Meituan to team up with China Starbucks challenger Luckin Coffee on delivery services โ SCMP
What happened: Starbucksโ Chinese rival Luckin Coffee is rumored to partner with lifestyle giant Meituan Dianping for on-demand drink and food delivery. Sources say after the launch of the service, consumers can order Luckin Coffeeโs products on Meituanโs delivery app in over 20 Chinese cities. Currently, Luckin Coffee supports in-store pick-ups and SF Express-backed delivery. All orders have to be made in Luckin Coffeeโs app.
Why itโs important: The rumored tie-up is seen as a response to Starbucksโ delivery agreement with Alibaba-backed Ele.me. As one of Chinaโs biggest food and drink delivery platforms, Meituanโs power, boosted by huge user traffic across China, will allow Luckin to reach more consumers with Meituanโs mature online and offline operations. The companyโs mass-scale delivery forces will also optimize Luckinโs related costs. Luckin doubled its valuation to US$2 billion by raising a new round of financing of US$200 million last week.
