Neiman Marcus Adopts Alipay, a Preferred Payment App by Chinese Tourists and Students Abroad

Neiman Marcus has adopted Alipay, the Shanghai-based mobile payments platform, as it tries to attract more Chinese tourists and students who prefer to pay using their smartphones when traveling.The payment system is available in all 43 Neiman Marcus stores, the two Bergdorf Goodman stores in New York and 24 Last Call stores.Neiman Marcus is in the process of adding Alipay as an online payment option later this year, said David Goubert, Neiman Marcus executive vice president of stores and retail experience.Alipay has one billion users worldwide and according to the Nielsen report, more than two-thirds of Chinese tourists said they used their smartphone to pay for goods and services when traveling in 2018. Nearly 60 percent of surveyed merchants who accept Alipay said they saw both an increase in customers and purchases after adopting it, the report said.The Alipay app allows shoppers to avoid higher foreign credit card transaction fees. It also has a function that lets users know what merchants nearby accept it.Last week, during a conference call with analysts to review quarterly results, Neiman Marcus CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck said that while the retailer's business depends on local customers and relationships, "We actually have opportunity to be more proactive in seeking tourists."Neiman Marcus is adding more Chinese speakers in stores located in what he called, "gateway cities," which have big numbers of international tourists, such as San Francisco and New York.Having the right marketing tools that direct shoppers from China to Neiman Marcus were in the works, he said, and might offset any declines in potential customers from China coming to the U.S. because of any government directives or issues.He did reiterate that tourism and the size of the Chinese business is small, relatively.Twitter: @MariaHalkias  Continue reading...

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