Feelunique links with WeChat for Mini Programme store launch

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 20, 2018

Beauty e-tail giant Feelunique is making a major play for China by ramping up its presence there through the launch of a WeChat ‘webstore’ using the WeChat Mini Programme.

Mini Programmes are sub-applications designed to add functionality to WeChat and allow brands to make the most of the huge, engaged audience on the chat-to-commerce platform, without the heavier commitment needed for a web app accessed within the WeChat browser.

Feelunique has worked with consultants at Azoya to make it happen with customers now able to go to WeChat to buy its products just as they would on its own webstore, without having to add yet another app to their smartphones.

The programme also means Feelunique will be able to incentivise shoppers to share content within WeChat, further boosting brand awareness in China.

WeChat Mini programmes have attracted more than 114 million users since they launched in January last year but Feelunique is one of the first online-only foreign retailers to launch one. 

CEO Joel Palix said it will allow the company to reach new consumers and “will leverage our existing WeChat presence – which includes an official account with over 100,000 followers and a WeChat store – by enabling customers to complete a purchase within the WeChat ecosystem.”

And he added that the firm is putting the platform “at the forefront of our localised, multichannel digital strategy, supporting our existing standalone website and marketplace solutions.”

And that certainly makes sense for the firm which has been in China for two-and-a-half years, during which time it has become its biggest international market with over 15% of global sales.

Beauty is a major category for e-tail shoppers in China (a Frost & Sullivan/Azoya Consulting report said it’s the second most popular category). And Azoya said the WeChat Mini Program “is proving to be a promising touchpoint for online retailers and will contribute to healthy, long-term growth in China for Feelunique.”