Meituan is a Chinese on-demand service app that provides consumers with an abundance of services. The company is the Amazon of services in China and has a market cap twice as big as Baidu, the country’s dominant search engine.
The platform is an agent for merchants and a place where customers can order services like food delivery, hotel bookings and transportation. Its services are based on an algorithm that matches customers with vendors who provide them. It has 4.7 million merchants who have joined the app, allowing it to earn commissions and delivery fees from them.
In its second quarter, Meituan became profitable for the first time since its public listing. It posted profits of RMB 875.8 million for Q2 2019, a significant improvement from its RMB 7.72 billion loss it posted a year ago.
As it continues to grow its business in China, Meituan is expanding abroad too. According to tech news outlet LatePost, the company is considering opening its food delivery services in Hong Kong.
The Shenzhen-based firm is also testing drones that can deliver meals to people living in densely populated areas. Its dispatch algorithms rely on machine learning to find the most efficient routes, avoiding traffic and built-up areas to maximize speed.
Meituan is also experimenting with robots that can carry packages, which could replace human couriers in the long term. Its current fleet of two-wheeled electric bikes will still be used to deliver foods, drinks and other goods, but it plans to add robotic delivery units in the future as it expands its network of delivery vehicles.
This is one of the many ways Meituan is addressing the environmental impact of its operations and reducing its carbon footprint by using less energy to deliver products. Meituan has also been working to improve its logistics processes by implementing a system that stores orders and deliveries in the cloud.
It has partnered with a variety of businesses to help them boost their online presence. For example, a food distributor called Meituan Shouyin sells PoS (point of sale) systems that come with the app pre-installed, allowing businesses to manage orders and payments through the app.
As a result, the restaurant owners can reduce their costs and increase their efficiency. The platform also helps them stay in touch with their customers and get feedback on their service.
In addition, Meituan offers its users a membership deal similar to that of Prime that gives them exclusive content and discounts. This is expected to increase its revenue by attracting more paying users.
Besides food delivery, Meituan is also growing its business in hotel and tourism. Its online room reservation and transport booking services are becoming more popular. Its travel services have a market share of more than 50% in China.
Meituan is also developing new products to cater to growing demand for on-demand services in the country. Its recent launch of a new service called “Mo Wu Dao Jia” or “Everything Comes Home”, which features Chinese A-list actress Yang Mi, is already gaining significant social media attention.