1200 Stores Overseas Have Participated in U Plan in Half a Year

U Plan, the cross-border marketing service platform launched by UnionPay International this July, has become popular among customers for it helps customers easily get promotion information and enjoy discounts. Now, more than 1,200 stores outside mainland China have taken part in U Plan as of the end of 2016. These merchants are selected by UnionPay International base on the transaction data in the past few years, and are the most popular shopping malls and brand stores, locating in hot tourist destinations, including Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, the US and Japan.

“I know that many overseas stores offer discounts for UnionPay cards, but when traveling abroad, I might forget which of these merchants are. And most of the discounts I’ve enjoyed were found only by chance.” A customer using U Plan coupon at the King Power duty free shop in Thailand said, “With U Plan, everything is different. I’ve booked airline tickets and hotel rooms via Ctrip and received promotion information immediately. Of course, I’ll not forget it. And it’s very convenient to use the coupons. I put the coupons into my collection upon receiving them, and then I can check them even without wifi when traveling abroad.”

Adopting mobile Internet technology, U Plan offers location-based service, accurate marketing and instant discounts for cross-border consumption. Now, customers are able to get exclusive coupons of U Plan via the mobile phone applications of 13 institutions including banks, travel agencies and retailers. First, customers may find U Plan in the mobile phone app of UnionPay International and ICBC, etc. Second, customers may receive coupons that can be used in their travel destinations on their mobile phones after booking air tickets or hotel rooms via Ctrip and CYTS, etc. Present the coupons in store and pay with UnionPay cards, customers may enjoy the highest discounts available. Since its launch in July, millions of U Plan coupons have been downloaded and used. It enhanced cardholders’ engagement and substantially boosted the sales of the participating merchants.

Lately, merchants in Japan have newly taken part in U Plan. About 400 offline stores of the Matsumoto Kiyoshi drugstore have participated and the largest duty free shop in Japan, LAOX, will come onboard in the mid of January, 2017.

it comprehensively upgrades the cardholders’ cross-border payment experiences. On the other, it helps merchants enhance the accuracy and efficiency of marketing campaigns, and thus attract more customers. It is expected that, all the offline stores of the duty free shop LAOX will participate in U Plan at the beginning of January 2017, all the physical stores of LAOX will be included into “U Plan”.

According to Japan Tourism Agency, more than 20 million foreign tourists visited Japan in 2016, and 1/4 of them were from mainland China. Yet, it is worth noting that, the Chinese tourists’ passion for buying is waning due to the strong Yen. Data show that, the average purchasing amount of Chinese tourists in Japan from June to September is about 220,000 Yen (13,000 RMB), and the total amount decreased by about 20% year-on-year. In this context, retailers in Japan are seeking marketing tactics that are more attractive to offer better services to UnionPay cardholders. Taking part in U Plan is one of the significant measures they adopt.

It is very convenient to use UnionPay cards in Japan. About 500,000 merchants and 80,000 ATMs accept UnionPay. These merchants include duty-free shops, department stores, appliance chain stores, drugstores and 90% of the convenience stores. More and more customers are using UnionPay cards when visiting Japan. Since last year, the payment via UnionPay has taken the largest market share of foreign tourists’ card payment in Japan.