13-03-2018, 01:38 PM
Meal delivery is shaping up to be the next battlefront for China’s tech giants
Zen Soo & Sarah Dai
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 13 March, 2018, 8:05am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 13 March, 2018, 10:24am
Thomas Chen, a resident of the southern coastal city of Shenzhen, said he cannot remember the last time he left his flat to buy a takeaway meal.
Like many other consumers in the densely packed Chinese metropolis, the 27-year old Chen, who works in legal services, has grown accustomed to all the modern conveniences accessible through a smartphone: meal recommendations from local services platform Meituan-Dianping, food delivery via the Meituan Waimai app and payments on WeChat Pay.
“It’s so convenient that I don’t need to take a step out of my door,” he said.
Consumers like Chen are a big reason Alibaba Group Holding is widely expected to pull the trigger in taking over food delivery service Ele.me, which would enable the e-commerce giant to run its own delivery network to support the company’s strategy of merging online commerce with physical retail, according to analysts.
More details in http://www.scmp.com/tech/china-tech/arti...ech-giants
Zen Soo & Sarah Dai
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 13 March, 2018, 8:05am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 13 March, 2018, 10:24am
Thomas Chen, a resident of the southern coastal city of Shenzhen, said he cannot remember the last time he left his flat to buy a takeaway meal.
Like many other consumers in the densely packed Chinese metropolis, the 27-year old Chen, who works in legal services, has grown accustomed to all the modern conveniences accessible through a smartphone: meal recommendations from local services platform Meituan-Dianping, food delivery via the Meituan Waimai app and payments on WeChat Pay.
“It’s so convenient that I don’t need to take a step out of my door,” he said.
Consumers like Chen are a big reason Alibaba Group Holding is widely expected to pull the trigger in taking over food delivery service Ele.me, which would enable the e-commerce giant to run its own delivery network to support the company’s strategy of merging online commerce with physical retail, according to analysts.
More details in http://www.scmp.com/tech/china-tech/arti...ech-giants
Specuvestor: Asset - Business - Structure.