Over 10 million brands and merchants in China joined Alipay’s signature annual Five Fortune Card Collection campaign for the 2023 Chinese New Year, ramping up digital efforts to attract and engage mobile-savvy consumers, as Chinese consumers gear up for the most important festival of the year.

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A user trying to collect a fortune card by scanning the Chinese character “fu” with AR scan feature in Alipay app (Photo: Business Wire)

This year’s campaign, from January 10, 2023 to January 21, attracted more than 30,000 blue chip and emerging international and domestic brands and over 10 million small and micro business participants seeking to enhance their interaction with Chinese consumers in anticipation of the Spring Festival. This represented a nearly 30 times increase in the number of brands that participated in the campaign last year.

“As an open platform, Alipay is committed to opening up products and technologies to facilitate merchants’ digital transformation. We have also introduced Five Fortune Card IP-related resources to our partners,” said Yongming He, General Manager of the Alipay Ecosystem Development Business Unit and Vice President of Ant Group. “We are glad to see a growing number of brands and merchants participating in the Alipay Five Fortune Card Collection campaign to enhance engagement with users and improve operational efficiency by leveraging digital tools, including mini program and livestreaming, on the Alipay platform.”

Initially launched in 2015, Alipay's Five Fortune Card Collection campaign is an annual event before the Chinese New Year. Users collect digital fortune cards by using the Alipay app's AR scan feature and participating in merchant campaigns, among various ways to win a fortune card. These cards represent good wishes and can be converted into monetary rewards.

This year, for the first time, users can receive a limited-edition digital collectible featuring Chinese intangible cultural heritage, including shadow puppetry, paper-cut and copper sculpture, after successfully obtaining five fortune cards in the campaign.

Users can win a fortune card when they scan the red envelope QR code each time at the outlets of the 10 million participating merchants. They may also obtain cards by logging into Alipay mini programs or by watching livestreams of more than 30,000 participating brands on Alipay. Through these livestreams, brands distributed fortune cards to participants, introduced their products and services, and gave out preferential benefits to build connections with mobile-savvy Chinese consumers.

Merchants and brands have seen significant digital engagement through their participation in the Alipay campaign, with millions of views from livestreaming. On January 11, No. 1 Job Club, a job search service provider, saw 20 million visits to their livestreaming on Alipay platform. On the same day, Yunchongbao, a pet service provider, witnessed 50 million visits to their Alipay livestream. And on January 15, the NBA attracted over 12 million visits to their Alipay livestream which was moderated by several local basketball influencers. These numbers demonstrate the success of the campaign in attracting digital participation from merchants and brands, as reflected in the large livestream audience engagement on the Alipay platform.

Pop-Mart, a culture and entertainment company that is best known for art and collectible toys who introduced the idea of "blind box”, attracted three million visits to their Alipay mini-program six days into the campaign, with its transaction volume through the Alipay platform increasing 300% compared with that of last month.

About Alipay

In the evolving digital era, Alipay has transformed from a trusted payment tool to an open platform for businesses, institutions, service providers, and other partners. Business partners in various industries utilize Alipay to offer consumers a safe and convenient payment experience. Through digital operations on the Alipay platform, business partners can communicate and provide various commercial and daily life digital services for their clients via Alipay mini programs, lifestyle accounts, and IoT, along with other tools available. Currently, there have been over 80 million businesses serving more than one billion consumers via Alipay’s open platform services.

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