use Alipay when traveling abroad and 91% would be willing to spend more at shops that provide a mobile payment system.

What do Chinese tourists spend on when using Alipay?

In the summer of 2018, the average amount of money spent via Alipay was approximately 9,800THB per user and over 60% of these transactions went towards shopping and dining.

How Omise can help you grow your business?

Consequently, Omise would like to encourage our partners to be prepared for the inbound usage of Alipay via Omise. Alipay’s partnership with Omise has encouraged Thai e-commerce merchants to provide a seamless payment experience for Alipay users on both online and in-store channels. According to a survey by Nielsen, 99% of Chinese tourists in the survey have the Alipay app installed on their phones and 90% of local merchants have been asked by Chinese tourists if they can pay via mobile phone. Moreover, almost 60% of surveyed merchants that adopted Alipay experienced growth in both foot traffic and revenue.

Accepting Alipay takes out the messy configuration of unfamiliar banknotes and coins and lets the customer focus solely on shopping your product.