Page 278 - The Digital Financial Services (DFS) Ecosystem

ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services
Ecosystem

Figure 14 – Facilitating commerce with physical merchants

For example, social networks enable location-based advertising that encourages users to visit nearby merchants
as shown in the following screenshot:

Figure 15 – Location based advertising example

Social networks can help users find restaurants and make reservations, as described in this WeChat case study.

"The Mei Wei Bu Yong Deng official account lets users search through a directory of restaurants nearby, see
how many people are currently waiting in line for a table at those restaurants, and even grab a number to wait
in line without being physically present at the restaurant." 15

Social networks can also facilitate payment with physical merchants.

"With the 7-Eleven official account, users can pay at 7-Eleven and Family Mart physical stores through a breezy,
easy payment process where the cashier uses a standard handheld barcode scanner to get the customer’s Quick
Pay barcode at the point of sale. 7-Eleven can then also target users with custom promotions at an optimal
frequency that doesn’t flood them with unwanted marketing." 16
• Internet of things (IoT): The ‘physical world’ goes beyond traditional merchants. Social networks can be
the integration path with IoT devices.

15 Chan, Connie. When One App Rules Them All: The Case of WeChat and Mobile in China. Andreessen Horowitz blog. August 6,
2015. http:// a16z. com/ 2015/ 08/ 06/ wechat- china- mobile- first/ (accessed May, 2016).
16 Ibid.

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