Meituan： Digital upgrade, leading the new trend of retail

On December 27, 2023, the first Meituan drone delivery route in Yangpu District, Shanghai launched from Heshenghui in Wujiaochang to Kaide Guozheng Center. Users can choose drone delivery when ordering takeout near Kaide Guozheng Center. After a raw fried package is packed, it can be delivered to the landing point in as little as 7 or 8 minutes, preserving the flavor when it first comes out of the pot to the greatest extent. Behind this, Meituan continues to invest in technological innovation.

As a technology retail company, Meituan has been guided by the strategy of "retail + technology" and is committed to "helping everyone eat better and live better". Since its establishment in March 2010, Meituan has continued to promote the digital upgrade of service retail and commodity retail on the demand and supply sides, and is committed to creating more social value.

In 2020, Meituan signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government to take root in Shanghai. Its business in Shanghai is deeply integrated with the local physical retail system in Shanghai, and it is guided by technological innovation to help Shanghai consumers buy goods and services provided by local merchants faster and better. In the process, Meituan’s various businesses in Shanghai have made great progress.

In order to improve the efficiency and experience of urban instant delivery, Meituan launched the exploration of drone delivery services in 2017. After years of research and development, Meituan has created an urban low-altitude logistics solution that serves multiple scenarios and multiple weather conditions.

In December 2022, Meituan Drone opened the first drone logistics delivery route in Jinshan District, Shanghai, providing local residents with convenient, efficient and safe drone takeaway delivery services.

In July 2023, Meituan released the fourth-generation drone independently developed. Compared with the previous model, the new model has upgraded the environmental adaptation ability, which can fly stably in moderate rain, snow, level 6 wind, night and other environments of "minus 20 degrees to 50 degrees", and can adapt to the natural environment requirements of more than 97% of domestic cities.

As of the end of November 2023, Meituan drone has landed 22 routes in 8 business districts in Shanghai, Shenzhen and other cities, providing drone delivery services for 19 community office buildings, 5 scenic spots and 1 hospital, and has cumulatively completed user orders exceeding 210,000; In terms of delivery time, the average delivery time of drone during 2022 is about 12 minutes, which is nearly 150% more efficient than the traditional delivery model, saving users nearly 30,000 hours of waiting time.?

In the future, Meituan drone will also conduct more exploration on the integration and expansion of commercial space and digital intelligence services, and help Shanghai’s "15-minute community life circle" to improve the quality and expansion through the "3-kilometer 15-minute delivery service".

In addition to drone delivery services, Meituan also actively expands the retail sector. In December 2023, Meituan market was renamed "Little Elephant Supermarket", upgrading from the previous "vegetable basket" to a full-category "30-minute express supermarket". After entering Shanghai, Little Elephant Supermarket continued to deepen the local consumer market in Shanghai to better and faster meet the retail consumption needs of local residents.

Relying on systematic cold chain logistics, standardized commodity management, and real-time distribution system, low-temperature fresh milk can be delivered to consumers in the fastest 24 hours. After Guangming Dairy joined the cooperative camp of Little Elephant Supermarket, the sales of its excellent organic high-quality fresh milk surged, from hundreds of bottles per day to more than 20,000 bottles.

It is understood that Little Elephant Supermarket has created a full-link digital system to realize digitization of product selection, agility of supply chain, standardization of warehousing, and flexibility of performance. Compared with traditional supermarkets, Little Elephant Supermarket’s product selection efficiency has been increased by nearly 2 times, the turnover speed has been increased by 3 times, the site rate of sales has exceeded 95%, and the site cost has been reduced by 60%.

In order to ensure the fastest delivery in 30 minutes, Little Elephant Supermarket has established a flexible performance system, taking into account multiple dimensions such as data analytics predictions, real-time operation conditions, special weather factors, and the impact of marketing activities. It regulates manpower in real time according to different site conditions, achieving efficient delivery of over 80% of orders within 30 minutes, and improving punctuality by 40% during peak periods.