U MOBILE LAUNCHES WECHAT GO MALAYSIA MINI PROGRAM FOR VISITORS FROM MAINLAND CHINA TO MALAYSIA

U Mobile, the data-centric and award-winning telco, has partnered WeChat, the communications platform from mainland China that offers messaging, social, games and also payments, to launch two Mini Programs within the WeChat ecosystem. The two Mini Programs are the WeChat GO Malaysia Mini Program and the Pavilion KL Mini Program. These two Mini Programs enable a digital travel experience in Malaysia that is curated based on the lifestyle preferences and needs of visitors from mainland China. Another important feature of the Mini Programs is that visitors from mainland China can even pay for services found in the Mini Programs in their home currency, Renminbi (RMB), using the payment function found in the WeChat ecosystem.

From L-R:

1. Dato’ Joyce Yap, CEO - Retail of Pavilion KL,
2. Yang Berusaha Encik Al-Ishsal Ishak, Chairman of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission,
3. Wong Heang Tuck, CEO of U Mobile,
4. Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Mohmed Razip Hasan, Deputy Director General of Tourism Malaysia,
5. Ma Feng Ming, Head of WeChat Global Marketing.

WeChat GO Malaysia Mini Program:

The WeChat GO Malaysia Mini Program aims to be a complete travel companion for visitors from mainland China as they are able to search for information on Malaysian attractions, food, culture and shopping venues via an interactive Chinese guide within the Mini Program. Apart from that, they can make payments in RMB for the services provided by the partners below:

·         POS Malaysia: Visitors from mainland China can select from a list of postcard designs featuring popular holiday destinations in Malaysia. They can personalise their message and POS Malaysia will print and deliver it to any address in mainland China. These postcards come with track and trace features, as well as unique, destination-specific cancellation marks. 

·         KLIA Express: Book and pay for tickets ahead of the airport transfer train ride. The QR ticket is saved in the Mini Program itself. U Mobile and KLIA Express are also exploring extending the latter’s suite of services to cater better to visitors from mainland China.

·         TripCarte: Book and pay for tickets to tourist attractions in Malaysia. The QR ticket, which is all that is required to access the attractions, is saved in the Mini Program. 

·         CatchThatBus: Book and pay for bus tickets ahead of the ride. Customers may even select their desired seats on the Mini Program. They will need to show the details of the booking to the staff before boarding.

The WeChat GO Malaysia Mini Program will serve as a key platform to attract inbound visitors from mainland China through a partnership with Tourism Malaysia for ‘Visit Malaysia 2020’. The partnership will see Tourism Malaysia promote the Mini Program to visitors from mainland China as part of its wider ‘Visit Malaysia 2020’ campaign. It will also encourage more Malaysian merchants to be part of the Mini Program so that they will be able to target these visitors. As for WeChat, they will also actively promote and raise awareness through their ecosystem to connect would-be visitors from mainland China to the WeChat GO Malaysia Mini Program in mainland China.

The partners of the WeChat Go Malaysia Mini Program.

From L-R:

1. Parthiven Shanmugam, CEO of TripCarte,
2. Ashwin Jeyapalasingam, COO of CatchThatBus,
3. Dato’ Joyce Yap, CEO - Retail of Pavilion KL,
4. Jasmine Lee, CMO of U Mobile,
5. Tuan Syed Md Najib bin Syed Md Noor, GCEO of Pos Malaysia Berhad,
6. Zhenning Li, COO of Sunway Lincod,
7. Noormah Mohd Nor, CEO of KLIA Express,
8. Intan Yusnita, Head of Advertising & Promotions, WCT Malls Management Sdn Bhd

Pavilion KL Mini Program:

The Pavilion KL Mini Program aims to enhance the dining and shopping experience of visitors from mainland China who are visiting Pavilion KL shopping mall. To ensure communication between these visitors and Pavilion KL store merchants is smooth, the Pavilion KL Mini Program is available in two languages – Chinese and English.  Below are some key benefits:

·         Visitors from mainland China may make reservations, order and pay for their meal via the Mini Program at over 30 participating F&B merchants such as The Loaf, DOME, Michelangelo’s, Laduree, Kakiyuki and more. 

·         For retail and fashion stores, visitors from mainland China will be able to order and pay for their choice of merchandise via the Mini Program, and simply collect their purchases from the stores when they are ready, saving the visitors valuable time.

o   For example, Mercato Supermarket at Pavilion KL even has its own Mini Program within the Pavilion KL Mini Program. The Mercato Mini Program enables visitors from mainland China to purchase popular local products such as instant coffee and durian chocolates and collect them from Mercato Supermarket at Pavilion KL at their convenience.

During the launch event, Wong Heang Tuck, CEO of U Mobile, highlighted the significance of these two Mini Programs. “U Mobile is delighted to be able to strengthen our partnership with WeChat to launch not one, but two Mini Programs. WeChat GO Malaysia Mini Program will become an essential interactive guide for visitors from mainland China for all things Malaysia, whilst the Pavilion KL Mini Program will enhance the dining and shopping experience of these visitors in the mall.”

He added that the benefits are not just for visitors from mainland China. “U Mobile believes that the WeChat GO Malaysia Mini Program, as well as, Pavilion KL Mini Program will be excellent avenues for Malaysian merchants and businesses to reach and engage with visitors from mainland China. Both Mini Programs will help raise their visibility with these visitors and as a result, increase their revenue potential. The Mini Programs also serve as key drivers of tourism growth as they promote Malaysia to be an accessible and attractive tourist destination. We really see the benefits being all round for both visitors as well as locals.  Finally, we believe our partnership with WeChat is very in line with the country’s goal of becoming a developed digital economy by encouraging digital entrepreneurship and connectivity.”

Ma Feng Ming, Head of WeChat Global Marketing said, “Malaysia has always been one of the favourite travel destinations amongst visitors from mainland China for its sunny weather, warm hospitality, delicious local food and many more. Partnering with Tourism Malaysia and U Mobile, we can now better serve our WeChat users by introducing more products, services and promotions to them via WeChat Mini Programs. With this collaboration, we also aim to encourage more Malaysian merchants to join and benefit from the WeChat ecosystem to engage the visitors from mainland China.”

In a speech delivered at the event, Dato’ Joyce Yap, CEO - Retail of Pavilion KL, said, “Pavilion KL is proud to partner with U Mobile and WeChat to be the first mall listed in the WeChat GO Malaysia Mini Program. Together with the Pavilion KL Mini Program, we are excited to leverage on this new platform to reach potential shoppers in mainland China. With a third of our shoppers comprising international tourists, we are constantly on the lookout for new and innovative ways to engage visitors with enhanced, tourist-friendly offerings. We look forward to providing visitors with seamless and enjoyable experiences at Pavilion KL, especially with ‘Visit Malaysia 2020’ just around the corner.”

The two Mini Programs signify the deepening partnership between U Mobile and WeChat; the first was the launch of the U Mobile WeChat GO Sim in 2017. Based on last year’s data, there was a total of 2.9 million visitors from mainland China to Malaysia. To date, there are more than 1.1 billion combined monthly active user accounts of Weixin and WeChat globally.

The launch of both WeChat GO Malaysia Mini Program and Pavilion KL Mini Program took place at Pavilion Hotel today and it was officiated by Yang Berusaha Encik Al-Ishsal Ishak, Chairman of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, and Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Mohmed Razip Hasan, Deputy Director General of Tourism Malaysia. WeChat GO Malaysia Mini Program is currently live for visitors from mainland China and the Pavilion KL Mini Program will go live prior to the start of China’s Golden Week on 1 October 2019. For merchants who are interested to be part of the WeChat GO Malaysia Mini Program or businesses who are interested in building a Mini Program within the WeChat ecosystem, please visit www.wegomy.biz for more info.

About U Mobile

At U Mobile, we want to help our consumers realise their Unlimited Potential. We make it our business to constantly innovate so that we can create products and services that our consumers value most. With our continuing commitment to expand our #BARULAHBEST 4G network, we are in position to deliver an enhanced network experience that will add unlimited fun and freedom to our consumers’ lives. For more information on U Mobile’s products and services, please visit www.u.com.my or contact U Mobile’s customer service at 018-388 1318.

About WeChat

Launched in 2011, Weixin/WeChat has been enhancing the lives of hundreds of millions of users with its innovative features. The most widely used Chinese social media platform integrates instant messaging and social entertainment, bringing about a mobile digital lifestyle on an easy- to-use app. Users get to engage in real-time communications via free text and multimedia messages, make voice/video calls or share photos on their “Moments.” Other lifestyle recreational features include “Games,” “Sticker Gallery,” and other functions. Continuously evolving around users' needs, Weixin/WeChat also offers enterprises “Official Accounts” to create original consumer experiences through its open platform and extended services such as Weixin/WeChat Pay for a truly mobile digital lifestyle. Weixin/WeChat reached more than 1.132 billion monthly active user accounts as of June 2019. Weixin/WeChat has evolved into a connector and open platform across industries, connecting users with one another, with smart devices and with business services.

About WeChat Go

WeChat Go is an open collaboration model initiated by WeChat, the largest social communications platform in China, to facilitate global partners in addressing the specific needs of outbound Chinese travelers via the WeChat ecosystem. The innovative WeChat solutions in hospitality, telecommunication, airlines, safety, insurance, attractions, city guides, and similar fields, are creating immense value for Chinese travelers.