Alibaba is extremely consumer-centric, the company understands its customers and provides exactly what they need. In the case of the millennial generation, that is VR/AR technology. But for the Chinese millennial, Alibaba is achieving the impossible by bringing China to the Chinese here in the U.S. By introducing Alipay in restaurants, a mobile payment app that is ubiquitous in mainland China, Alibaba is simulating a home-from-home experience, which it hopes will help them scale their mobile payments business.
Alibaba has also brought the shops to the consumer’s living room. The company launched Buy+ VR/AR, at the Maker Festival for Taobao e-tailers. Unlike the Pokemon GO app that requires the user to actually get up and move, this system, using the same VR/AR technology, allows the shopper to peruse real stores without leaving their armchair wearing a VR headset.
The debut for this technology was at the Taobao Maker Festival, July 22 to 24, 2016, a retail festival in Shanghai for millennial consumers. Shoppers donned an Alibaba VR headset and proceeded to any of 72 shops that are on Alibaba’s Taobao e-tail online platform. Products are viewed from a 360-degree perspective and with fashion accessories added to a model. A version of the chatbot is also present to guide shoppers to products. What could be next in the VR world? The sense of touch for fabrics and taste and smell for food products? As long as they don’t find a way to deliver calories with VR/AR sample tastings.
Big Data Is the Key to Alibaba’s Innovations
Alibaba’s GnomeMagic Lab is where the “magic” happens with VR and AR technologies. Alibaba’s goal is to set up VR stores on Alibaba platforms with 3D product inventories, something that was obviously achieved at the Taobao Maker Festival.
The VR innovations that Alibaba has achieved so far reflect the company’s use of big data technology. Chris Tung told CNBC that big data is helping the company lead the VR market by helping retailers better target population segments on the company’s platforms.
Alibaba Partners with Menusifu and Brings Mainland China to New York City
Alibaba is bringing China to the Chinese, those based in the U.S. that is, and providing them with a home-from-home service by replicating the Chinese Alipay app in restaurants. Ant Financial Services Group, a subsidiary of Alibaba, has partnered with Menusifu Inc., a New York POS software company to bring the mobile pay application Alipay to U.S. eateries. In China, Alipay is everywhere, and the app combines the functions that are similar to PayPal and Apple Pay.
Menusifu’s software will be offered in select restaurants in New York and California initially. Customers in restaurants with Menusifu’s POS system can pay using the Alipay app. The check amount is then withdrawn from their uploaded personal bank accounts or charged to their credit or debit cards.
The target market for the app is Chinese tourists, business travelers, and international students who the restaurant industry is also attempting to reign in with this home-from-home dining and payment experience. Menusifu CEO William Wang said, “We understand what the dining experience is like in China, and wanted to replicate the bill paying experience in the U.S. for the Chinese consumer.”
In China, restaurant staff often bring portable POS terminals to individual tables where diners swipe their cards themselves. Mobile self-payment has grown because of convenience, and smartphone use for payments in China is much more advanced than it is in the west.
The POS software prints a receipt with a unique QR code. The customer, using the Alipay app, scans the code with their phone and can pay directly with Chinese digital currency if they wish. They can also split the bill and leave a tip. The app uploads the payment information to the restaurant’s POS terminal, alerting the servers that the bill has been paid.
The roll-out for the app is limited to New York City and California initially where demand is high, but the company will scale the app as U.S. consumers continue to adopt digital payments. Alipay is expected to appear in shops and service providers in the future and to thousands of U.S. restaurants, service shops, and retailers in the coming years. So if Alibaba can make people feel at home in a strange country using a mobile payment app, how’s that for a VR/AR experience?
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