5 September 2017
Malaysia's largest duty free and travel retail operator Malaysia Airports (Niaga) Sdn Bhd, better known as Eraman, is partnering with Alipay, an online and mobile payment platform operated by Ant Financial Services Group.
Eraman is a subsidiary of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB).
According to a statement by MAHB today, it said Eraman will now be able to tap into 520 million Alipay active users, of whom 4.5 million are Chinese tourists travelling to Malaysia annually.
With Alipay integrated into the acquirer's merchant portfolio of Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) and CIMB Bank Bhd, by using the in-store online payment solution at all Eraman outlets nationwide, Eraman is confident that this new payment mode will improve the Chinese travellers' shopping experience at the airports, said MAHB.
"Security and speed are important to us as we look to enable our Chinese travellers to walk into our outlets while travelling abroad and pay for purchases with the Alipay — just like they do in China," said Eraman general manager Zulhikam Ahmad.
"This Alipay in-store payment will act as the settlement, allowing Chinese travellers to pay for their transactions in Yuan without having concerns on the exchange rate. This is done through a simple swipe and barcode-scanning method," added Zulhikam.
"All Eraman retail outlets in KLIA and klia2 including duty free emporium and lifestyle stores began accepting Alipay in June 2017. However, Eraman food and beverage and retails outlets in Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Penang, Langkawi International Airport and Labuan Airport have begun to accept Alipay since end of August 2017.
"In China, this payment system is a way of life for shopping and many other activities, and given the growing number of Chinese travellers here, we are hoping for a high uptake," he added.
In conjunction with this smart partnership, Eraman has launched a special promotion starting from Sept 1 to Dec 31, 2017 whereby all Chinese travellers using Alipay will be entitled to an e-voucher of RMB100 when they spend RMB1,000 at participating Eraman retail outlets, said MAHB.
This e-voucher can be redeemed for the second purchase at Eraman outlets within 24 hours, added MAHB.
"Meanwhile, Alipay users will also be able to enjoy up to 10% off for purchases made at Eraman's Food & Beverage outlets and its convenience store, EXpress," said MAHB, adding that the discount can be used for the second purchase at Eraman within 24 hours.
"We continue to diversify our offerings, embrace the many exciting possibilities and grow our presence in the leading airports in Malaysia," said Zulhikam.
"This is our way of supporting Malaysia Airports' total airport experience initiative by means of having an alternate payment method and providing ease for our Chinese customers who happen to be one of our top three passenger groups in terms of nationality," Zulhikam added.
MAHB said Chinese travellers remain the highest ticket size contributor at KLIA and klia2. Eraman recorded a double-digit percentage growth in sales value with perfumes and cosmetics, liquor, tobacco boosted by purchases from the Chinese travellers.
"This is all due to the price and variety of the offerings which are more competitive compared to downtown especially for perfumes, cosmetics and liquor," said MAHB.
In terms of ranking for Chinese travellers received regionally, Malaysia comes in third after Thailand and Singapore.
"We are excited to partner Eraman, a very strong player in the duty free industry. With this partnership we'll help Eraman to reach out to more Chinese customers by utilising the Alipay marketing platform to market various top brands and products offered by Eraman," said Alipay's country manager of Malaysia Greta Gunawan.
"Duty free shops are always on the must-visit list of Chinese tourists. In the future, Alipay users can check shop details and special offers via the in-app Discovery platform even before they depart to Malaysia," added Gunawan.
"We are pleased to collaborate with Eraman in providing Chinese tourists a convenient and secure cashless payment experience in Malaysia with CIMB's Alipay mobile wallet," Hendra Lembong, chief executive officer, group transaction banking, CIMB Group, said.
Shares in MAHB gained five sen to close at RM9.05 today for a market capitalisation of RM15.03 billion.
Original Source: theedgemarkets
Site Search
Did you find what you are looking for? Try out the enhanced Google Search: