Billionaire Jack Ma, owner of payment app Alipay, seeks to lure 44 million merchants to aggrandize services for the app's 900 1000000 users in everything from real estate purchases to restaurant and cinema bookings, co-ordinate to a March 10 report by Bloomberg.

Alipay is aiming to attract these merchants and service providers in China with mini programs — lite apps that sit on top of its interface and provide quick admission to services.

Coronavirus has boosted demand for online services

Demand for online services has reportedly surged in China since the outbreak of Coronavirus in Dec. He Yongming, vice president of Alipay's open ecosystem business added that:

"Nosotros've seen a spike in demand for online services. This trend will only grow stronger, fifty-fifty later on the virus outbreak ends."

Mini programs could potentially drive 100 million Chinese small merchants to Alipay and permit the visitor to manage customer data, comport promotions and marketing analysis.

Per Bloomberg's account, Alipay has already developed about 1.7 million mini programs. Recently, 1200 developers made 181 new programs to focus on grocery deliveries, legal and medical advice later the company rolled out its Covid-xix coping incentives.

Blockchain'due south role in Alipay's Mini programs

A property service provider was reported by Alipay as having sold 110 million yuan ($sixteen meg) worth of real estate in auctions via a mini program in only iii days. It integrated Alipay's identity verification system, a live-stream of the sale in real-time and a private blockchain that incorporated the local notary agency.

Cointelegraph reported previously that Alipay has as well introduced a platform that enables charity donations and allows users to runway allocation and donation of relief supplies, besides every bit the review, recording and tracing of demand and supply chains of medical supplies.