WeChat Pay to be available at over 600 Cold Storage, Giant, 7-Eleven, Guardian shops from Nov 1
SINGAPORE — To capture a larger slice of the burgeoning Chinese tourist market, retail group Dairy Farm will roll out cashless payment mode WeChat Pay across its stable of more than 600 Cold Storage, Giant, 7-Eleven and Guardian stores here from next month.
From Nov 1, 2018, users of WeChat Pay, including visitors from China and Singapore-based Chinese nationals, can use the service at more than 600 Cold Storage, Giant, 7-Eleven and Guardian stores.
SINGAPORE — To capture a larger slice of the burgeoning Chinese tourist market, retail group Dairy Farm will roll out cashless payment mode WeChat Pay across its stable of more than 600 Cold Storage, Giant, 7-Eleven and Guardian stores here from next month.
The service by Chinese giant WeChat is presently being tested at 7-Eleven and Guardian shops at Changi Airport and key tourist destinations in the Orchard shopping district and Chinatown.
From Nov 1, users of WeChat Pay, including visitors from China and Singapore-based Chinese nationals, can use the service at its stores islandwide by scanning the Nets QR (quick-response) code on Nets’ unified point-of-sale terminals, Dairy Farm and Nets announced in a press statement on Tuesday (Oct 23).
The move will allow Dairy Farm’s network of stores to “better cater to the growing number of China visitors by offering visitors a convenient way to pay when they shop in Singapore”, the companies said.
Last year, 3.2 million people from China visited Singapore, nearly 13 per cent higher than the figure in 2016 (2.9 million).
Dairy Farm Singapore regional finance director Tom van der Lee said that the latest payment initiative is part of the retailer’s digital transformation to keep in step with the Government’s drive to turn Singapore into a Smart Nation.
Nets head of merchant services Alvin Seck added: “Working with payment partners like WeChat and retailers like Dairy Farm Group enables Nets to roll out new payment services for consumers quickly, while minimising adoption costs for merchants.”
The latest move comes after Dairy Farm turned in what it described as a “disappointing” showing last year, bogged down by weakness in its supermarket and hypermarket businesses. Operating profit for these businesses slumped 30 per cent.
TODAY reported last month that Dairy Farm’s Giant hypermarket chain will shut its longstanding VivoCity outlet early next year, after closing two stores in Bukit Panjang and Jalan Tenteram in Whampoa estate.
The company is also reviewing if business will still be viable in at least three other Giant stores.
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