The monthly income of the delivery man is 40,000: Meituan is involved in Hong Kong takeaway, and the next step is to conquer the Middle East

Chi-chi

2024-05-14 10:42Published in Zhejiang

At a time when the big manufacturers are sharpening their heads and want to go overseas, Meituan quietly won the first place in the market share of Hong Kong's food delivery platform.

According to the latest data released by market research agency Measurable AI, Meituan's business KeeTa in Hong Kong has surpassed two competitors, and by March 2024, KeeTa's market share will reach 44%, making it the largest food delivery platform in Hong Kong. Foodpanda is at 35% and Deliveroo is at 21%.

Counting the time, this is only a year since KeeTa was launched in Hong Kong. Hong Kong's food delivery sector has been monopolized by Foodpanda and Deliveroo, two platforms that have been in Hong Kong for many years, is Meituan really a food delivery genius?

A Le (pseudonym), an employee of Meituan in Hong Kong, told the editorial department of Zhiwei that KeeTa's current achievements are inseparable from two points: money + volume.

Money mainly refers to subsidies, including subsidies for merchants, consumers, and riders.

The focus is on subsidies for riders.

Tian Tian (pseudonym), who registered as a rider when KeeTa entered Hong Kong, told the Zhiwei editorial department, "Like the beginning, that cavalryman, he may not do anything, and he can subsidize him with 2,000 yuan a week." Like an infantryman who doesn't do anything, you can give him a subsidy of 1000 a week. ”

The infantry and cavalry mentioned here are the two categories of food delivery workers in Hong Kong, corresponding to the delivery workers who deliver food on foot and on bicycles.

According to Tian Tian, this subsidy is no longer available, and with various subsidies at the earliest, even the infantry can get an average income of 50 yuan per order, and now it is only 30 yuan per order.

About a cavalryman who works 10 hours a day can earn 1200-1500 Hong Kong dollars a day. In this way, at the limit, the cavalry can earn 40,000 a month. As for the infantry, because he can't walk for 10 hours, he will be less, and he can earn about 800 Hong Kong dollars a day, which is 20,000 yuan a month. That's how it is counted every day.

This number seems very impressive, but Tian Tian added, "But you have to understand that the median income in Hong Kong is 15,000, and in Hong Kong, you can go downstairs and eat a boxed lunch for 50 yuan." ”

In addition, the threshold for riders to register as KeeTa will be lower than that of Foodpanda and Deliveroo, and those who have a Hong Kong ID card can register directly, while those who have passed from the mainland will need a legal work visa.

These strategies have allowed KeeTa to accumulate a large number of riders in a short period of time.

KeeTa's subsidy to consumers is more in the form of KeeTa joint merchants to avoid shipping costs.

In Hong Kong, most takeaways will charge a shipping fee, and the shipping cost depends on factors such as weight and distance, but most of them cost dozens of yuan.

Compared to Foodpanda and Deliveroo, KeeTa's shipping costs are the least, usually only twenty or thirty yuan.

Shipping costs are already low, and KeeTa often gives them free of charge to consumers. For example, there is a rice noodle shop in Hong Kong called Tam Jai Sange, which often does activities on KeeTa, and can quickly get a bowl of rice noodles at home for only 35 yuan.

Of course, KeeTa doesn't necessarily have an advantage over Foodpanda and Deliveroo if it's just a cash-burning subsidy. What really made KeeTa win the first place in market share in a short period of time may be because Meituan let those overseas companies see a little involution shock.

KeeTa's overtime hours are just as good as Foodpanda's and Deliveroo's daily working hours. Ah Le said.

In the early years, the myth of Meituan's push of the Iron Army was once again staged in Hong Kong. In every street in Hong Kong, there are a different number of ground pushers, and these people have become the most solid foundation for KeeTa to expand its territory.

In addition to the roll staff, the roll rider is naturally essential.

According to Ale, the average delivery time between Foodpanda and Deliveroo is more than 50 minutes, while KeeTa has reduced the delivery time to around 25 minutes.

Meituan's delivery algorithm, which has been honed for years in the mainland, has also left Hong Kong riders trapped in the system.

Some time ago, Tian Tian participated in KeeTa's first delivery person exchange meeting, and many riders reported that the delivery time has become very demanding, and the same distance is about 50% shorter than half a year ago, and the infantry delivery time has been compressed to the limit.

Tian Tian also gave an example of KeeTa algorithm that is different from the other two, "KeeTa will do some spelling or stacking orders, that is, let you send several orders at the first time, and it will give you a map path for you to deliver." This piece can be said to maximize the use of the courier's time. ”

In terms of efficiency per unit of time, KeeTa can be said to be far ahead of competitors.

Now, the only downside to KeeTa is that it prefers to serve meals per person, and the average cost per meal is much lower than that of its main rival, Foodpanda. According to Measurable AI, KeeTa has the lowest average order price at around HK$102. In contrast, Foodpanda and Deliveroo have strong average selling prices, typically between HK$170 and HK$180 throughout the year.

This has also led to feedback from KeeTa riders that the pay for orders for the same distance is lower than that of other platforms. Especially after the Chinese New Year this year, KeeTa adjusted its algorithm, which led to the dissatisfaction of many full-time riders, and the average online time of riders dropped by about 30%.

According to Ah Le, although there are more people ordering takeaway in Hong Kong after the epidemic, the scale is still far inferior to that of the mainland. ”

The main reason is that Hong Kong's offline economy is already very developed. Residential areas or some houses are mostly around one subway station after another, and this has formed a business district, basically as long as you go downstairs to the business district, daily life can be done in one stop. In addition, Hong Kong still retains a very traditional telephone delivery habit. Even, a large part of the takeaway orders come from the merchant's own H5 and the F&B brand's own app.

As for whether KeeTa can replicate the situation in the mainland of Meituan, Tian Tian feels that it is difficult, "As long as it stops burning money subsidies, it will be thrown off by competitors immediately." ”

However, Lin Xiao, an employee of a KeeTa supplier, expressed a more optimistic view to Zhiwei, "It mainly depends on how well KeeTa's overall business is doing overseas." In fact, many Hong Kong food delivery users are foreigners, and a big reason why they use Foodpanda and Deliveroo is that these software are also available in their own countries, and they just continue to use them under inertia. If other countries also had KeeTa, the situation might not be the same. ”

In fact, Meituan's entry into Hong Kong is far more than just Hong Kong.  

According to people familiar with the matter, Meituan has already laid out overseas food delivery business two years ago. At the beginning, Southeast Asia was chosen, but considering the low penetration rate of online payments, the large number of small local languages, and some religious issues, at the end of 2022, the latter was finally chosen from Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

At that time, there was no name KeeTa, and the entire food delivery business was called Meituan Hong Kong, and it only had a front-end function, that is, it could place orders for takeaway, but there was no system to send orders to the store.

Meituan chose to cooperate with a well-known domestic catering SaaS company, which started as a food delivery system in Hong Kong, serving customers such as McDonald's, Domino's, KFC and other large restaurant chains.

The two sides hit it off, with Meituan KeeTa taking care of the front-end business, and the back-end fulfillment, ticketing, and meal delivery all handed over to the supplier.

According to Lin Xiao, local suppliers will connect the cash register system, kitchen system, and payment system, and Meituan only needs to do what it is best at delivery.

The latest news is that Meituan will launch KeeTa, an international food delivery platform in the Middle East, and Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, will be the first stop.

Ah Le also confirmed this to Zhiwei, and said that some colleagues from Hong Kong had been sent there.

Lin Xiao mentioned that KeeTa will most likely adopt the Hong Kong approach and choose to cooperate with local suppliers, which is also the benefit of the Hong Kong experience.

"I think the advantage of KeeTa is the product capability, and its management model, whether it is managing merchants or managing riders, it is definitely stronger than those overseas platforms. The disadvantages are definitely the local environment and some policies and religions. ”

For example, Meituan's SaaS business team in the United States is estimated to have slowed down a lot because of Tiktok.

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