WeChat app may soon compete directly with Facebook
WeChat is beating Facebook’s WhatsApp when it comes to mobile commerce, and the app may soon be coming to the United States in order to better compete. WeChat is a messaging application in China owned by Tencent. While those living outside of China have knowledge about the application, it is quickly gaining popularity as more consumers become exposed to mobile commerce. Facebook already has the backing of a massive consumer base, but it continues to struggle to find traction in the mobile commerce space.
What WeChat lacks in membership, it makes up for in mobile payments
WeChat has been operating in the Chinese market for some time. The app currently has more than 600 million users, though WhatsApp boasts of 900 million. Despite the major difference in users, WeChat has a comprehensive business model in place. The app pulls in some $4.2 billion in annual transactions, as it also acts as a mobile commerce platform for those interested in shopping online. Expanding into new markets will provide WeChat with access to even more consumers that want to use their devices to make purchases.
WeChat is making moves to expand into new markets
Recently, WeChat invested some $50 million into Canadian messaging app Kik, which highlighted the company’s intentions to begin exploring other markets. While WeChat is showing interest in new markets, it has yet to enter into these markets. As such, there is little consumers interest in the app, even with the demand for new mobile commerce services growing at an exponential rate. In order for WeChat to compete effectively, it will have to take steps to tailor its services to a western audience.
Messaging apps could be the key to the continued expansion of mobile commerce
Messaging apps are beginning to play a major role in the mobile commerce space. These applications now do more than simply allow users to communicate with one another, as they can also be used to send money to friends and family. The apps can also be used to make payments over a mobile network, something that consumers are becoming very interested in.
Youth begin to flee from Facebook
The youth of the world are beginning to favor simple messaging applications for their mobile devices over Facebook. These applications allow consumers to create personal profiles, build networks of friends and other contacts, share digital content, such as video, music, and pictures. While these applications provide many of the same services that made Facebook popular several years ago, these applications have one thing that Facebook does not have: They are not Facebook.
Consumers beginning to favor simple messaging apps for their mobile devices
Young, tech-savvy consumers through North America, Asia, and Europe are beginning to flock to these messaging applications in order to connect with one another. Many of these applications, such as Kik and Whatsapp, both of which are very popular in North America, combine text messaging with social networking, allowing users to connect with one another quickly without relying on messaging plans offered by wireless network operators or the sometimes stifling design of social networking platforms.
Apps could provide better services than Facebook
These apps have an appeal to consumers based on the fact that they are designed around the concept of communication. Google Ventures partner Rich Miner suggests that the majority of interactions that people have with one another come in the form of text messages and phone calls. Many people do not involve themselves in social networks simply for the purpose of communication. Consumers are beginning to find that simple messaging applications can suffice their need to communicate with others. These applications can also effectively share digital content, removing yet another reason for consumers to rely on social networking platforms.
Facebook remains the champion of social networking
Facebook boasts of more than 1 billion users worldwide, thus solidifying it as the most popular and widely used social networking platform in the world. The company recently began embracing the mobile space more aggressively, producing the most used smartphone application on the market today. Nonetheless, consumers are still flocking to messaging applications that offer the same services as Facebook but without any association to the sometimes controversial social network.
