Today, we’re announcing a partnership with Alipay, Asia's leading digital wallet platform, unlocking the power of cross-border commerce for Shopify’s merchants. The new payment gateway will allow Shopify merchants to seamlessly accept payments through Alipay from more than one billion annual active users in China alone — and, in the future, hundreds of millions more across Asia.
In the past, Shopify merchants have been able to offer Alipay as a payment method through third-party providers. Now, through the Alipay payment gateway, Shopify merchants will reduce friction for consumers looking to make purchases with their preferred payment method, creating even greater opportunity to tap into some of the world’s largest shopping seasons and holidays such as the upcoming Lunar New Year in February and, most notably, the 11.11 Global Festival, popularly known as Singles Day or Double 11.
Each year in November, Singles Day draws hundreds of millions of shoppers. According to Alibaba, this year’s event generated gross merchandise volume (GMV) of $74 billion over the course of the 11-day campaign. U.S-based businesses earned more than $5.4 billion in sales from Chinese consumers, making the U.S. the top international market during the festival.
“At Shopify, we believe in a world of borderless commerce and are focused on helping our merchants build thriving businesses—not just within their own markets, but on a truly international scale,” said Kaz Nejatian, VP, Product, Merchant Services at Shopify. “Reaching consumers across Asia is an enormous growth opportunity for our merchants, and Alipay has brought inclusive financial services to more than one billion people in China. Through today’s partnership, we’ll help our merchants provide the best possible shopping experiences for this new audience of cross-border consumers.”
The new Alipay payment gateway is available now to Shopify merchants in the U.S., with more markets to come in the future, including Hong Kong, India, South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
U.S. Shopify merchants can sign up here.