IT Home reported on August 13th that Tencent officially released the "Announcement on Upgrading Video Number Store to WeChat Store" - Notice of Soliciting Opinions, in order to further enhance user service experience and business efficiency for merchants, and provide better technical support for merchants. Tencent plans to officially support merchants to upgrade their Video Number Store to WeChat Store starting from August 25th.
WeChat Store will simplify the merchant entry process, upgrade brand certification and store naming system, reduce entry barriers and deposits, and support the circulation of store and product information in various WeChat scenarios such as Official Accounts (Subscription Accounts, Service Accounts), Video Number (Live Streaming, Short Videos), Mini Programs, and WeChat Search.
Therefore, Tencent officially recommends that existing Video Number Store merchants upgrade their stores to WeChat Store before September 25th. Video Number Stores that are not upgraded in time will be affected in terms of adding new products. Tencent also provides a convenient channel for store upgrades, allowing merchants to quickly upgrade their Video Number Store to WeChat Store using their previous qualifications.
In addition, unless otherwise specified, rules that have already been implemented and apply to Video Number Stores and Video Number Showcase merchants will also apply to the upgraded WeChat Store. The Video Number Store service will stop accepting new applications starting from August 25th.
Video Number Store is a technical service provided by the WeChat Video Number team for merchants to display product information, conduct product transactions, and fully support merchants in operating stores within the Video Number scenario. Currently, one Video Number can only apply for one Video Number Store, which can be used for live streaming sales, short video sales, etc.
Does this mean that WeChat and third-party platforms are providing store codes on the same platform for everyone, where store owners do not need to invest too many resources and time, and third parties are also facing challenges from WeChat?