By SAM SIFTON from NYT Food https://ift.tt/2Ume7UA
Sunday, 31 March 2019
China’s grocery delivery battle heats up with Meituan’s entry
Fast, affordable food delivery service has been life-changing for many working Chinese, but some still prefer to whip up their own meals. These people may not have the time to pick up fresh ingredients from brick-and-mortar stores, so China’s startups and large companies are trying to make home-cooked meals more effortless for busy workers by sending vegetables and meats to apartment doors.
The fresh grocery sector in China recorded 4.93 trillion yuan ($730 billion) in total sales last year, growing steadily from 3.37 trillion yuan in 2012 according to data collected by Euromonitor and Hua Chuang Securities. Most of these transactions still happen inside wet markets and supermarkets, leaving online retail, which accounted for only 3 percent of total grocery sales in 2016, much room for growth.
Ecommerce leaders Alibaba and JD.com have already added grocery to their comprehensive online shopping malls, nestling in the market with more focused players like Tencent-backed MissFresh (每日优鲜), which has raised $1.4 billion to date. The field has just grown a little more crowded with new entrant Meituan, the Tencent-backed food delivery and hotel booking giant that raised $4.2 billion through a Hong Kong listing last year.
Screenshots of the Meituan Maicai app / Image: Meituan Maicai
The service, which comes in a new app called “Meituan Maicai” or Meituan grocery shopping that’s separate from the company’s all-in-one app, set out in Shanghai in January before it muscled into Beijing last week. The move follows Meituan’s announcement in its mid-2018 financial report to get in on grocery delivery.
Meituan’s solution to take grocery the last mile is not too different from those of its peers. Users pick from its 1,500 stock keeping units ranging from yogurt to pork loin, fill their in-app shopping carts and pay via their phones, the firm told TechCrunch. Meituan then dispatches its delivery fleets to people’s doors in as little as 30 minutes.
The instant delivery is made possible by a satellite of physical “service stations” across neighborhoods that serve warehousing, packaging and delivering purposes. Placing offline hubs alongside customers also allows data-driven internet firms to optimize warehouse stocking based on local user preferences. For instance, people from an upscale residential area probably eat and shop differently from those in other parts of the city.
Meituan’s foray into grocery shopping further intensifies its battle with Alibaba to control how Chinese people eat. Alibaba’s Hema Supermarket has been running on a similar setup that uses its neighborhood stores as warehouses and fulfillment centers to facilitate 30-minute delivery within a three-kilometer radius. For years, Meituan’s food delivery arm has been going neck-and-neck with Ele.me, which Alibaba scooped up last year. More recently, Alibaba and Meituan are racing to get restaurants to sign up for their proprietary software, which can supposedly give owners more insights into diners and beef up customer engagement.
As part of its goal to be an “everything” app, Meituan has tried out many new initiatives in the lead-up to its initial public offering but was also quick to put them on hold. The firm acquired bike-sharing service Mobike last April only to shutter its operations across Asia in less than a year for cost-saving. Meituan also paused expansion on its much-anticipated ride-hailing business.
But grocery delivery appears to be closer to Meituan’s heart, the “eating” business, to put in its own words. Meituan is tapping its existing infrastructure to get the job done, for example, by summoning its food delivery drivers to serve the grocery service during peak hours. As the company noted in its earnings report last year, the grocery segment could leverage its “massive user base and existing world’s largest intra-city on-demand delivery network.”
from TechCrunch
via Click me for Details
3 Teenage Migrants Are Charged in Malta With Hijacking Ship at Sea
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS from NYT World https://ift.tt/2CMe4qW
Trump Cheats At Golf Too
In addition to the $95,000,000 of taxpayer moneys at one of his resorts, Donald Trump has spent an unbelievable 164 days golfing, or over five full months of his 26 months in office.
Turns out, even after spending that much time on the links, Trump has proven Malcolm Gladwell completely wrong: he has to cheat to win.
“To say ‘Donald Trump cheats’ is like saying ‘Michael Phelps swims,'” writes Rick Reilly in the new book “Commander in Cheat: How Golf Explains Trump” (Hachette Book Group), out Tuesday. “He cheats at the highest level. He cheats when people are watching and he cheats when they aren’t. He cheats whether you like it or not. He cheats because that’s how he plays golf … if you’re playing golf with him, he’s going to cheat.”
Reilly, a former Sports Illustrated columnist who has played with Trump in the past, spoke to dozens of players — both amateur and professional — to recount some of the president’s worst cons on the course, starting with his declared handicap of 2.8.
from Latest from Crooks and Liars
via Click me for Details
Mike's Blog Round Up
Earth-Bound Misfit: No, deadbeat Donnie won't close the border.
Dr. Jen Gunter: Is "keto-crotch" a thing? Short answer to that misogynistic question is "no."
All the Good Names Are Taken: The stupidity of "concealed carry" burns.
Is it me, or is this food blog post a perfect metaphor for the 2020 Democratic primary season so far?
Round up by Frances Langum (@bluegal). Hear me with Driftglass at The Professional Left
from Latest from Crooks and Liars
via Click me for Details
A TV Comedian Could Dominate Ukraine’s Election. That Is Not a Joke.
By IULIIA MENDEL and NEIL MacFARQUHAR from NYT World https://ift.tt/2HYZTSS
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)