Update #11: Retail Coupons, Travel Coupons, and Grab
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Alipay’s Nationwide Campaign to Give Away $1.4 Billion Coupons 💵
Between July 1 to July 17, people will have the opportunity to participate in Alipay’s 717 Live Extravaganza event. Alipay users can find digital coupons on their Alipay app and then go to redeem these coupons offline at merchants all across China. This move of giving away coupons, discounts, and vouchers is a widespread tactic across China, especially given the change in consumer spend because of the coronavirus. Alipay hopes this will provide much needed financial support to small businesses, one of their key stakeholders.
Over the last few months, digital coupons have also been allocated to citizens from local governments to redeem at local businesses in an attempt to stimulate the economy. Around $2.7 Billion in government-issued coupons have been redeemed since March. Alipay (owned by Alibaba) plans to give $1.4 Billion in coupons away across seventeen days in July.
Trip.com’s Own Coupons for the Travel Industry ✈️
Similar to Alipay, the company Trip.com (one of China’s biggest online travel agents/OTAs) has announced generous travel vouchers as an economic stimulus for the industry. In an announcement last week, Trip.com revealed a new promotion for advance reservations, allowing customers hotel discounts up to 60% at 30,000 destinations across 180 countries.
Another feature — Trip.com will be hosting new in-destination livestream broadcasts at destinations across the world. Yes, that means even more livestreaming. Trip.com has already experimented with this model—saying millions of users already watch their travel livestreams, generating the company $70 Million in revenue. On top of that, they have created a $140 Million travel assistance fund to support partners in several markets.
We’re seeing this play out in travel companies across the world—overall declines in revenue thanks to the Coronavirus, leading to new areas of focus. Travel is a big industry made of many different players and it will be interesting to see how Western travel companies, specifically OTAs, sustain themselves in these uncertain times. Let’s not forget that Chinese tourists are the world’s single biggest spenders on international tourism.
Grab Experiences Layoffs Amidst the Pandemic 🚖
Grab, the Singapore-based Super App that initially started as a ride-sharing company, has recently announced that 5% of their workforce will experience layoffs due to the Coronavirus. As a silver lining, Grab has not shut down any offices and a spokesperson has commented that no more full-scale layoffs will occur for the rest of the year. The company has been considered one of Asia’s most successful startups, reminding us how no one is immune to the Coronavirus. We’ve also seen layoffs at peer companies Uber, Lyft, and Ola.
Grab is the most widely used ride-hailing app in South East Asia, but has also been expanding into areas like food delivery and financial services. Grab’s shopping (GrabMart) and courier service (GrabExpress) have both experienced increases in revenue over the last few months. Since Grab has also publicly stated that these cuts will force them to refocus their resources, one can imagine that Grab might double down on their highest margin business lines.
