Virtual red envelope trend grows

[photo: from dfic.cn]

More domestic internet titans have joined the trend of sending digital red envelopes, or cash gifts, ahead of this year's Chinese lunar new year season, which begins on Friday. Handing out the free cash can attract users to online platforms and thus boost network flow to related products.

Alibaba Group's online shopping platform Taobao said it will hand out red envelopes and prizes worth more than 600 million yuan ($94.8 million) as part of its sponsorship of the annual Spring Festival Gala, which is to air on Thursday night.

Alipay, Alibaba's third-party payment tool, unveiled on February 5 its Happiness Cards collection challenge, offering users a lucky draw worth 500 million yuan. It is the third year that Alipay has launched this activity and more than 140 million users had already completed the collection as of 8 pm on Tuesday.

Tencent Holding's QQ platform said that users can get red envelopes by reviewing their movements during the holidays.

More companies, such as Suning Holdings Group, toutiao.com and Amap have also joined the trend and are promoting various red envelope offerings this year.

Chinese internet firms have adopted this custom in recent years to draw users to their online payment platforms, Lu Zhenwang, an independent e-commerce analyst, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

Tencent was the first company to launch the red envelope promotion ahead of Spring Festival in 2014, with Alibaba's Alipay launching a similar one in 2015.

[The audio clip is from Studio+, produced by CRI] 

(News source: Global Times)