Alipay Launches Brand AI Agent Tutu as Tap-and-Go Expands Offline Operations

Tutu follows two earlier steps: an AI upgrade covering more than 30 million offline touchpoints and the introduction of Xiaoyu, an operation AI agent for store merchants. Alipay described the combination as the world's first large-scale offline operation network with comprehensive AI upgrades across people, goods and places. Xiaoyu serves stores, helping merchants understand their operating conditions and carry out operating actions. Tutu serves brands, helping them identify high-potential stores, formulate campaign plans and evaluate sales results. Both connect to the Tap-and-Go offline operation network.

Leiphone reported that brand owners have long faced four breaks in offline operations. They cannot clearly see the industry landscape, and scattered offline outlets make market opportunities hard to identify. Store operations are opaque, with sales at mid- and long-tail stores often invisible. Brands lack levers to raise per-store output, and after marketing reach, problems such as out-of-stocks at stores or insufficient displays often appear. People, goods and locations operate as isolated islands, making reviews hard to guide the next round of decisions.

Alipay's Tutu is designed to address those gaps by integrating scattered information along the offline operation chain. It helps brands observe industry trends, find high-potential stores, carry out integrated business-to-consumer interactions, and produce implementable and verifiable operating strategies and effect estimates, according to the report. In the process, AI does not make decisions for brands but helps them make more timely and better-grounded decisions, making offline operations visible, tangible, actionable and reviewable.

Head fast-moving consumer goods brands including Coca-Cola, Yili, Mars Wrigley, Nongfu Spring, Uni-President, Master Kong, Suntory, Vitasoy, Mizone, P&G, Shanghai Jahwa and Lengsuanling have connected to Alipay's Tap-and-Go boundless operation, launching more than 5,000 brand campaigns and generating business growth at the 100-million level, Leiphone reported. Mars Wrigley used the smart operation solution to find more than 100,000 offline potential outlets, reach tens of millions of users and improve efficiency through full-chain digital operations online and offline. Suntory, following a marketing plan called 'Suntory every third, tap 3 get 1,' sold 100,000 more bottles of beverages within a month, with more than half of users making repeat purchases. Eric Chen, head of Suntory's Intelligent Business Division, said, 'Boundless operation makes every Tap-and-Go moment a reason for consumers to come back next time.'

Since Tap-and-Go was introduced in July 2024, Alipay says it has made three annual leaps. In the first year, it optimized payment convenience, allowing consumers to unlock a tap-and-pay experience. In the second year, it became an offline service interaction entry, supporting not only payment but more than 2,000 segmented service scenarios such as ordering, opening doors, cycling and hotel check-in. In the third year, it entered offline merchant AI operations, with merchants and brands reaching AI agents directly through Tap-and-Go as a new standard for offline operations.