After the pandemic, WeChat mini programs have penetrated every corner of daily life, with every industry promoting them to monetise and ease the industry crisis the pandemic brought.
According to relevant reports, the number of WeChat mini programs has exceeded 3.2 million, with daily active users above 410 million, average usage per person reaching 1,080 seconds, and monthly active users above 730 million.
Under the pandemic, the personalised functions of WeChat mini programs mean people no longer need to download many apps on their phones; the operations are simple enough that even some elderly people can use them. As major brands develop and operate mini programs, WeChat mini programs will drive the migration of China’s physical commerce, especially in retail, where mini programs are pushing new markets into exponential growth.
Relevant data show WeChat mini programs displaying powerful explosive growth, and through the dual realisation of social and commercial value, mini programs are becoming a necessity of commerce and social life.
Scenario applications
In terms of current development, WeChat mini programs are mainly applied in the following industries and scenarios:
1. Retail. Look closely at daily life and you will find many physical retailers, such as Walmart and Yonghui, have launched WeChat mini programs. Their application has effectively carried retail’s move online, realising functions across social interaction, engagement and purchase. Today mini programs of shopping malls and department stores are everywhere.
2. Dining. Through mini programs, consumers can order ahead and get queue information, saving time for those unwilling to wait and bringing merchants a better reputation. Meanwhile, features such as scan-to-order, scan-to-pay and delivery services have greatly boosted dining revenue.
3. Travel. Mini programs are an essential tool of online-offline integration for travel. Before a trip, consumers can open a mini program to check attractions, book hotels and buy flights in one go; travel companies can keep refining route planning so users get many services without downloading an app. Under the pandemic, “cloud tourism” and “live streaming plus tourism” have become essentials for travel merchants.
4. Education. Education mini programs focus on search, presentation, purchase and trial-listening scenarios, improving how conveniently students use an institution’s content (videos, courses, question banks, assessments) and services on WeChat, raising retention and payment rates. New scenarios in education are being reshaped, and the number of education mini programs is surging.
5. Smart government services. Mini programs bring government services online, delivering convenient, efficient service to the public. During the pandemic we all used health codes; by completing personal information and tracking the epidemic in time, government mini programs made life easier while dramatically raising the efficiency of frontline workers.
6. Live commerce. Live streaming is the hottest topic today, and mini program live streaming, as the fourth major live platform, has a broad value outlook. For users, live streaming has become a key channel for understanding brands and improving shopping awareness, cultivating a taste for good quality at fair prices; for brands, live streaming has made categories explode, with agricultural products, hotels, real estate and online education all gaining deep contact with users, and niche products getting more chances to break out.
In short, WeChat mini programs have powered the vigorous development of the “small shop economy” and promoted employment. Merchants build online retail malls, online dining and online education on mini programs; with online ordering and delivery features plus WeChat Pay, they meet users’ immediate needs, adjust their online products or business structure in time, gather funds quickly, raise revenue and turn traffic into money.
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