2017 WeChat User Behavior Report

2017 WECHAT USER BEHAVIOR REPORT

TENCENT PENGUIN INTELLIGENCE

CONSUMER SURVEY PLATFORM

TRANSLATION: CHINA TECH INSIGHTS TEAM

KEY STATISTICS FOR WECHAT

898 MILLION USERS

MONTH ACTIVE USERS Q4 2016

10 MILLION OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS*

*LAST OFFICIAL NUMBER (REAL NUMBER ALMOST CERTAINLY MUCH MORE)

200,000 WECHAT DEVELOPERS

CHINACHANNEL.CO

DATA: TENCENT PENGUIN

INTELLIGENCE SURVEY PLATFORM

Data Source: Tencent

CHINACHANNEL.CO

194

236

272

355

396

438

468

500

549

600

650

697

762

806

846

889

825819 816 808

848829

820 815832

843860 853

877

899

877

868

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

WECHAT VS. QQ MONTHLY ACTIVE USERS

WECHAT

SURPASSED QQ

USERS FOR

1ST TIME EVER

IN Q4 OF 2016!

WECHAT USER HABITS

MORE CONTACTS / MORE WORK

CHINACHANNEL.CO

WECHAT USER AGE DISTRIBUTION

DATA: CHINA ACADEMY OF INFORMATION

AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

(CAICT) STUDY 2016CHINACHANNEL.CO

2016

2015

2014

18-25 26-35 36-50 51-60 ABOVE 60BELOW 18

60%

40%

20%

0%

WECHAT USAGE TAKES OFF ONCE USERS

ENTER THE WORKFORCE. IT'S NOT AN APP

THAT'S HEAVILY USED BY TEENS. THIS

TREND IS INCREASING. TEENS PREFER TO

USE QQ, MOMO OR THE MYRIAD OF LIVE-

STREAM AND SHORT VIDEO APPS

AVAILABLE IN THE CHINESE MARKET.

WECHAT IS CONTINUING TO MAKE GAINS

INTO THE MIDDLE AGE AND SENIOR AGE

GROUPS. GROUPS IN GENERAL THAT WE

CAN EXPECT TO HAVE HIGHER AVERAGE

DISPOSABLE INCOME AND ARE MORE

DIFFICULT TO REACH ONLINE.

AVERAGE NUMBER OF WECHAT

CONTACTS PER USER

DATA: CHINA ACADEMY OF INFORMATION AND

COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY (CAICT) STUDY 2016CHINACHANNEL.CO

2016

2015

2014

194

128

82

150 IS THE DUNBAR NUMBER.

THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF

INDIVIDUALS WITH WHOM

HUMANS CAN MAINTAIN

STABLE RELATIONSHIPS.

NUMBER OF WECHAT CONTACTS


COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY CHINACHANNEL.CO

2014

37.30%

22.50%

37.00%

12.20%

21.3%

23.6%

27.1%27.7%

9.4%

17.5%

28.0%

44.4%

1~50 51~100 101~200 200+

2015

2016

CLEAR FALLING

TREND

CLEAR RISING

TREND

NUMBER OF NEW CONTACTS ADDED EVERY MONTH



TOTAL

46 + YEARS OLD

4.9%3.5%

13.8%

46.5%

31.4%

3.8%

1.2%

8.0%

43.8% 43.2%

ABOVE 20 11~20 5~10 BELOW 5 NONE

OVER 3 QUARTERS OF WECHAT USERS

ADD 5 OR LESS CONTACTS PER MONTH

NEW WECHAT CONTACTS



3.75%

6.04%

7.38%

20.97%

57.22%

OTHERS

SERVICE PROVIDERS (E.G. REALTORS)

STRANGERS (E.G. ONLINE GAMING PALS)

FRIENDS & FAMILY

WORK-RELATED

BY FAR THE MOST NEW

CONTACTS ARE NOW

WORK RELATED

TIME SPENT IN WECHAT 2015 VS. 2016

2016 AVERAGE 66 MINS PER DAY

DATA: QUEST MOBILE (DEC 2016)CHINACHANNEL.CO

6.5%

13.9%

22.4%

20.9%

14.4%

16.3%

3.4%

7.5%

14.2%

21.0%

18.1%

33.9%

< 10 MIN 10~30 MIN 30 MIN~1 HOUR 1-2 HOURS 2-4 HOURS 4 HOURS+

2015 2016 4HRS+ MORE

THAN DOUBLED

USERS ARE

SPENDING

MORE &

MORE TIME

IN WECHAT

MOMENTS PREFERENCES


INTELLIGENCE SURVEY PLATFORMCHINACHANNEL.CO

WHAT CONTENT DO SHARE ON MOMENTS?

WHAT CONTENT DO YOU PREFER TO SEE ON MOMENTS?

62.7%

33.8% 33.0% 32.8%

16.6%16.2%

66.8%

39.0%

23.6%

41.6%

24.5%

14.7%

PERSONAL LIFE

RECORDS

CONTENT SHARINGS

OF INTEREST

WORK-RELATED

CONTENT

EXPRESSION OF

PERSONAL OPINIONS

TRENDING NEWS PRODUCTS OR

BRANDS DISPLAY

USERS PREFER TO SEE

AND SHARE THEIR LIVES

USERS DON’T LIKE ADS

WORK RELATED ACTIONS

COMPLETED THROUGH WECHAT

CHINACHANNEL.CO

51.8%



17.6%

4.7%

10.9%

13.7%

33.1%

38.5%

49.5%

I DON'T WORK ON WECHAT

GO THROUGH APPROVAL PROCESS

DO MARKETING & USER MANAGEMENT

HAVE MEETINGS & CON-CALLS

TRANSFER FILES

MAKE TRANSACTIONS

MAKE NOTIFICATIONS

COORDINATE & ARRANGE TASKS

83% USE WECHAT FOR WORK!

INDIVIDUAL PROPRIETORS USING WECHAT

CHINACHANNEL.CO

70.8%

10.2%

2.5%

10.9%

14.8%

32.4%

37.7%

I DON'T WORK ON WECHAT

APPROVAL PROCESSES

MARKETING

MEETINGS & CON-CALLS

TRANSFER FILES

MAKE NOTIFICATIONS

ARRANGE TASKS

MAKE TRANSACTIONS



WECHAT PAY VERY

POPULAR WITH

SMALL BUSINESSES

45.7%

COMMUNICATION TOOLS USED FOR DAILY WORK

WECHAT IS NUMBER 1

CHINACHANNEL.CO



87.7%

59.5%

39.5%

22.6%

9.7%

WECHAT PHONES, TEXT

MESSAGES & FAX

QQ E-MAIL OTHER INTERNAL IM

FOR COMPANY

BIG DIFFERENCE

IN EMAIL USE

BETWEEN TIER 1

& TIER 3 CITIES

TOTAL

1ST

TIER CITIES

3RD

TIER CITIES AND BELOW

WECHAT POPULAR

FROM TIER 1 DOWN

TO LOWER TIERS

37.3%

9.2%

17.7%

32.4%

34.2%

42.6%

PASSIVELY INVITED TO GROUPS

ENTERTAINMENT-ORIENTED (E.G. FAN GROUPS)

INFO SHARING (E.G. ONLINE COURSES)

LEISURE AND LIFE (E.G. SCHOOL COLLEAGUES)

PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING

CORPORATE INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS

REASONS TO JOIN A GROUP CHAT OF 100+ PEOPLE

TOP 2 REASONS ARE WORK RELATED

CHINACHANNEL.CO



HOW IS WECHAT HELPFUL FOR WORK?

CHINACHANNEL.CO



20.8%

33.1%

34.5%

39.7%

80.9%

MAKES IT EASIER TO GET HIGH QUALITY

INFORMATION

MAKES IT EASIER TO MANAGE PERSONAL

NETWORKS

PROVIDES A CONVENIENT MOBILE OFFICE

TOOL

MAKES SOCIAL PROMOTION EASIER

OFFERS A USEFUL COMMUNICATION TOOL

WECHAT PAY:

THE TRANSITION TO A

CASHLESS SOCIETY

CHINACHANNEL.CO

PRIMARY PAYMENT METHODS

FOR OFFLINE PURCHASES

CHINACHANNEL.CO

94.1%

38.6%

29.0%

13.0%

93.6%

41.3%

30.9%

11.4%

89.4%

49.5%

33.0%

9.6%

87.6%

51.3%

35.7%

9.8%

MOBILE PAYMENT APPS (E.G.

WECHAT PAY)

CASH DEBIT & CREDIT CARDS SMARTPHONE BUILT-IN

PAYMENT TOOL (E.G. APPLE

PAY)



1ST

TIER CITIES (BEIJING, SHANGHAI)

2ND

TIER CITIES

3RD

TIER CITIES

4TH

TIER CITIES & BELOW

APPLE PAY CLEARLY

STRUGGLING

93% ADOPTION

RATE ACROSS

TIER 1&2!

30.8%

19.5%

13.6% 13.1%

8.0%7.3%

6.3%

4.4%

16.9%

24.6%

18.9%

15.9%

6.1%

10.5%

50 RMB OR LESS 50~200 RMB 200~500 RMB 500~1K RMB 1K~3K RMB 3K~5K RMB ABOVE RMB 5K

AMOUNTS SPENT MONTHLY

THROUGH WECHAT PAY

CHINACHANNEL.CO

2015

2016HUGE DROP

IN LIGHT USE


COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

SOLID GAINS IN MID

RANGE AMOUNTS

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

BELOW 500 500 - 1000 1000 - 5000 ABOVE 5000

Chart Title

BELOW 500 500 - 1000 1000 - 5000 ABOVE 5000

Chart TitleAMOUNTS SPENT MONTHLY

THROUGH WECHAT PAY

CHINACHANNEL.CO

2015

2016BIG DROP IN

LIGHT USE



SOLID GAINS IN MID

& HIGH USAGE

REASONS FOR USING MOBILE PAYMENTS

FOR OFFLINE TRANSACTIONS

CHINACHANNEL.CO

58.4%

2.9%

5.3%

15.8%

17.3%

23.4%

44.5%

OTHER

I CAN ACCUMULATE LOYALTY POINTS

DEPENDS ON THE TRANSACTION SIZE

I CAN ENJOY DISCOUNTS

THERE'S NO EXTRA FEES

I DON'T BRING CASH WITH ME

IT'S EASY

IT'S FAST



NEARLY HALF OF

USERS CLAIMED THEY

DO NOT CARRY CASH

WITH THEM!

55.2%

SITUATIONS FOR WECHAT PAY USE



2.8%

4.2%

4.3%

8.0%

13.2%

14.2%

20.0%

21.6%

26.0%

28.9%

HOSPITALS

BEAUTY & FITNESS SALONS

PUBLIC DEPARTMENTS

ENTERTAINMENT & LEISURE

TRANSPORTATION & TRAVEL

UTILITIES FEES

MALLS

RESTAURANTS & FOOD

ONLINE SHOPPING

SUPERMARKETS & CONVENIENCE STORES

MINI PROGRAMS

A NEW ERA FOR WECHAT

CHINACHANNEL.CO

NB: WECHAT TEAM HAVE MADE

VERY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES

TO MINI PROGRAMS SINCE THIS

DATA WAS COLLECTED. THESE

STATISTICS MAY BE

UNREFLECTIVE OF THE

CURRENT SITUATION.

MINI PROGRAM USE

CHINACHANNEL.CO

46.70%

20.4%

32.8%

I'VE HEARD OF THEM BUT NEVER

USED ONE

I'VE USED MINI PROGRAMS

I'VE NEVER HEARD OF MINI

PROGRAMS



REASONS TO USE MINI PROGRAMS

CHINACHANNEL.CO

12.15%

12.96%

21.81%

31.72%

51.86%

USE IT OUT OF HABIT (E.G. CALENDARS,

BOOKKEEPING)

RECOMMENDED BY OFFLINE MERCHANTS OR

STORES

USE MINI PROGRAMS TO REPLACE APPS FOR

LACK OF STORAGE

USE IT OUT OF CURIOSITY WHEN OTHERS

ARE USING IT

SEARCH UNDER MINI PROGRAMS IN WECHAT

FOR CERTAIN FUNCTIONS



REASONS FOR NOT USING MINI PROGRAMS

CHINACHANNEL.CO

9.87%

10.60%

18.40%

24.27%

24.51%

57.73%

WORRIED ABOUT TOO MUCH DATA CONSUMPTION ON

SMARTPHONES

BAD USER EXPERIENCE

THEY DON'T HAVE FUNCTIONS I NEED

MORE USED TO USING A TRADITIONAL APP

HARD TO GET ACCESS TO IT

NOT CLEAR ABOUT WHAT MINI PROGRAMS CAN DO



FAMILIARITY WITH

THE NEW FEATURE

NEEDS TO BE BUILT

OVER TIME

OCCASIONS FOR USE OF WECHAT CARD & OFFERS

CHINACHANNEL.CO

18.1%

20.6%

23.8%

41.3%

42.5%

TO USE E-CARD TO REPLACE

PHYSICAL CARDS

I'M NOT SURE HOW IT WORKED

WHEN I USED IT

TO GET A DIGITAL COUPON FROM

FRIENDS

TO CLAIM A DIGITAL MEMBER CARD

OR COUPON

TO GET AN E-MEMBERSHIP CARD

WHEN SHOPPING OFFLINE



WECHAT

MCDONALDS

COUPON OFFER

PAYING FOR CONTENT

CHINA’S NEW TREND

CHINACHANNEL.CO

NB: THIS SECTION MAKES

REFERENCE TO THE WECHAT TIPPING

FEATURE WHICH WAS BLOCKED BY

APPLE ON IOS DEVICES JUST A FEW

DAYS PREVIOUSLY

43.1%

20.0%

15.8%

9.1%

4.8%

3.0%

4.1%

WILLINGNESS TO PAY FOR CONTENT AND

INFORMATION ON WECHAT (MONTHLY)

CHINACHANNEL.CO

51-100 RMBNOT WILLING

TO PAY


INTELLIGENCE SURVEY

PLATFORM

10-50 RMB

101-200 RMB

200 – 500 RMB

500+ RMB

LESS THAN 10 RMB

57% OF USERS

WILLING TO PAY

FOR CONTENT &

INFORMATION!

PREFERED METHOD OF PAYING

FOR CONTENT ON WECHAT

CHINACHANNEL.CO

HOUSEHOLD INCOME LESS THAN 10K RMB

OVERALL

HOUSEHOLD INCOME MORE THAN 20K RMB

32.8%

28.3%

21.5%

11.4%

35.1%

28.6%

22.0%

12.0%

40.9%

26.6%24.7%

11.8%

REWARD POST AFTER

READING

TIME BASED

SUBSCRIPTION

CUSTOMIZED PAID

CONTENT (E.G. PAID

Q&A)

CHARGE BY PIECE



WECHAT TIP JAR FEATURE



37%

34%

12%

6%

4%

8%

ONLY TIPPED ONCE OR TWICE

1-10 RMB

10-50 RMB

50-100 RMB

100 RMB+

OTHERS

10.7%

USERS WHO

HAVE TIPPED

AVERAGE MONTHLY TIPPING AMOUNT

TIPPING WAS RECENTLY BANNED BY APPLE ON IOS, STILL AVAILABLE ON ANDROID DEVICES

CONTENT THAT USERS

HAVE VOLUNTARILY TIPPED

CROSS PLATFORM (NOT JUST WECHAT)

CHINACHANNEL.CO

18%

14%

17.30%

20.50%

21.20%

27.30%

28.40%58.60%

OTHERS

KUAIBAO/TOUTIAO

WECHAT FREE STICKERS

VIDEOS

SONGS

ARTICLES ON WEIBO

ARTICLES ON ZHIHU COLUMNS

ARTICLES ON WECHAT OA



ISSUES THAT CONTENT PROVIDERS FACE

INCREASED COMPETITION NO.1 PROBLERM

CHINACHANNEL.CO

4.2%

26.3%

38.3%

47.6%

47.8%

75.5%

I HAVEN'T MET ANY OF THESE DIFFICULTIES

PV GROWTH IS LOWER THAN FOLLOWER GROWTH

STAGNANT FOLLWER GROWTH

CONTENT IS ALL SIMILAR

FOLLOWER ENGAGEMENT IS LOW

IT'S HARDER TO ACQUIRE TRAFFIC AND PV GROWTH



WECHAT OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS

CHINACHANNEL.CO

59.6%

29.4%

9.9%

1.1%

16.7%

5.5%1.8%

LESS THAN 10K 10K~100K 100K~1M OVER 1M

NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS ON


CHINACHANNEL.CO

2015

2016

THOSE WITH LOW NUMBER OF

FOLLOWERS SHOOTS UP REFLECTING

LARGE NUMBER OF NEW OFFICIAL

ACCOUNTS



76.1%

TYPES OF OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS

THAT USERS FOLLOW



36.1%

17.7%

14.0%

17.3%

41.1%

20.3%

9.9%

NEWS AND INFORMATION (NEWS, BLOGGERS)

BUSINESS (F&B, BRANDS, LEISURE)

PERSONAL SERVICE (BANKING, DELIVERY)

PUBLIC SERVICES (PUBLIC UTILITIES, TRANSPORT)

INTERESTS & HOBBIES (SPORT, BEAUTY)

OCCUPATIONAL RELATED (SUPPLIERS, EMPLOYERS)

OTHERS

REVENUE COMING FROM


CHINACHANNEL.CO



I DON'T SELL

PRODUCTS THROUGH

WECHAT OA

LESS THAN 10%

10%~30%

30%~50%

MORE THAN 50%

OTHER

19.7%

6.2%

1.8%

2.5%

30.1%

69.9%

NEARLY 1/3 OF WECHAT

OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS ARE

DOING SOME FORM OF

ECOMMERCE!

MATTHEW BRENNAN

CO-FOUNDER OF CHINA CHANNEL

MATTHEW IS A KEYNOTE SPEAKER AND TRAINING HOST ON THE TOPIC OF WECHAT. REGULARLY QUOTED IN

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA (FORBES, BLOOMBERG, THE FINANCIAL TIMES, BBC), HIS COMPANY ORGANIZES

CHINA’S LARGEST WECHAT MARKETING CONFERENCE SERIES FOR INTERNATIONAL COMPANIES. MATTHEW

WORKS PRIMARILY WITH INTERNATIONAL BUSINESSES TO HELP FORM AND IMPLEMENT THEIR WECHAT

PLATFORM STRATEGY. HE HOLDS 12+ YEARS ON THE GROUND ENTREPRENEURIAL EXPERIENCE IN

MAINLAND CHINA. HIS BOOK ‘BUILDING YOUR BUSINESS THROUGH WECHAT’ IS DUE FOR RELEASE LATER

THIS YEAR.

EMAIL: [email protected]

LINKEDIN: HTTPS://CN.LINKEDIN.COM/IN/MATTHEW-BRENNAN

THIS VERSION OF THE REPORT WAS PREPARED BY:

2017 WECHAT USER BEHAVIOR REPORT

TENCENT PENGUIN INTELLIGENCE

CONSUMER SURVEY PLATFORM

TRANSLATION: CHINA TECH INSIGHTS TEAM

Technology

2017 WeChat User Behavior Report