WeChat Impact Report

Inaugural Report on WeChat Platform Data
Translated presentation by Grata.co
Translated from “微信的 ‘影响力’: 首份微信平台数据化研究报告” (2015-01-27). All data courtesy Tencent Tech.
January 2015

In the four years since it’s birth as “Tencent App”
in January 2011, WeChat has grown from a simple
messaging “app” into a cultural phenomenon
changing social and economic behaviors in China in
profound ways.
While much has been written about WeChat
already, this report is meant to be a deep dive on
WeChat platform data to understand it’s current
state and what to expect in the future. Data for
this report relies on a June 2014 survey of users in
all thirty-one Chinese provinces and municipalities.
Official Accounts were surveyed separately and
data from that report is referenced here as well.
Presentation and translations by Grata.co Data courtesy Tencent Tech

Survey data pointed to the fact that the majority of
WeChat users are male.
Male
64.3%
Female
35.7%
WeChat male to female user ratio

As a group, WeChat users are quite young, with
a median age of twenty-six. Ninety-percent of
users are under thirty-six years old.
of WeChat users are between the age of
eighteen and thirty-six.
18-25y
45.4%
26-35y
40.8% 36-50y
9.5%
Under 18y
2.0%
51-60y
1.4%
Unknown
0.6%
Over 60y
0.3%

WeChat users mostly fall into four categories:
private enterprise, self-employed, student, and
public sector.
of WeChat users fall into four
occupation categories
Private
Enterprise
31.9%
Self-Employed
or Freelance
28.3%
Student
19.7%
Public Sector
10.6%
Specialized
Industry 4.1%
Military/Party
2.5%
Farming 1.1%
Unknown 1.0%
Retired or
Unemployed
0.5%
Other
0.3%

WeChat users are increasingly using mobile data
networks to access WeChat. More than 40% of
users are using more than 400M/month.
of WeChat users consume more than
100M/month of mobile data
>400M
43.2%
201-400M
23.3%
101-200M
13.9%
51-100M
8.9%
20-50M
4.8%
Unknown
3.9%
<20M
2.0%

WeChat has become an ever-present part of
many users lives, with one in four reporting they
open the app more than thirty times per day.
open WeChat more than
ten times per day
<5 times
17.4%
5-10 times
20.9%
10-20 times
17.0%
20-30 times
13.3%
30-40 times
5.9%
40-50 times
2.5%
>50 times
16.5%
<Daily
6.5%

WeChat has become a default social networking
tool for Chinese users. Almost half of all
WeChat users have more than 100 contacts.
of WeChat users have
more than fifty contacts.
<50
37.3%
50-99
22.5%
100-199
37.0%
>200
12.2%
*** There is an error in the original document’s chart: the percentages sum to 109%. From
the text, it appears the extra nine percent is in either the 100-199 segment or >200 segment.

of WeChat users report meeting new
friends through WeChat or re-establishing
contact with old friends
No increase
42.7%
+1-5%
14.9%
+6-10%
13.0%
>40%
11.8%
+11-20%
9.5%
+21-40%
8.1%

worth of mobile data was consumed by
Chinese WeChat users in the last year,
equivalent to 4.24% of all mobile data
consumed in China in 2013.
$13.8B
$945M $352M $64M
$0
$2,000
$4,000
$6,000
$8,000
$10,000
$12,000
$14,000
$16,000
Data Gaming Official
Accounts
Other
(Millions of US Dollars)
[Translator’s Note: it is unclear how “Data” in the chart is defined and differentiated from the other three segments.]

of WeChat users report increased mobile
data consumption because of WeChat
of those users reported an increase of
thirty-percent or more.
Unknown
13.0%
No Change
33.2%
Increased
54.0%
+10-20%
38.3%
+21-30%
21.4%
+31-50%
19.1%
+51-80%
11.3%
>80%
9.9%
Other
100.0%
Unknown
13%
No
Change
33% Increased
54%

WeChat users consume more content on
WeChat than any other app.
WeChat is bigger than weibo, shopping, video,
music, map, and email services combined.
WeChat
27.7%
Browser
26.9%
QQ
14.5%
Gaming
8.6%
Weibo
4.8%
Shopping
4.8%
Video
4.6% Music
2.8%
Maps
2.6%
Email
1.8%
Other
0.9%

Nearly half of WeChat users
have used WeChat stickers.
of WeChat users have
paid for stickers
56.5%
38.3%
5.2%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Never used Free user Paid user

According to estimates, WeChat
is a direct driver of US$1.76B in
lifestyle spending.
of entertainment spend is
estimated to be driven by WeChat
53.6%
20.0%
13.2% 11.3%
2.0%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%

of WeChat users who use the
taxi booking feature, spend on
average 100RMB (~US$16) or
more per month
50.3%
34.3%
8.3%
3.9%
2.8%
0.6%
Only use 1-2 times
100RMB (~US$16)
200RMB
>500RMB (~US$80)
300RMB
400RMB

of Official Accounts WeChat
users follow are Brand and
Media accounts.
29.1%
25.4%
20.7%
18.9%
2.8%
Unofficial Media Channels
Verified Media Channels
Don't Follow OAs
Brand Channels
Marketing Channels
Official Accounts have become the
most important WeChat service.
Almost eighty percent of WeChat
users follow Official Accounts.

follow Official Accounts to
keep informed
Get
information
41.1%
Complement
their lifestyle
36.9%
Learn
13.7%
Other
8.3%

of Official Account owners spend
less than 10RMB/month (US$1.60)
on services
10RMB or
less
42.1%
10-100RMB
29.5%
201-500RMB
14.7% 101-200RMB
8.4%
500RMB or more
5.3%
Services available to Official Account owners
skew towards a low price model.

of organizations allocate spending to
manage their Official Account on the
WeChat platform or to develop
custom features using the developer
interfaces
29%
19%
3% 1% 1%
47%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
(US Dollars)

jobs are estimated to have been
created by WeChat
1,920,000
8,150,000
300,000
9,780,000
0
2,000,000
4,000,000
6,000,000
8,000,000
10,000,000
12,000,000
Direct Jobs Indirect
Jobs
App
Platform
Official
Accounts
of those jobs were driven by the
Official Account platform, while
300,000 were driven by the WeChat
App platform

WeChat users have donated through
the WeChat giving platform. 95% of
those users made donations less
than 100RMB (~US$16).
< 100RMB
95%
> 100RMB
5%

Massive Scale
Monthly active
users globally
#1 App
Survey respondents
use WeChat more
than any other app
Driven by Social
Of WeChat users
have fifty or more
contacts
Strengthens Ties
Found new friends or
got back in contact
with old ones
Interactive
Claim they interact
more with friends
because of WeChat

Over 60% of WeChat
users report opening
the app more than 10
times daily.
WeChat is a major
channel for consuming
content for a high
percentage of users
40% seek content
through WeChat Official
Accounts, broadcast
messaging, and groups
Almost 80% of survey
respondents follow
Official Accounts
Among those that
follow Official Accounts,
41.1% do so primarily to
get information.
WeChat has become a
market leading Social
Media Platform

40% of users
report using
stickers and games
in WeChat
WeChat Stickers WeChat Gaming
Use well-known
cartoon characters
to express
emotions
The majority of
users are not
paying for stickers
A way to socialize
and compete with
friends
WeChat is a
mature gaming
distribution
platform

A platform for
entrepreneurs
30% of Official Accounts
are personal accounts.
Of those, 35.7% invest in
upgrades to their
accounts
A channel for
businesses and
organizations
70% of Official Accounts
are for businesses or
organizations. Of those,
53% allocate budget to
maintain their accounts
A WeChat model
for mobile
commerce
WeChat Stores were
launched for Official
Accounts, opening new
retail capabilities and
opportunities

WeChat Social
WeChat Users
3rd Party Developers
Official Account Platform
Media, Finance, Social Causes
Economy, Tech, Laws

Integrated
Services
Ecosystems
Fast Iteration
Evolving
Step-by-step
Retail Product
Suite
O2O Services
Industry
Opportunities
Official Account
Platform
New Product
Features
Shake feature,
friend groups
Technology
Layer
NLP, Data
applications

Traffic
Medical
Household
Education
Public Spending
Borders
Weather
Residence
Social
Security
Marriage
Taxes
Platform Layer
Smart
Government
Smart Living
Smart
Enterprise
Application Layer
SOA Middleware
WeChat
Official
Account
Platform
Citizens
Smart
City

The internet, mobile internet, and traditional industries.
The revolution that started with the internet in the palm of our hands, is
profoundly changing every aspect of our life and work. The fundamentals of
business have changed, the shape of organizations is evolving, every type of
faster and more useful models are being put forward, and put rapidly into
practice.
WeChat is at the forefront of this wave of innovation. A force that cannot be
ignored. In some places, it has already made a huge impact and become part
of the ecosystem, and in other areas, this profound change is only just
beginning.

Grata helps businesses turn their WeChat Official Account into multi-agent
contact centers for customer service, sales, and support.
Try a live demo of our WeChat console at www.grata.co
Follow us on WeChat or Twitter @Grata_co or scan the WeChat QR code below.

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