After completing its comprehensive layout in Hong Kong, China, in October 2023, Meituan revealed the first report card of its food delivery platform KeeTa. A reporter from Cailian News learned from Meituan that as of now, KeeTa has been downloaded and registered by more than 1.3 million users. At the merchant operation level, merchants on the KeeTa platform have grown at an average rate of more than 30% in several months, and nearly 10,000 merchants have settled in the platform. Based on the order volume in November, KeeTa accounted for approximately 30.6% of the total order volume in Hong Kong, and its market share has surpassed Deliveroo’s 27.9%, later surpassing it to become the second largest in Hong Kong.
According to informed sources, KeeTa has maintained a month-on-month growth of more than 30% since it realized normal operation in Hong Kong.
According to Guo Tao, an expert at the Whale Platform think tank and angel investor, Meituan’s successful layout in Hong Kong is mainly due to the following reasons: First, Meituan’s rich experience and successful cases in the domestic market provide it with reference; second, Meituan’s in-depth understanding and precise grasp of the Hong Kong market enables it to quickly find entry points and formulate effective market strategies; third, Meituan’s strong technical strength and operational capabilities enable it to rapidly expand and improve service quality in a short period of time.
At today's close, Meituan closed at HK$77.8, with a market capitalization of HK$485.812 billion, a slight increase of 0.39%. This was the first time this year that it had risen after three consecutive days of decline at the beginning of the year.
Meituan disrupts Hong Kong’s food delivery market
On May 21, 2023, Meituan officially launched KeeTa, a new food delivery platform in Hong Kong, China. Two platforms, Foodpanda and Deliveroo, already occupy the top positions in Hong Kong’s food delivery market.
"Meituan's deployment in Hong Kong is not accidental." Zhu Keli, executive director of the China Information Association and founding director of the Guoyan New Economic Research Institute, told the New Consumer Daily reporter that as an international financial center and an important business hub in Asia, Hong Kong has a mature consumer market and a developed service industry, which is irresistibly attractive to any company that wants to expand international business. Meituan chose Hong Kong as the first stop for its food delivery business, undoubtedly because of its market potential and strategic position.
Meituan previously planned that KeeTa would adopt a gradual expansion strategy in Hong Kong, with the densely populated Mong Kok and Tai Kok Tsui areas as the first stops, and then complete Hong Kong coverage by 2023.
In October 2023, Meituan revealed to reporters from the Financial Associated Press that it had completed the opening of all districts in Hong Kong. In less than a month, KeeTa's order volume growth continued to accelerate, and the order volume had surpassed Deliveroo, the second largest player in the original industry.
MeasurableAI's takeout order data for November 2023 shows that currently, Hong Kong's takeout market has shown a 4:3:3 pattern. Based on the order volume in November, KeeTa accounted for approximately 30.6% of the total order volume in Hong Kong, and its market share has surpassed Deliveroo’s 27.9%. Foodpanda’s share has also dropped from the previous 60% to 41.6%.
At present, KeeTa has been able to complete the goal of covering Hong Kong ahead of schedule in just over half a year, and has a market share of approximately 31%, which is not unrelated to its C-side subsidies.
It is reported that on the user side, Foodpanda and Deliveroo have always had problems with high unit prices and delivery fees. Among them, each order user needs to pay a delivery fee of HK$15-20.
After KeeTa went online, it used this as an entry point to attract new customers. For example, it launched the "One Billion Rewards" program, giving each newly registered user a HKD 300 newcomer discount gift package, including multiple large discount coupons and free shipping coupons. At the same time, KeeTa also launched operational activities such as "Hong Kong Shopping", allowing users to order takeout at a price of HK$35.
As for the delivery side, KeeTa has replicated Meituan Waimai’s “involution” capabilities in the mainland market in Hong Kong.
The average delivery time on Foodpanda and Deliveroo is about 30 minutes, but it often takes an hour or two for delivery. In response, KeeTa launched the "On-time Guarantee" service in Hong Kong, with an on-time rate of over 98% and an average delivery time of approximately 29 minutes. According to KeeTa’s reward calculations for riders, through refined operations and effective subsidy strategies, motorcycle riders’ monthly income is approximately HK$35,000, which is slightly higher than other platforms, which helps increase rider motivation.
According to data disclosed by Meituan, KeeTa’s daily new downloads in Hong Kong exceed 10,000. So far, more than 1.3 million users have downloaded and registered.
"Localized" operations overseas are still a challenge
In fact, going overseas is the “new story” that Meituan has always wanted to tell. Food delivery is not the first business that Meituan has taken overseas. As early as October 2016, the Meituan Wine and Travel Division established an overseas accommodation project team, reached cooperation with a number of well-known overseas hotel suppliers, and entered the overseas hotel market through agency distribution. A month later, Meituan acquired Shenzhen Airlines to integrate international air ticket resources and improve the air ticket supply chain.
February 2017,
The hotel and tourism business group announced its official layout of overseas accommodation business. At that time, Meituan said that more than 120,000 hotels in more than 5,000 cities in nearly 100 countries around the world had launched the Meituan and Dianping apps. In April 2017, Meituan CEO Wang Xing stated at the Guiling New Economy 100 2017 CEO Summit that the three most exciting opportunities in the second half of the Internet are "to the sky, to the ground, and to globalization." At the same time, he said that China's large Internet companies, such as
, although it can make certain achievements relying on the Chinese market, in the long run, if it cannot "go out" and serve larger markets and economies, it will still be difficult to maintain sufficient competitiveness.
In the second quarter 2023 financial report conference call, Meituan CEO Wang Xing expressed his firm optimism about overseas markets. He believes that "people always want to eat," so the food delivery industry is still a good opportunity.
"There are also huge opportunities for local people to go overseas. The vast space of overseas markets provides unlimited development space for enterprises." Guo Tao told New Consumer Reporter that by going overseas, enterprises can further improve their internationalization level and enhance their competitiveness. Thirdly, going overseas can also help companies obtain more resources and opportunities and achieve greater development.
Obviously, going overseas has become an important direction for Meituan in the future. However, Meituan’s road to sea is not easy.
It must be pointed out that it is difficult for Hong Kong consumers to form a widespread habit of taking out food in the short term. It is unrealistic for Meituan to rely solely on subsidies to gain market share, and it may not last long.
Guo Tao also believes that there will still be difficulties in cultural differences, laws and regulations, market competition and other aspects of Meituan’s local life overseas in the future.
Guo Tao told reporters that cultural differences in different regions may affect the acceptance of products and services, requiring companies to have sufficient understanding and adaptability. Secondly, laws and regulations in different regions are also different, and companies need to fully understand and prepare for this when going overseas. Thirdly, market competition is also an important difficulty. How to stand out in the fierce market competition is a problem that every enterprise needs to face.