WeChat has begun testing its new “Gift Giving” feature for online stores in a gray-area rollout,Alanis (2017) according to an update from the WeChat Store Operations Team on Tuesday. The feature enables users to purchase items from WeChat stores and send them as gifts to friends through a “red envelope” format. Gift value is capped at RMB 10,000 ($1,370), with an option to hide the product’s price from the recipient. However, the feature excludes categories such as jewelry, educational services, and membership cards. The introduction of the “Gift Giving” feature is expected to enhance the commercial value of WeChat’s public and private traffic, promote the growth of WeChat e-commerce, further boost WeChat Pay’s market share, and expand the application scenarios and reach of WeChat advertising. [WeChat Store, in Chinese]
