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Chinese tech giants Tencent and Alibaba break digital wall with Taobao, WeChat integration
Tencent Holdings has begun letting users shop on Alibaba Group Holding’s Taobao e-commerce platform directly through its WeChat app, in another landmark deal aimed at tearing down the digital walls separating two of China’s biggest internet giants.
WeChat users can now open Taobao links and complete purchases within the Tencent multipurpose app, according to checks by the South China Morning Post on Wednesday. When users buy or add a product to their shopping cart, they are asked to link their WeChat account to Taobao to access their delivery addresses stored in the shopping app.
Payments can be made via Tencent’s digital wallet service WeChat Pay, known as Weixin Pay on the mainland, allowing users to complete their shopping without leaving the Tencent app. Users who choose other payment methods, such as Ant Group’s Alipay, will be redirected to the Taobao app to finish their transaction.
Ant is an affiliate of Alibaba, owner of the Post.
The move comes just weeks after Taobao and its sibling Tmall, the two largest online marketplaces in China, began accepting WeChat Pay for online purchases. Merchants on Taobao and Tmall were given the choice to add WeChat Pay to their shops.
