WeChat Impact Report 2016

WECHAT
IMPACT
REPORT
2016
Translated from Tencent Penguin Intelligence and China Academy of Information and
Communications Technology (CAICT), “2016 WeChat Impact Report,” March 21, 2016
Translated Presentation by
WALKTHECHAT
March 2016

Disclaimer
Data source:
Data of this report is from Tencent Penguin
Intelligence’s online survey and China Academy
of Information and Communications Technology
(CAICT)’s phone survey. Sample group includes
40,443 participants online and 1,101 participants
on the phone.
Data accuracy:
Phone interview is done on a random basis, with
an accuracy rate of 95%. Online survey is
sampled based on user’s gender, and industry.
Statement:
This report represents Tencent Penguin
Intelligence and China Academy of Information
and Communications Technology (CAICT)’s
independent research. It does not represent
Tencent officially.

Sample Size
40,443
Participants online
Data collected on
March 2016
1,101
Participants by phone
Data collected at the
end of 2015
1,017
WeChat Official
Account Operators
end of 2015
806
Enterprise Account
Operators
end of 2015

Report Highlight
 67.5% of WeChat users are male
 More than 90% of users use WeChat every
day, more than half of which use WeChat
more than 1 hour daily
 28% of WeChat users have more than 200
WeChat friends, and 61.4% of users
check WeChat Moments every time they
open WeChat
 35.8% of WeChat Read users see increase in
reading time; more than 25% of WeChat
Sport users saw an increase in their physical
activity
 WeChat Red Envelop is the most used
WeChat payment feature; 76% of users
transfer/spend more than 100RMB per month

Report Highlight II
 Social media became the second largest
news channel, market share is more than
computer and TV combined. Largest channel
for reading news is mobile News Apps
 The top reasons trigger sharing on WeChat
are: value (usefulness), interest, and
emotional value
 62.2% of users use life-style features, the top
ones are: mobile top-up, movie tickets
purchases, paying for restaurants/tickets
 More than 25% of WeChat Official accounts
are in the General News category; service
industry make about 20% of all official
accounts
 Among all company’s WeChat account,
traditional manufactory industry has the
highest number of accounts
 WeChat official owner are investing a lot
more time and monetary investment into
account operation

Table of Content
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
WeChat development
WeChat Users
WeChat + social media
WeChat + payment
WeChat + media
WeChat + life-style service
WeChat corporate service
Report team

WeChat Development Review
WeChat launched
2011.1
Add WeChat Moment
2012.4
Add WeChat Official Acct
2012.7
WeChat payment
2013.8
WeChat Enterprise Acct
2014.9
WeChat City Service
2014.12
WeChat Moment Ads
2015
Original Content
2015
190
MONTHLYACTIVEUSERS
(million)
2013.3
400
2014.3
500
2014.12
600
2015.9
In the past 5 years, WeChat has developed from a
communication tool to a platform that connects
people, services, and businesses.

WeChat at a glance
700 million
Monthly Active
Users
10 million WeChat
Official Accounts
700,000 WeChat
articles are
published per day
200 million users
linked WeChat with
Credit Card
560,000 Company
Official Account
WeChat City
Services launched
in 78 cities across
16 provinces
8 billion of WeChat
Red Envelopes were
sent during Spring
Festival 2016
200,000 businesses
accept WeChat
Offline Payment in-
store
Source Tencent, data as of 2016.2

Financial Service
• WeChat Payment
• WeChat bank
E-commerce
• JD.COM
• Weidian
• Cross-border shops
Startups
• Open platform
• Co-working space
AI
• Smart device
• AI software
Communication service
• WeChat life
• Government service
Hardware Manufacture
• WeChat hardware
Agriculture
• Agriculture customization
• Authentic verification system
Business promotion
• Smart mall
• WeChat credit card
WeChat + other industries
Industry
improvement
Innovation
Service
Community
service
E-commerce
/ financial
industry
WECHAT
Transportation
• Didi Dache
• Ticket service

WECHAT
USERS
02
 Male vs. Female ratio is 2:1 (default gender is
male)
 94% of users will login to WeChat daily
 55% of users user WeChat more than 1 hour
per day
 40% of WeChat users work in corporations

More male WeChat users
67.5%
32.5%
WeChat User Gender Distribution
 67.5% of users are male
 Last year, the ratio was 1.8:1
Source: WeChat Economics Social Influence Analytical Report, China Academy of
Information and Communications Technology (CAICT)
Female
Male

User employment distribution
40.4%
25.3%
14.4%
10.8%
4.8%
2.6% 1.8%
WeChat user employment status
Corporation Freelance Unemployed
Government/army Farmer
 Corporate worker count as the largest user
group, 40.4%
 Stable income group means high purchasing
power

94% of users use WeChat daily
 61% of WeChat users open WeChat more
than 10 times per day. 36% of users open
WeChat more than 30 times per day
 Frequency of using WeChat has strongly
increased from last year.
Number of Times per Day that WeChat Users in
China open WeChat, March 2016
% of respondents
21%
15%
25%
22%
11%
5%
1%
50+
31-50
11-30
5-10
<5
Never open
Unknown
Morefrequent

Users spend hours using
WeChat everyday
 32% of users use WeChat for longer than 2
hours
 WeChat has high user stickiness
Average amount of time spent on WeChat
March 2016
% of respondents
17%
15%
22%
24%
15%
7%
> 4 hr
2-4 hr
1-2 hr
30 min - 1 hr
10-30 min
<10 min
Longertime

WECHAT
+
SOCIAL
03
 28% of users have more than 200 WeChat
friends
 61.4% of users check WeChat Moments
everytime they open WeChat
 User’s update about daily life content is the
most popular type of content
 Pictures and videos are more popular than
articles

Number of WeChat friends
increased from last year
37.3%
22.5%
37.0%
12.2%
21.3%
23.6%
27.1% 28.0%
<50 50-99 100-199 >200
How many WeChat friends do you have?
2014 2015
 55.1% of users have more than 100 WeChat
friends
 Only 16% of users have less than 50 WeChat
friends
 More than 200 friends category doubled
compared with 2014

4.1%
6.4%
6.4%
11.4%
12.6%
25.3%
32.5%
33.9%
39.8%
53.5%
58.0%
Top 10 things people do on
WeChat
WeChat Activities Conducted Daily by WeChat
Users in China, March 2016
% of respondents
Source: Tencent Penguin Intelligence and China Academy of Information and Communications
Technology (CAICT)
Browsing and posting on Moments
Sharing information (image, voice messages, video, etc.)
Reading content via followed public accounts
Sending/receiving money (e.g., Red Pocket)
Mobile payments
Sharing Stickers/ emoji
Use “WeChat Shake” feature
Use WeChat sports
Gaming
Social commerce
None of these

Most of users check WeChat Moment
every time they open WeChat
How often do you check WeChat Moment?
March 2016
% of respondents
61.4%
22.6%
14.7%
1.3%
Everytime I open WeChat
Often
Sometimes
Never
Note: sample size 40,443 people, excluding non-WeChat users; Source: Tencent
Penguin Intelligence
 WeChat users are addicted to checking
Moments

Users pay more attention to personal
life-style content on Moments
What kind of content do you pay more attention to?
March 2016
% of respondents
7.0%
29.8%
35.3%
61.4%
None of above
Articles shared by friends
Friends' feedback on my post
Friends' personal life-style post
 Articles shared by friends only got 30% of
attention mostly due to the larger quantity of
content being shared

“Like” is cheaper than re-share
Besides reading articles, what other things do you do
on WeChat Moments?
% of respondents
11.8%
23.8%
35.1%
38.5%
57.6%
None of the
above
Share content
Post content
Leave
comments
Like other posts
(videos, pictures
&text)
 Only 23.8% of users would re-share content
on their moments. Marketer needs to be more
targeted when creating shareable content.
Note: sample size 40,443 people, excluding non-WeChat users; Source: Tencent Penguin
Intelligence

Pictures and videos are more favorable
content on WeChat Moments
What type of content do you like to see on
WeChat Moments?
% of respondents
3.8%
22.3%
45.2%
50.0%
50.7%
None of above
Articles
Short videos
Text
Pictures
 Only 22.3% of users likes to read articles on
WeChat Moments

WeChat + Social summary
 Brands could consider Moments
advertising to catch users’ attention since
half of users indicates more favorable of
pictures and videos
 As the sharply increasing number of
WeChat friends, content on WeChat
moments, and information posted by
official account, Tencent is facing a bigger
than ever challenge to filter the
information.

WECHAT
+
PAYMENT
04
 Red envelop is the most used payment
features in WeChat payment
 67% of users spend more than 100 RMB per
month using WeChat payment
 Offline payment is faster and easier than
traditional payment method

Red envelope is the most
popular payment feature
WeChat Mobile Payment Functions Used by WeChat Users
in China, March 2016
9.0%
12.8%
13.6%
20.0%
33.1%
56.9%
58.1%
84.7%
Note: *payment processed via scanning a QR code generated by an app
Source: Tencent Penguin Intelligence
Digital Red Envelope money
Making Payments
Money transfer to contacts
Receivable
WeChat credit card *
Pay off credit card
Splitting payment with friends (e.g., for restaurant bills)
None of these
% of respondents
 Users are starting to use WeChat payment for
larger transactions, beyond transferring small
payment as red envelopes

Near 70% of users spend more
than 100 RMB per month
2.0%
6.0%
7.0%
8.0%
13.0%
14.0%
19.0%
31.0%
Unknown
> 5K RMB
2~5K RMB
1~2K RMB
500~1K RMB
300~500 RMB
100~300 RMB
< 100 RMB
 67% of users spend over 100 RMB per month,
more than doubled from last year.
 34% of users spend over 500 RMB per month, six
times more than last year (5%).
Note: excluding non-WeChat psyment users.
Source: WeChat Economics Social Influence Analytical Report
Monthly Average Amount That WeChat Users Pay/Transfer
% of respondents
Moremoney

Main reasons to use WeChat offline
payment: ease, convenience, promotions
46.2%
44.9%
39.2%
18.7%
h
Easy to use, no need for changes
Can pay with phone, cashless
Others
Discounts & promotional campaigns
 Users choose to use WeChat payment because
it is easier, more convenient and occasionally
have promotion discount campaign
Note: sample size: 31349, excluding WeChat users with no offline payment experience.
Why do you choose to use WeChat for offline payment?
% of respondents

WeChat Payment Vs. Conventional Payment:
Strong Willingness to Use WeChat Payment
46.4%
37.3%
16.3%
Note: sample size: 31349, excluding WeChat users with no offline payment experience.
 53.6% of customers indicates they would
consider paying with WeChat when given the
option.
Which payment method do you prefer: WeChat
payment or cash/credit card?
% of respondents
Prefer to use WeChat Payment
Either way
More likely to use cash/credit card
PreferCashPreferWeChatPayment

WeChat + Payment summary
1.
WeChat payment penetration has rapidly
increased due to popularity of red envelope
and growth of mobile payment
2.
The amount of spending using WeChat has
increased rapidly, and spending has been
expanded to in-store experiences
3.
The mobile payment trend is likely to move
from social purpose (red envelopes) to
financial and e-commerce transactions
4.
The key for expanding WeChat payment’s
market share is through offline and banking
systems

WECHAT
+
MEDIA
05
 Following news and information is the No. 1
reason users follow an official account
 Social media is the second largest channel to
read news
 Top three reasons users share a news article
are: valuable, interesting, and emotional
attachment

More users read news on social media
than TV & Newspaper combined
Through which channel do you read news?
% of respondents
1.5%
8.0%
20.6%
40.4%
55.4%
Newspaper
TV
News websites
Social media
Mobile Apps
Note: sample size 40443, excluding non-WeChat users. Source: Tencent Penguin
Intelligence
(WeChat,
Weibo, etc.)
 In another phone interview “The Top Main
Channel for Acquiring News and Information”,
WeChat is the number one source for reading
news.

The key to increase article re-share is:
valuable & interesting
 Valuable, interesting and emotionally touching
content trigger the most sharing on WeChat
Moments
What kind of articles will you share on WeChat?
% of respondents
8.5%
5.9%
7.3%
17.7%
20.0%
38.6%
39.2%
48.8%
Don't re-share
Other
Incentive & rewards
Niche content
Trendy topic
Emotionally touching
Interesting
Valuable
Note: sample size 40443, excluding non-WeChat users. Source: WeChat Economics Social
Influence Analytical Report; Tencent Penguin Intelligence and China Academy of Information
and Communications Technology (CAICT)

Official Accounts become a main channel
for acquiring information & news
 News and promotions are the two main
reasons why people follow WeChat accounts
Main Purposes for Users to Follow a WeChat Public
Account
% of respondents
74.2%
41.9%
30.9%
24.6%
19.3%
11.9%
5.5%
0.7%
Source: WeChat Economics Social Influence Analytical Report; Tencent Penguin Intelligence
and China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT); Industry and
Planning Institute
Acquire information & news
Follow a business and receive promotion information
Access services provided by Official Accounts
Read about politics
Business consulting
Don‘t follow any
Government & public service
Other

WeChat + Media summary
1.
WeChat becomes the main channel for news
reporting
2.
Most people read news through mobile phone,
instead of traditional channels like TV and
newspaper
3.
WeChat ecosystem restructured and
decentralized the media industry
4.
The focus and format of news reporting is
greatly influenced by social networking

WECHAT
+
LIFE SERVICE
05
 Over 60% of the WeChat users have used
WeChat life service, mostly for paying for
telephone bills
 15% of users have donated through WeChat
Charity.

Over 60% of the WeChat users have used
WeChat life service
47.1%
20.9%
17.4%
14.1%
10.6%
6.5%
37.8%
Phone Bills
Movies Tickets
Entertainment
Paying Bills
QQ Money
Lottery
Never Used
Types of WeChat Life Service being used
Source: WeChat Economics Social Influence Analytical Report; Tencent Penguin Intelligence and
China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT)
 Most users use WeChat Life Service to pay
for phone bills. The scope of service are also
expanding to entertainment and buying movie
tickets.
& food

Sports, Charity, and other services are
booming
4.9%
5.4%
6.1%
15.0%
15.3%
19.7%
Official Acct service
WeChat Finance
WeChat Read
WeChat Charity
WeChat Sports
WeChat Coupon
Have you used the following WeChat features?
and China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT)
 WeChat is also expanding in other areas
including coupons, charities, and sports

Survey indicates WeChat Sports could
incentivize users to work out more
10.7%
11.3%
23.2%
26.2%
39.9%
62.5%
Convenient method to get exercise data
Effects of using WeChat Sport
No effect
Increase interactions with friends
Increase exercise frequency
Care more about their health
Make more sports-lover friends
 62.5% of the WeChat Sports users think the
biggest advantage is that it shows the result of
their daily exercise.
 In addition, because WeChat Sports enables
the ranking feature, 39.9% of the users claim
that it helped them increase interactions with
their friends; 23.2% of the users focus more on
sports health.

WeChat Read: make use of
fragmented moments of free time
49.3%
41.8%
35.8%
10.4% 9.0%
Make good
use of small
pieces of time
Content used
for WeChat
Moment
Increase
reading
Others No effect
Feedbacks from WeChat Read Users
(not include non-users)
Source: WeChat Economics Social Influence Analytical Report; Tencent Penguin
Intelligence and China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT)
 49.3% of the WeChat Read users think that
WeChat Read helps them use fragmented time
more efficiently
 41.8% of them use content from WeChat Read
to post on WeChat Moments
 35.8% of the users read more frequently

WeChat + Life Service summary
1.
WeChat has moved from a social platform to
providing more value added service that affects
users’ life
2.
The more internet-based that an offline industry is,
the more effectively WeChat works for this industry
in terms of attracting users.
3.
Living in a fast-paced life, people need services like
WeChat Read and WeChat Sports to help them use
fragmented time more efficiently.
4.
Comparing to other industries which are relatively
mature, Financial Services + WeChat can work
together to make a brighter future.

WECHAT
+
CORPORATE
06
 72% of Official Account is registered through a
business entity
 20% of Official Accounts are Service Account
 Traditional manufacturing industry is with the
No. 1 entity to register WeChat Official Account
 Significant increase in the investments for
Official Account

72% of Official Account are registered
through a business entity
27.30%
72.70%
Culture/Media/Entertainment 27.8%
Service 20.6%
IT/Communication/Internet 17.2%
Commerce 10.1%
Industry of registered entity
Business
Personal
Types of WeChat Official Accounts

Official Account operators are investing
more into account operation
29%
19%
3% 2%
35%
21%
5%
3%
<10K 10-100K 100-500K >500K
Investment amount for WeChat Official Accounts
2015 2016
Source: WeChat Economics Social Influence Analytical Report; Tencent Penguin
Intelligence and China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT)
 Over 64% of the operators invested in their
own public accounts; the number was 53%
last year
 In the meantime, the funds invested in each
section all increased comparing to last year

Official Accounts are used for: information
sharing, campaigns & customer service
9.8%
11.9%
12.2%
12.4%
17.1%
18.2%
21.0%
45.8%
64.1%
84.7%
Others
Recruitment
BigData Analytics
After-sales
Client Management
Ecommerce Platform
Consulting Service
Client Interaction
Marketing Campaign
Information Release
Main uses of WeChat Public Accounts
 84.7% of the operators use public accounts for
information release. Marketing Campaign and
Client Interaction are also important
 As Official Account’s feature evolves, operators
are finding more creative ways to use it

Enterprise account: traditional
manufacturing ranks #1
3.5%
8.4%
8.7%
9.3%
9.9%
11.2%
12.9%
16.9%
19.2%
Culture,Media&Entertainment
Other
Trade/Architecture
Real Estate
Finance
Government/Non-profit
Service
IT & Communication
Manufacturing
Industry distribution of Enterprise Account
 Traditional manufacturing industry is the No. 1
industry to use WeChat Enterprise Account
 Only 3.5% of companies in the entertainment
industry use Enterprise Account, they prefer to
use Official Account

Enterprise account users report internal
efficiency enhancement
16.3%
22.8%
34.4%
35.6%
38.2%
46.5%
69.7%
Others
Enhancement of Service Efficiency
Enhancement of Corporation Efficiency
Simplify Business Process
Lower Communication Cost
System Management/Improvement of IT
Technology
Increase internal management efficiency
Main Usage and influence of WeChat Enterprise Accounts
 70% Enterprise Account users use it to
increase efficiency for internal management
 Enterprise accounts play an important role for
internal communication, operations, services,
management, and cooperation.

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