Yahoo Sports DFS Signs Strategic Partnership With Ctrip Global Shopping, UnionPay International
SHANGHAI — DFS Group, the LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned luxury travel retailer, revealed the formation of two strategic partnerships to increase its exposure to Chinese customers who are traveling again.
On Wednesday, DFS signed a strategic partnership with UnionPay International, or UPI, a Chinese state-owned payment processing company subsidiary.
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The partnership will help promote the use of QR code payments and U-Plan, UPI’s cross-boarder marketing platform. UPI will also help enrich DFS’ marketing content and strengthen customer relationships.
DFS will also continue to integrate its retail network resources within UPI’s Cloud Flash App, the company’s mobile payment platform, according to a DFS statement released following the signing ceremony in Shanghai. QuickPass, UPI’s contactless mobile payment function, will also “significantly increase” its adoption in DFS stores. DFS’s online shop will also be embedded within the QuickPass app.
The two parties will work together on exclusive marketing campaigns during peak travel seasons such as the Labor Day holiday, the summer travel season and Golden Week.
Under a newly rebranded loyalty program, DFS Circle, DFS will work with UPI to explore options to expand its current points redemption plan.
The previous day, DFS and Ctrip Global Shopping formed a strategic partnership to improve Chinese shoppers’ shopping experience abroad.
Shoppers will be able to exchange Ctrip points for DFS vouchers and enjoy Ctrip’s cashback program in more DFS shops worldwide, including the latest DFS Chongqing airport outlet, due to open later this month.
“Ctrip users have always constituted one of DFS’s most valuable consumer segments,” said Long Chiu, executive vice president of global marketing and digital ventures at DFS.
“One out of every five Ctrip customers in Macau, for instance, shops at DFS Macau,” Chiu added.
The strategic partnerships come at a critical time as cross-border travel begins to resume growth post-reopening.
During China’s five-day Labor Day holiday last month, around 230 million domestic trips were made, an increase of 70.8 percent from last year and surpassing 2019 levels.
According to the latest data from flight database OAG, outbound flights from mainland China jumped 316 percent compared to December 2022 levels.
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