TOKYO -- Yahoo Japan plans from June to use Chinese online settlement company Alipay as another payment option for customers purchasing products through its Yahoo Shopping e-commerce site.
To make a purchase on Yahoo Shopping from China, a buyer must use the Tenso.com brokerage service. Tenso.com ships products bought on the e-commerce site once buyers have completed purchase procedures on the broker's site.
Until now, payment options were limited to credit cards and U.S. electronic payment service PayPal. By adding Alipay, which is widely used in China, Yahoo hopes to expand sales through Yahoo Shopping by making it easier for Chinese consumers to buy merchandise.
Many products bought on Yahoo Japan Auction are shipped to China via a broker as well. Chinese demand for Japanese products, especially electronics, remains strong.
Alipay is a unit of Alibaba Group, which has an 80% share of the Chinese e-commerce market. By providing a service that makes payment after confirming receipt of a product, it has been one of the players driving rapid growth in China's e-commerce market.
(Nikkei)
