AliPay partners with Walgreens to serve Chinese customers in US

Chinese mobile payment app Alipay is now available at 3,000 Walgreen outlets across the USA, as the drugstore hopes to improve customer experience for its Chinese consumers.

4,000 more stores will be added to the initiative by April. Walgreens is the latest US vendor to accept payments through the Chinese mobile wallet in physical stores, following the likes of Guess and San Francisco’s Pier 39 outlets.

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Richard Ashworth, President of Operations at Walgreens, said: “Walgreens is focused on making shopping more convenient for our customers. This collaboration has particular significance for our Chinese customer population, who now has a new way to experience Walgreens.”

Customers were already able to access Walgreens products on Alibaba’s Tmall platform, and can now use the company’s finance arm’s mobile app to pay instore.

Yulei Wang, General Manager, Alipay North America, stated: “This is a key strategic partnership for achieving awareness in the US, as Walgreens is one of the country’s largest drugstore chains.”

Yulei added that Alipay is “constantly evolving to provide more Chinese consumers a seamless and familiar way to pay”.