Heathrow Airport’s World Duty Free adds WeChat Pay

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Oct 25, 2018

In an effort to capture more sales from Chinese travelers, World Duty Free’s store in Heathrow Airport has implemented Chinese e-wallet solution WeChat Pay as a payment method.

SafeCharge, a payments company, has facilitated the launch, which will allow Chinese shoppers to simply pay for their purchases with the mobile payment app.

The convenience of the payment method is likely to help increase the average transaction value at the tax-free store, capitalising on the growing spend from Chinese tourists in the UK. According to VisitBritain, over 330,000 Chinese travelers visited the UK last year alone, injecting over £1 billion into the economy in 2017.

“Since the initial rollout in Terminal 4 we have seen a steady increase in transaction volumes and are currently in the process of extending this capability across the other Heathrow terminals. SafeCharge has been instrumental in supporting our fast deployment with high level quality support and we look forward to working closely with the team as we continue to expand across more locations and concessions,” said Tony O’Donnell, UK financial controller at World Duty Free.

“Chinese shoppers are among the most tech savvy in the world, and take the ability to go cashless and make mobile payments at home for granted. With Chinese tourism growing at a 20% rate every year, it has become vital for merchants to adapt to offer these valued customers the service and experience that they expect - and that means accepting Chinese alternative payment methods whether online, in their shops, pop-up stores or outdoor markets in order to remain competitive,” added David Avgi, CEO of SafeCharge.

The WeChat Pay implementation will also benefit brands, as it provides with a new platform to interact with consumers and reward them with  coupons, cash-back promotions and other features.