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Ver en españolChina's largest local services platform, best known for food delivery run on a massive, algorithm dispatched rider network built for density.
At a glance
Meituan earns commissions, delivery fees and advertising from restaurants and stores on its app, and charges for delivery services it provides. Beyond meals it sells instant retail (groceries and convenience goods in under an hour), in store deals, hotel and travel bookings, and runs the Keeta delivery brand abroad.
Meituan merged with rival Dianping in October 2015, listed in Hong Kong in September 2018, and started its Meituan Waimai food delivery service in 2013.
WikipediaIn May 2019 Meituan said its delivery network served over 3.6 million merchants and 400 million users with more than 600,000 active couriers, as it opened its delivery service to other businesses.
TechNodeDuring the 2025 subsidy war Meituan reached 120 million daily instant retail orders in early July and passed 150 million by July 12, prompting China's market regulator SAMR to summon Meituan, JD.com and Ele.me on July 18, 2025.
Caixin GlobalFor 2025 Meituan reported revenue of RMB 364.9 billion, up 8%, and a net loss of RMB 23.4 billion, its core local commerce segment posting an operating loss of RMB 6.9 billion.
KrASIAMeituan returned to an adjusted net profit of 2.5 billion yuan in the June 2026 quarter on revenue of 105 billion yuan as price competition cooled.
South China Morning PostKeeta launched in Kuwait on September 15, 2025, its third Middle East market after Saudi Arabia (September 2024, now over 20 cities) and Qatar (August 2025).
TechNodeHow they won
What they did, why it worked, and how you can run the same move in one city on a small budget.
01
What they did
Meituan built an AI dispatch system, nicknamed Super Brain, that predicts preparation and arrival times, assigns orders and plans routes using rider GPS and feedback data. It reported cutting average delivery time from about an hour to roughly 30 minutes over three years.
Why it worked
Smarter assignment lets each rider carry more orders per hour, which lowers cost per delivery while keeping times short.
Copy it locally
You do not need custom AI. Use a driver app with automatic assignment by distance, set realistic prep times per restaurant, and review late orders weekly to adjust zones and prep time settings.
02
What they did
Since 2020 Meituan has run Pinhaofan, where neighbors join the same order from one restaurant to get a much lower price with no delivery fee. Rest of World reported the feature reached almost 5 million orders a day in 2024.
Why it worked
Bundling several nearby customers into one trip cuts delivery cost per meal and wins price sensitive users who would not pay a normal fee.
Copy it locally
Run office or campus lunch drops: one restaurant, a fixed menu, a cutoff time and a single delivery to a building. Charge little or no delivery fee because one driver serves many customers in one trip.
03
What they did
In 2019 Meituan opened its delivery network to deliver for other merchants and short distance errands, using couriers in the quiet hours around meal peaks. It later pushed hard into instant retail, delivering groceries and convenience goods within an hour.
Why it worked
Filling idle hours with non food orders spreads the fixed cost of a large fleet over far more deliveries.
Copy it locally
Use your drivers between lunch and dinner for pharmacy, grocery or parcel style deliveries from local shops. Even a few extra orders per driver per afternoon improves their earnings and your margins.
04
What they did
Meituan launched Keeta in Hong Kong in 2023, starting with a pilot in two districts, then expanded to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE and Brazil. KrASIA reported Keeta Hong Kong turned profitable in October 2024.
Why it worked
Starting in a small, dense area lets a new entrant prove unit economics before spending to scale across a country.
Copy it locally
Launch in one or two neighborhoods, not the whole city. Sign enough restaurants to make that zone feel complete, reach steady order density, then open the next zone.
Where they are weak
Every giant has blind spots. These are the ones a focused local operator can turn into an advantage.
Competition with Alibaba and JD.com pushed Meituan into a net loss of RMB 23.4 billion in 2025, and regulators summoned the platforms in July 2025 over what they called irrational competition. Giants that compete on subsidies can pull back abruptly, which gives local players a chance to win on service and relationships instead of price.
Source: KrASIAIn October 2021 China's market regulator fined Meituan 3.44 billion yuan for pressuring merchants to use only its platform, and ordered it to refund deposits and revise its commission structure. Restaurants that were burned by lock in tend to value platforms that let them keep their own customers and channels.
Source: Caixin GlobalIn 2020 a widely shared Chinese report described riders under strict time limits and pay penalties for delays, and Meituan responded by adding flexible minutes and longer windows in bad weather. The episode shows how a purely algorithmic model can strain riders, a gap a local operator with a closer driver relationship can avoid.
Source: TechNodeBuild it with Ordering.co
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Ordering.co is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Meituan. Names and trademarks belong to their owners and are used here for commentary and education. Facts come from the public sources listed on this page, checked in October 2026.
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