US entertainment conglomerate Universal Studios has reportedly partnered with Chinese tech giant Alibaba to aid it in its expansion into the Chinese market. The partnership will reportedly involve the use of Alibaba's advanced technologies to lure Chinese consumers to Universal's upcoming attractions, including its latest theme park in Beijing.
The partnership between the two companies was officially announced on Thursday. It was also revealed that Universal's new theme park in Beijing will be utilizing Alibaba's suite of digital apps and services for various purposes such as payments, ticketing, and merchandising.
According to the companies, visitors to Universal Beijing should be able to use Alibaba's Alipay platform to enter, pay, and use different facilities within the park. The platform will provide technologies such as facial recognition, digital payments, and biometric scanning for various purposes.
Universal also announced that visitors will be able to use Alibaba's food delivery platform Koubei to get food and drink recommendations. Additionally, visitors will be able to order their food and drinks ahead of time to avoid having to wait in line.
Visitors will apparently also be able to use Alibaba's online travel platform Fliggy to more easily book their tickers to the theme park. The park in Beijing is expected to be open to the public sometime in 2021.
Comcast chairman and chief executive officer, Brian Roberts, mentioned that the company's partnership with Alibaba should make its visitor's experience much as "fun and easy." Roberts is hoping that the tie-up will take the theme park experience to an entirely "new level" for visitors.
Apart from using its slew of apps and services, Universal also stands to greatly benefit from Alibaba's massive reach. By being able to use its apps and online platforms, Universal will have easy access to the company's more than 600 million monthly active users.
Its partnership with Alibaba should give Universal a significant edge over other competitors such as Disney, which recently opened its $5.5 billion theme park in Shanghai. Since its theme park was opened in 2016, Disney has faced a number of issues, including several complaints about its ticketing systems and its food and beverage prices.
In May, Disney reported worse-than-expected second-quarter earnings. The company mentioned that its theme park in Shanghai was performing poorly and was having fewer visitors than initially expected.
Universal hopes to learn from Disney's mistakes by offering its services and products more conveniently through Alibaba's platforms and to ultimately attract more Chinese visitors.
