Premier Tax Free has signed an agreement with Tenpay, part of the Tencent Group, to launch a series of programmes enabling Chinese tourists to reclaim tax quickly and easily through apps such as WeChat and QQ.

Various convenient tax refund options are available to Chinese passengers, whether they are in the airport or at a point of sale.

The partnership with China’s largest social media platforms like WeChat, which boasts 846m active users, will make tax free shopping easier for millions of Chinese shoppers abroad.

The announcement comes ahead of Golden Week – China’s week-long national holiday in the first week of October – when an estimated 6m Chinese shoppers will travel overseas.

LUCRATIVE MARKET

Premier Tax Free’s latest figures reveal that Chinese shoppers account for 26% of the UK’s tax free shopping market with an average transaction value of €399 ($477).

With Chinese shoppers being a consistently lucrative market for UK retailers, the partnership highlights the importance of fast and effective tax free refunding tools for the shoppers.

“We are thrilled to be working with Tencent on such effective digital solutions for Chinese tourists,” said Gary Byrne, Director of Group Strategic Partnerships & New Markets, Fintrax Group, which includes Premier Tax Free.

“By working directly with the Tencent team in China we have been able to devise a solution that will continue to draw Chinese shoppers to the UK market and give them greater choice for tax refunds.’’

Premier Tax Free says the agreement between Fintrax Group and Tenpay is illustrative of the need to focus on digital refund tools in response to the rising popularity of mobile payments.

“The new partnership will focus on providing other value-added services for Premier Tax Free’s partner brands and merchants to drive valuable Chinese tourist traffic into their stores,” added Byrne.