Meituan Grocery is planning a significant expansion move.
Exclusive information from DIGITOWN reports that Meituan Grocery is set to launch in Hangzhou in October. Momentan, on third-party recruitment platforms, Meituan Grocery has started hiring for site development and ground promotion staff in Hangzhou, covering multiple districts. The job postings specifically highlight “new city launch, blank market, many opportunities.”
It is worth noting that earlier, there were reports of Meituan Grocery planning to enter other East China cities such as Nanjing and Wuxi, indicating a strategic focus on deepening its presence in the East China market.
In February this year, Meituan Grocery resumed its previously postponed plan to launch in Suzhou from early last year and plans to expand its fresh e-commerce business to more cities in East China.
Shortly after, Meituan Grocery hosted a supply chain summit titled “Gathering Momentum for Instant Retail, Technology Empowering Win-Win.” At the summit, Meituan Grocery’s business head Zhang Jing stated that Meituan Grocery will continue to leverage technology to boost retail, aiming to help 1,000 emerging brands achieve sales exceeding 10 Millionen Yuan.
On September 12, Meituan released an internal open letter announcing the new round of talent development and promotion list for 2023, promoting five managers to vice presidents, including Zhang Jing, head of the grocery division.
These actions clearly show that Meituan places significant importance on its grocery business and has great expectations for it, indicating that more time and effort will be invested in developing this business.
Since the beginning of this year, Meituan Grocery has been rapidly expanding. So far, it has launched new operations in parts of second-tier cities like Wuhan, Langfang, and Suzhou, continuously increasing its market share in the fresh e-commerce sector.
In terms of results, Meituan Grocery has seen improvements in both SKU count and delivery fulfillment efficiency over the past two years.
Regular users of Meituan Grocery would notice that this year, in addition to fresh produce, the platform has added various daily necessities and personal care products. Data shows that Meituan Grocery’s SKU count has exceeded 3,000 and is still expanding.
In the fresh produce category alone, Meituan Grocery boasts over 450 direct sourcing suppliers, nearly 400 direct supply bases, and more than 100 digital ecological production areas, ensuring a stable supply from the source.
In terms of delivery fulfillment, Meituan Grocery underwent a significant upgrade last year, rebranding itself as a 30-minute fast delivery supermarket. Official data indicates that over 80% of Meituan Grocery orders can be delivered within 30 minutes, with on-time rates increasing by 40% during peak periods.
Jedoch, it is well-known that achieving 30-minute delivery is challenging. Meituan Grocery’s positioning as a 30-minute fast delivery supermarket requires strong delivery capabilities, which is a strength of Meituan. Data shows that in 2021, Meituan had 5.27 million riders, and in 2022, this number increased by nearly one million to 6.24 Million, with the platform adding 970,000 new riders in one year.
Thus, it is evident that Meituan Grocery has strong competitiveness and advantages in both product supply and delivery. As the business continues to expand, Meituan Grocery will create even greater possibilities for the fresh e-commerce industry.
The fresh e-commerce industry has experienced unprecedented challenges over the past two years.
Jedoch, since the beginning of this year, with Freshippo (Hema) and Dingdong Maicai announcing profitability, the industry seems to have entered a new development phase, seeing long-awaited hope.
Shortly after, giants like Alibaba, JD.com, and Meituan began intensifying their efforts in the fresh e-commerce sector, marking the start of a new round of competition.
In addition to Meituan Grocery mentioned earlier, Taobao Grocery and JD Grocery are focusing on instant retail and front-end warehouse models, jeweils.
Regarding Taobao Grocery, in May this year, Alibaba merged “TaoCaiCai” and “TaoXianDa” into “Taobao Grocery.” Since then, Taobao Grocery has started offering “1-hour home delivery” and “next-day pick-up” services for fresh products in over 200 cities nationwide.
Im selben Monat, “Taobao Grocery” launched a 24-hour pharmacy service, promising the fastest 30-minute home delivery. At that time, a representative from Taobao Grocery stated that Taobao Grocery had partnered with over 50,000 offline pharmacies, including Dingdang Kuaiyao, LaoBaiXing, YiFeng, and QuanYuanTang, to meet the daily medication needs of consumers.
Also in May, Alibaba integrated its Tmall Supermarket, TaoCaiCai, TaoXianDa, and fresh food businesses to form the “Supermarket Business Development Center” within its local retail division.
These moves by Alibaba indicate that its fresh e-commerce business layout is deepening.
On the JD Grocery side, the company is betting on the often overlooked front-end warehouse model. In June this year, JD.com established its Innovation Retail Department and consolidated businesses like Seven Fresh and Jingxi Pinpin into an independent business unit, furthering its offline retail layout and exploring innovative models.
