On the 9th of July 2018 ChinaTalk’s Ed Sander returned to the Martiniplaza theater in Groningen after having previously done a presentation about WeChat there in 2015. This time Ed picked up the story where he left of 2,5 years ago and explained to the audience of this China evening of the monthly SMC050 gathering how WeChat and Alipay have transformed China from a cash-based society to one where city dwellers prefer to pay everything by mobile phone. This in turn triggered another revolution in China where internet companies started cross-channel partnerships by investing in offline retail chains. This New Retail, as Alibaba calls it, comes in many forms and Ed showed the audience several examples, among which the unmanned Bingobox stores, Alibaba’s Hema fresh produce supermarkets and many forms of technology that is making shopping in China more fun and convenient. You can watch the video of Ed’s presentation below.
The evening also featured a speech by Rogier Creemers, in which he demystifies China’s social credit system, which is also well worth watching here. Click here for all pictures of the event.
Some reactions to the presentation:
“What an interesting and high-quality edition of SMC050! A full hall and very good stories.” – Jarno Duursma
“Absolutely recommended!” – Marco Derksen
“One of the @ SMC050’s that we will remember for a long time. Impressed by the knowledge and depth of the speakers.” – Ralph Venhoven
“Was top night about China. Heard a lot of news. Thanks!” – Aaltje Vincent
Video: Pro-Time
Pictures: Joost Nuijten: Innuendo Fotografie