Mini Programs are offered by China’s huge online service providers, such as WeChat, Alipay and Meituan. They provide access to services or company’s pages without the need to transfer between apps.
Their convenience and direct access to services has meant that they have penetrated various industries in China. The expansion of Mini Programs has helped digitalise retail, manufacturing, and urban governance and has played an important roles in government affairs and people’s livelihoods.
There are currently over 440 million daily active users of China’s 5.5 million Mini Programs. According to iMedia Research, this figure is expected to rocket to over 14 million by the end of 2020, and transactions made through Mini Programs are expected to surpass 2 trillion RMB (about $287.8 billion).
China has witnessed a rapid digital transformation with just 580,000 mini programs existing in 2017.
Check out WeChat’s first international report for the role that Mini Programs play in the WeChat ecosystem.
