August 3rd news: Recently, Alibaba announced that it will block the data interface of Taobao Partner marketing accounts on WeChat. This has affected many marketing accounts doing rebate businesses on WeChat. WeChat Shopping, due to its large scale, has been mentioned multiple times by the media. However, in fact, WeChat Shopping does not do Taobao Partner business and thus has not been significantly affected.
Liu Xiaoshu, co-founder of WeChat Shopping, told Tencent Technology today that WeChat Shopping does not offer rebates but helps merchants open stores on WeChat, making WeChat an entrance to their shops. "We charge merchants for software and service fees. We help them open stores on WeChat, rather than collecting product rent or sales commissions from merchants like Taobao Partners."
The difference in business models means that WeChat Shopping has not been affected by Alibaba's adjustment of the data interface. Since much of the store information on Tmall and Taobao is public data, such as product quantities, WeChat Shopping can help merchants move this data to WeChat.
However, some data requires authorization from Tmall to be displayed outside of Tmall, such as user levels and favorited products. After Alibaba blocked the data interface, these features cannot be realized on WeChat.
This policy adjustment by Alibaba has had the biggest impact on WeChat Shopping in that users originally could check order statuses within WeChat, but now they cannot. "For us, this is actually a secondary function. Merchants are more concerned with whether products can be displayed normally, if coupons can be shown, and if users can communicate with customer service," said Liu Xiaoshu.
Liu Xiaoshu stated that after understanding the impact of this Tmall policy adjustment, WeChat Shopping's customers remained very calm.
Following the rules and hoping to see boundaries
Regarding Alibaba's adjustment of the data interface, Liu Xiaoshu believes it is a good thing because it defines a boundary, letting everyone know what cannot be done. "Knowing what cannot be done also means knowing what can be done."
Many e-commerce companies not only have stores on Tmall but also on JD POP, Yihaodian, Paipai, etc. Merchants will judge whether they need to add a store display entrance on WeChat. If they do, then it becomes an opportunity for WeChat Shopping. From a user interaction perspective, Tmall remains the largest platform.
Helping Tmall merchants open stores on WeChat involves two platforms: Tmall and WeChat. This means WeChat Shopping needs to innovate within the boundaries of these two platforms. Currently, Tmall is sensitive about external data access, while WeChat has not clearly defined its boundaries.
Therefore, Liu Xiaoshu hopes that Tmall and WeChat will issue more regulations, which would allow WeChat Shopping to operate freely within the allowed range and help merchants manage their stores.
However, neither Tmall nor WeChat has provided clear game rules. Liu Xiaoshu believes this is because mobile e-commerce as a whole is still in its early stages, and many things are not easily defined.
Take user order status queries as an example. If WeChat can push bill information, such as shipping reminders and unpaid order reminders, this would be helpful to users. However, WeChat is very cautious about pushing information because it is easy to accidentally disturb users.
Thus, order information pushes might be a special case requiring WeChat and its partners to formulate more complete rules together.
Previously, WeChat blocked a large number of malicious marketing accounts on its platform. Liu Xiaoshu indicated that none of WeChat Shopping's over 1000 merchants were affected.
From heavy reliance on channels to decentralization
The reason why Alibaba blocks some data interfaces is partly due to security considerations as stated in its announcement, but also because Alibaba is concerned about traffic outflow.
According to iResearch's latest release of "Core Data of China Internet Advertising", among the top ten companies in terms of online advertising revenue in the second quarter of 2013, Baidu and Taobao's revenues reached 7.56 billion yuan and 5.61 billion yuan respectively. Taobao's advertising revenue growth rate was 46.1%, surpassing Baidu's 38.6%.
This is closely related to Taobao blocking Baidu searches in 2010. By centralizing product searches on its own platform, Taobao earned substantial profits from these searches.
Huang Jun, investment manager at Zhonglu Capital, one of WeChat Shopping's investors, said that in the past, it was the era of platformization, and everyone placed great emphasis on channels; however, with the emergence of mobile internet, the trend of deplatformization is becoming increasingly evident, and products are becoming the core.
On Taobao, merchants do not own users. Although they have stores, users often enter product pages through Taobao's search. To achieve better display on the search page, merchants often need to pay for advertisements.
WeChat Shopping aligns with the "decentralization" development trend, allowing merchants to truly own their own stores and users on WeChat, and directly interact with users. As for where to direct users for purchasing products, merchants can let users choose to enter their stores on Tmall or JD POP.
The company name of WeChat Shopping is Suguoguohu. Liu Xiaoshu said: "Suguoguo means simplicity and purity, and guo refers to the essence, meaning we must see the essence when doing business; interaction means mobile internet must involve interaction, which is a means to improve user experience and enhance user stickiness. We hope to create value through interaction, not just simple marketing."