Chinese food delivery and life services giant Meituan launched an enterprise edition on Thursday, offering a one-stop shop for companies to manage employees’ meal, work trip, and transport expenses. The service, mainly focused on dining options for corporate clients, plays on one of Meituan’s core strengths.
Why it matters: Meituan’s pivot to business clients brings the Beijing-based firm new areas for revenue growth as it faces greater competition from rivals in the local services sector, including ByteDance’s Douyin, which has been testing food delivery services in some Chinese cities with plans to expand nationwide.
Details: The new app evolved from Meituan Shangqitong, a platform initially designed for Meituan’s own employees, before being opened up to a broader user base from early 2021.
- As of March 2023, nearly 10,000 businesses across 20 industries had used the platform, including banking, new energy, software, and express delivery firms, according to a report by local media outlet 36Kr.
- Meituan said (in Chinese) the enterprise platform can save employees an average of 4.4 hours in filing for reimbursements, and improve finance-related efficiency by 90%.
- Wang Puzhong, senior vice president of Meituan, noted at the launch that the company aims to make business consumption “as easy as using Meituan [consumer app].”
- The enterprise edition team currently has hundreds of members, and is expanding rapidly, 36Kr reported in late March. Kang Kai, head of the unit, is also the general manager of Meituan’s enterprise business department, and will report to Wang Puzhong.
Context: In 2022, Meituan’s annual revenue stood at RMB 220 billion ($32.1 billion), with its core local businesses, which include food delivery and no-demand delivery service Meituan Instashopping, contributing over 70% of total revenue.
- Meituan plans to offer food delivery in Hong Kong later this year under a separate brand, as the Beijing-based company seeks growth beyond its domestic market.
- Ride-hailing platforms Didi and Amap also offer enterprise solutions to simplify the reimbursement process for business travel and rides hailed for business customers in China.