Many businesses have started invading the Chinese market with their online presence via the WeChat store in the current era. WeChat is a popular messenger app released by China to make payments easy for online shoppers in China and other foreign countries. It works hassle-free with a smartphone by linking the bank account with the WeChat account.

Many retail businesses have merged the WeChat app with their e-commerce website for improved sales. Some of the renowned brands doing well via WeChat are Burberry, Cartier, and Tommy Hilfiger and target a higher business scope in the future.

Types of WeChat Accounts

There are three types of accounts, and all these have proven effects on the increased revenue of any business towards sustained growth and stability.

1. WeChat Subscription Account

This account allows the posting of one message per day across any group. The posted content will be notified to the subscribers on their subscription folder. However, not all followers frequently visit this folder. To encourage users to view the folder, retail websites must offer a special offer to turn followers into active customers.

2. WeChat Service Account

The service account provides the flexibility to post four messages every month, and all the posted content to be directly listed on the homepage in the Newsfeed section for visibility to the followers.

3. Enterprise Account

It is an official account accessible only to the management team to track the company’s sales activities. It is a non-commercial account and not applicable for advertisement-oriented companies that intend to upscale their business.

How to Build a WeChat eCommerce Store Online

The following are the detailed steps involved in successfully launching a WeChat eCommerce store.

1. Get a Registered WeChat Account

Creating a WeChat account is imperative to promote the brands via various groups and social media platforms. Users can choose one among them out of three account types. WeChat Subscription, Service, and Mini Program are three categories, and the first one is mainly for e-commerce business while the second one is for non-commercial firms. A subscription account is available easily, while the service account demands a Chinese business license to share products among the healthy business network.

2. Select the Preferred Store

The mini-program, Optimised Web, and HTML W-store is three modes having their pros and cons based on the budget and technical expertise. Businesses can choose the desired store based on their requirements accordingly.

3. Design the Store with a Powerful Backend

A WeChat store should look impressive in the front end with a catchy GUI and sensible content shoppers to indulge in uninterrupted shopping sessions. Also, the flow from browsing the products on the website to checking out on the payment page must be easy for shoppers to have a smooth shopping. Do not miss to incorporate the following functionalities in the backend of the app for notable business growth.

• Sales Management.

• Order Management.

• A Dynamic CRM module.

• Data Analytics.

• Money Management

4. Assign a Store Manager

The store manager is the one who can interact with the client and spread positivity about the brand. A typical store manager understands Chinese clients’ language and market expectations and provides excellent customer assistance to create huge numbers. The sales manager is responsible for content management, sales supervision, answering customer queries, and marketing its brands.

5. Cross-border Payment Methods

International payments are made via WeChat Pay or Tencent agents with a minimum transfer of $50000 or its equivalent amount in other currencies. A commission fee of 0.6 % is charged on every transaction, and the handling fee is divided among WeChat Pay and merchants.

Payment agents are available easily and usually charge more on every transaction, accounting for 2 to 3 percentage of the transferred amount. However, the process is smooth, and the settlement reaches the payee at a faster pace. Many retailers prefer to pay at once or twice a month as an economical approach due to high costs.