Dyson Pioneers Full control of Connected Machines within China’s WeChat Eco-System

The Dyson Technology Lab in Shanghai has taken a significant step towards realising its ambitions to develop new technologies to deepen the local-relevance of Dyson in the lives of our owners in China. Dyson is today the first global technology company to realize full IoT (Internet-of-things) capabilities on China’s most prevalent WeChat platform with the launch of the Dyson Link Mini-Program. As a supplementary to Dyson’s established global Dyson Link platform in China, the Dyson Link Mini-Program on WeChat will mark Dyson’s entry into the Chinese unique digital world by ensuring that Dyson machines work seamlessly in WeChat’s unique eco-system. WeChat is the most popular social platform for Chinese consumers with over 1 billion Daily Active Users (DAU).

Designed with the unique needs of the Chinese user in mind, a team of 14 engineers spent over 21,000 engineering hours to develop the best UI/UX and control functions, bringing to life a truly global collaboration across our Technology Labs in the United Kingdom, Singapore and China.  After five prototypes and three round of user trials, valuable feedback were gained to verify and improve the Mini Program. The high level of global collaboration and valuable experiences from Dyson Link made it possible to bring this technology to life in unmatched speeds. Dyson’s relentless pursuit in advancing unprecedented technological frontiers also drove Tencent – the parent company of WeChat and China’s top three technology firms, to push new boundaries and possibilities in the development process.

Dyson Technology Lab was established in June 2017 as part of the £2.5bn global expansion plan. The team has successfully launched the pioneering voice control feature with Alibaba’s “Tmall Genie” in 2018.

Globally Dyson has over a million connected machines, and in China alone, we have around 300,000 connected machines. As one of the most technologically advanced economies, with extremely digitally-savvy consumers, makes China the perfect location to test new technologies – especially in the digital ecosystem. This distinctive market condition puts the Dyson Shanghai Technology Lab in a favourable and critical position as we continue to listen to real Chinese user’s needs and to deepen their connection with our machines.

WeChat is more than just a messaging app in China as it incorporates other functions in its own strong eco-system, including mobile payments and social networking and life services such as ticket booking, food delivery, and credit card payments. Dyson has already realized purchasing, customer service, information sharing, CRM features within the existing Dyson WeChat official account and WeChat Store, making “control of the machine” the only missing link. With the launch of the Mini Program, Dyson is now able to provide one-stop service to WeChat users, including Dyson technology evangelist, pre-sale and post-sale inquires, product purchase and registration, product control and data visualization, and to complete the full Dyson-experience circle in one single APP – which also accommodates to Chinese owners’ growing tendency of moving away from downloading new APPs.

The launch of the Dyson Link Mini-Program on WeChat in China, for China, is only the beginning. The Connectivity and Software Team will continue to work towards ensuring Dyson and our technologies are meaningfully embedded within the unique China digital environment and its key players - Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, and JD.com. 

Key features of the first release of Dyson Link Mini Program:

- User ID Management

- Connection Journey

- Device management

- Instant Control

- Data visualization (EC environment data, robot activity)

- Settings

- Help & Support (link to chatbot)

- Analytics

- Link to Dyson WeChat Store

- Hints, troubleshooting tips, on-board experience.

About WeChat and Mini Programs:

• WeChat is the largest social platform in China with over 1 billion Daily Active Users (DAU)

• Mini-program presents the opportunity to connect with millions of WeChat users and convert them to Dyson users

• Dyson WeChat Official Account has more than 2.3 million followers and counting

• Mini Program provides App-like functions within WeChat eco-system with no need to download, and no need to register a separate account

• China Commercial launched the WeChat Store in May 2018. With around 3400 DAU, sold-out on the Single’s Day (11.11) shopping festival of 2018 is more than the total number of units sold out in an entire month

• By developing the Mini Program for Dyson device control will help boost machine registration rate, increase user engagement and complete user journey for better experience