New app to complement dining experience at Aussie restaurants

SYDNEY - A new partnership between Chinese e-commerce giant Alipay and online food and travel marketplace HarkHark is to bring Australian restaurants and Chinese consumers together, with a free translation and mobile scan-to-order app to be rolled out Down Under.

Announced at the end of April, the joint initiative has 500 restaurants across Australia signed up to Alipay. It hopes to attract around 2,000 more over the next few months.

According to Alipay ANZ country manager George Lawson, the app allows Chinese customers to scan an in-restaurant QR code, read a translated menu, self-order and pay on their smartphone. This will make it easier for Australian restaurants to market themselves in the lucrative Chinese tourism sector.