WHSmith is a global travel retailer with airport shops across the United States, serving millions of domestic and international travelers every year. Among those travelers, Chinese visitors represent one of the most valuable segments — with spending patterns that consistently outpace other demographics at airport retail.
But capturing that spend requires meeting the customer where they are. For Chinese travelers, WeChat Pay isn't just a payment option — it's the default. Arriving at a checkout that doesn't support it creates friction, abandoned transactions, and a missed opportunity that can't be recovered once the traveler has moved on to their gate.
Most US payment providers can't support WeChat Pay in a retail context reliably. The technical requirements, local clearing relationships, and compliance posture needed to run it properly in a US airport environment are outside the scope of what generic processors offer.
WHSmith turned to Pockyt for a specific capability: in-store WeChat Pay acceptance in US airport locations, delivered in a way that no other provider could.
Corridor-specific depth. Pockyt's primary expertise is in the China corridor — WeChat Pay direct integration, local clearing, and the compliance infrastructure to run it at retail scale in the United States. This isn't a checkbox on a long list of supported methods; it's the core of what Pockyt does.
In-store, not just online. Airport retail operates at the physical point of sale. The Pockyt integration meets WHSmith's customers in-store, at the moment of purchase, with a checkout experience that feels native to the traveler.
A foundation for more. Live since 2026, this is the beginning of a broader integration roadmap. WHSmith is actively working with Pockyt across multiple teams to expand payment method coverage — with more APMs on the horizon as the partnership deepens.
Chinese travelers are among our most valuable airport customers, and they expect to pay with WeChat Pay. Pockyt made that possible for us in a way no other provider could. It's just the start of what we're building together.
Ian Rankin , VP of Commercial Transformation · WHSmith
Since going live in 2026, WHSmith's airport locations can accept WeChat Pay in-store — turning what was previously a missed transaction into a completed sale. For a retailer whose customer base is defined by the terminal they operate in, that coverage isn't optional.
The broader pattern is one we see across travel retail: the highest-value customer segments often bring their own payment expectations, and retailers who can't meet those expectations lose the sale entirely. The infrastructure to serve those customers has to be in place before they reach the checkout.
Today, WHSmith uses Pockyt for WeChat Pay acceptance across their US airport retail locations. The integration sits inside WHSmith's existing point-of-sale environment — Chinese travelers see WeChat Pay at checkout, complete the payment in their app, and the transaction clears through Pockyt's local infrastructure into WHSmith's settlement.
It's a focused integration with a clear starting point and an expanding roadmap. As WHSmith and Pockyt deepen the partnership, additional alternative payment methods will come online — broadening the coverage to serve more traveler profiles across more corridors.
If your retail locations serve international customers whose payment expectations your current stack can't meet, talk to our team.