????為了在中國這個形勢嚴峻但潛在利潤豐厚的海外市場提升銷售額，沃爾瑪邁出了新一步：它宣布與阿里巴巴合作，開始支持支付寶付款。

????阿里巴巴子公司螞蟻金服表示，沃爾瑪在深圳的25家分店將率先參與這一合作，其中包括一家山姆會員店。今年年底，雙方合作范圍將擴大到沃爾瑪在中國的全部410家分店。

????這場與阿里巴巴的合作來的恰逢其時，沃爾瑪正急于快速提升在這個全球人口最多國家的業(yè)績。上個季度，沃爾瑪在中國的凈銷售額下降了0.7%；剔除新開和已關閉分店的影響，可比銷售額下降2.3%。

????沃爾瑪在中國面臨的挑戰(zhàn)之一就是，消費者認為其商品售價并不是最低的。

????今年2月份，沃爾瑪首席執(zhí)行官董明倫曾告訴投資者，正“采取適當措施為長期增長奠定基礎”。

????顯然，其中一項措施就是和中國主要的移動支付服務商合作。在截至2014年6月30日的財年中，支付寶完成的交易金額達7880億美元；去年秋季，其移動應用活躍用戶數(shù)約為1.9億。

????而且，與支付寶合作不會增加沃爾瑪?shù)馁Y本支出。超市收銀機自帶的掃碼槍就能完成支付寶支付，無需添加其他設備。消費者只需拿出智能手機，輕輕一掃就可結賬。

????沃爾瑪發(fā)言人瑪麗莉?麥金尼斯通過電子郵件向《財富》雜志表示：“移動支付幾秒鐘內就能完成，與支付寶合作有助于我們更好地服務消費者。顧客越來越希望享受便捷的體驗?！边@點特別重要，尤其在中國這樣一個移動支付格外流行，信用卡使用卻非常有限的國家。

????對支付寶來說，和全球最大的零售商合作則有助于擴大其移動支付業(yè)務的覆蓋范圍。

????董明倫上個月在赴北京途中向記者透露，他的目標并不是讓沃爾瑪成為中國規(guī)模最大的零售企業(yè)，而是最受信任的一家，不能再延續(xù)過去大量開分店的策略。所以沃爾瑪正放慢設立新店的速度，實際上還關閉了不少表現(xiàn)欠佳的門店。

????沃爾瑪1996年登陸中國市場，計劃到2017年再開115家新店，屆時其在中國的門店數(shù)量將達530家。而在美國，沃爾瑪旗下各子品牌分店已接近5200家。（財富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：Charlie

????審校：夏林

????Wal-Mart Stores is teaming up with Alibaba to roll out the Alipay mobile payment service in China — its latest move to increase sales in a tough, but potentially lucrative international market.

????Ant Financial, a financial affiliate of Alibaba, said on Wednesday that the partnership with the world’s biggest retailer would start with 25 stores in Shenzhen, including one of its Sam’s Club locations, and be accepted at all 410 Wal-Mart stores in China by the end of the year.

????The tie-up with China’s leading e-commerce company comes as Wal-Mart looks to dramatically improve its performance in the world’s most populous country. Last quarter, Wal-Mart’s net sales fell 0.7%, while comparable sales, which strip out the effect of newly opened or closed stores, were down 2.3%.

????Wal-Mart has grappled with the perception in China that its prices are not the lowest, among other challenges.

????Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon told investors in February that the company is “taking the right steps to solidify a foundation for long-term growth.”

????One of those steps has turned out to be working with China’s leading mobile payments service: last fiscal year, ended June 30, 2014, Alipay settled $788 billion in transactions, and had some 190 million active users for its mobile app as of last fall.

????The Alipay deal won’t entail new capital spending by Wal-Mart. Its cash registers won’t need extra equipment to accept Alipay Wallet mobile payments, given that basic barcode scanning guns will do the trick. Customers will be able to check out by having their smart phones scanned.

????“Alipay will help us serve our customers better by allowing mobile payment in seconds. Increasingly, our customers want convenience,” Wal-Mart spokeswoman Marilee McInnis told Fortune in an e-mailed message. This is all the more important given how prevalent mobile payment has become in a country with such limited credit card use.

????For Alipay, working with the world’s largest retailer can help it increase adoption of the mobile payments service.

????Last month, McMillon told journalists on a trip to Beijing that his goal was not to make Wal-Mart the biggest retailer in China, but rather the most trusted, eschewing a previous strategy anchored on aggressive store expansion. So the company is pulling back on the pace of store openings and in fact is closing many underperforming stores in China.

????The retailer, which first came to China in 1996, plans to open to open 115 new stores by 2017, which would bring its store count in China to 530 locations. By contrast, Wal-Mart has nearly 5,200 in the U.S. across its various banners.