Xicheng E-commerce (ID: xcds--)

Editor | Xiaoxijun

Tencent and Alibaba will "hand in hand" "Cooperation is on the hot list again.

Previously, there was news that Alibaba will introduce Tencent’s WeChat payment to Taobao and Tmall, and Tencent will allow Alibaba’s e-commerce information to be shared on WeChat (or allow users to use some of it through WeChat mini programs) Limited Alibaba services), both parties are making plans to relax restrictions.

As soon as this news was released, it immediately exploded on the Internet. However, Tencent and Alibaba are currently silent on the matter, neither confirming nor denying it.

Recently, a set of screenshots have increased the credibility of this rumor. Ifeng.com Technology reported that a user on the Maimai platform who was certified as a NetEase Cloud Music project manager said that an Alibaba insider he knew confirmed to him that Taobao 88VIP will be connected to QQ Music in September, further increasing the connection.

Judging from the internal PPT he released, Taobao 88VIP has added a "one-on-one exclusive butler" service this month, and will also provide "privacy protection", "fast refunds", "QQ Music Membership", "Mango TV Membership" and other services.

If the news is true, it means that 88VIP members have access to NetEase Cloud Music and QQ Music at the same time, and it also means that Alibaba and Tencent are joining hands. A new milestone in cooperation.

01

Why did QQ Music enter 88VIP

Alibaba launched 88VIP on August 8, 2018, priced at 88 yuan/year , once users become 88VIP members, they can enjoy shopping discounts and membership rights for Alibaba’s Internet products such as Ele.me and Youku.

In August last year, NetEase Cloud Music reached a cooperation with Alibaba 88VIP, and its vinyl VIP annual card rights were added to Alibaba 88VIP’s annual ecological rights package. In other words, 88VIP users You can "choose one" between Xiami Music and NetEase Cloud Music at that time. With the closure of Xiami Music, original Xiami Music users were allowed to switch to NetEase Cloud Music.

The addition of the rights of QQ Music members to 88VIP this time is, to put it bluntly, a manifestation of Alibaba’s music business’ “willingness to be at a disadvantage”.

Back then, the market share that originally belonged to Alibaba’s music department was taken by competitors such as QQ Music and NetEase Cloud Music. Nowadays, one can only turn the opponent's advantages into one's own competitiveness.

If 88VIP really provides QQ Music membership annual card, it means that the 88VIP ecosystem will cover both NetEase Cloud and QQ Music, the two major competitors, which can significantly increase the gold content of Taobao 88VIP.

For Tencent, letting QQ Music enter 88VIP is actually a win-win deal.

In the short term, allowing the rights and interests of 88 members to cover QQ Music will have a certain impact on QQ Music’s membership business. After all, compared with the annual fee of 188 yuan, the 88VIP of 88 yuan is obviously More cost effective.

But from a long-term perspective, 88VIP can bring more active users to QQ Music. More active users mean that QQ Music can go further in value-added services other than membership fees. , digital album sales that require additional payment are one of QQ Music's "long-term returns."

02

There are early signs of Tencent-Alibaba interoperability

In fact, the relationship between Alibaba and Tencent There are early signs of further establishing cooperative and interoperable relations. On February 17 this year, Taobao briefly launched a WeChat mini program in the Taobao Special Edition. At that time, people familiar with the matter also revealed that Taobao may support WeChat payment in the future.

Although neither party has issued a positive response to this matter, Alibaba CEO Zhang Yong has publicly admitted for the first time recently that he will work with other platforms to face the future and meet each other halfway in accordance with government requirements.

For Alibaba to introduce WeChat payment, it is a rare opportunity for Tencent. Although WeChat has long occupied a dominant position in the domestic Internet, in terms of e-commerce and online payment, the current WeChat or Tencent system cannot compete with the Alibaba system, which started as an e-commerce company.

Under this premise, WeChat and Taobao have opened up relevant restrictions to each other, which is a rare victory for both parties.

If WeChat Pay is connected to Taobao, it means that the WeChat Pay system can be separated from the WeChat ecosystem and appear independently on other platforms in the form of payment tools. This will have a significant impact on WeChat Pay’s overseas layout. appears particularly important. If Alibaba’s e-commerce links can be freely distributed on the WeChat platform, this will also completely change the e-commerce landscape in the domestic sinking market.

But it is also important to note that if external links are distributed within the WeChat ecosystem, it will inevitably affect the existing WeChat public account system and also weaken Tencent’s e-commerce presence. The right to speak in the business field.

Considering that WeChat will become Tencent’s future entrance, the form of cooperation between WeChat and Taobao is likely to remain to be discussed.

03

Concerns about Internet giants

If the two giants join hands, there will be some worries place.

Both Tencent and Alibaba are already absolute giants in their respective fields. Seeing that the two companies are establishing a cooperative relationship in their respective core businesses, they will form an absolute giant in the future. After the cooperation, the moat of the two giants has become higher, and the new Internet pattern born thereby is more difficult to break.

This means that for these big data, there must be a management measure that reassures the public. Regarding this issue, it is impossible to convince the public just by relying on business consciousness, conscience, or public ethics. Credible third-party supervision is needed to ensure data security and usage regulations.

In fact, under the requirements and supervision of relevant departments, opening up is the only way for Internet companies to go in the future. For Internet giants like Tencent and Alibaba, opening up has never been a particularly difficult thing.

How to maintain one's market share while opening up, or obtain more benefits from the open Internet environment. This is the fundamental reason why major Internet companies hesitate on the road to openness.

Despite this, from the perspective of users, we always hope that Internet brands can accelerate their own opening process, which will not only bring more benefits to the brand A large market can also bring a better experience to users.

On the other hand, when a company becomes too large, a third hand is needed to restrain the unrestricted expansion of the Matthew Effect. Otherwise, oligopoly control of the industry will do more harm than good to the healthy development of the market and the protection of consumer rights.