The new agreement will enable UK retailers to take advantage of the growing volume and buying power of Chinese visitors. In addition to the UK’s 393,000 Chinese residents and 95,000 Chinese students, tourists from China represent an important customer segment for UK retailers. VisitBritain is expecting 483,000 visits from China in 2019, up 43% on 2017, with Chinese visitors expected to spend more than GBP 1 billion in 2019. In addition, the number of Alipay users in the UK has doubled in 2018.

The agreement will enable UK retailers to accept in-store Alipay payments without replacing their existing point-of-sale system. Alipay users will be able to search for outlets near their location to find out details such as opening hours, directions, and discounts available.

According to a 2018 survey conducted by Nielsen, cited in the press release, 93% of Chinese tourists said they would likely spend more in a store that accepted mobile payments. In addition, among the merchants surveyed that had adopted Alipay, nearly 60% said that they had clearly seen growth in both foot traffic and revenue.