How could chat services evolve to generate more competitive advantage?

In order to strengthen the position in the ecosystem and value chain, it's a good idea to think about how we could maximize the impact for existing product to enter new segment or market.

Wetchat launched Wechat Payment which is bundled in the Wechat account and connected to the users' bank account. It differs with Ali Payment because Wechat Payment connects with the offline stores, such as Walmart and 711. Users transfer money from bank account to Wechat Payment, and pay the bill thru Wechat App in the phone in the stores. Since the users carry their mobile everyday, and Wechat has more than 800 million active users, Wechat gets popular very quickly and surpassed Ali payment which is mainly used for e-commerce that happens only online .  Wechat payment is also different with Venmo because Wechat leveraged its existing and highly captivate user base of the chat service to increase the users of finance service.  It's very effective. That's how Wechat successfully penetrated its business in new area and encroach its competitors' market share, and eventually becomes more impactful in the value chain.



Reference:
http://mashable.com/2015/09/29/chat-app-unicorns/#caIavWPB4ZqX