Meituan is one of China’s largest apps for local services: food delivery, groceries, restaurant deals, hotels, movie tickets, ride-hailing and shared bikes, all paid in the same app. Expats in China use it daily to order meals and groceries. Restaurants, shops and hotels sell through it, and its open platform lets them connect their own systems.
What can you do with Meituan?
Meituan gathers dining, food delivery, fresh food, hotels and travel, entertainment and transport in one app:
- Dining and food delivery: search nearby restaurants and order a meal, or buy supermarket goods and fresh produce. Orders can be followed, chased and refunded in the app, and paid online with promotions applied.
- Hotels and travel: book hotels from budget to high-end with real-time prices, as well as attraction tickets, group tours and train or plane tickets.
- Leisure and local services: movie tickets, KTV, massages, hairdressers and other services, often with group-buying discounts.
- Getting around: hail a taxi or unlock a Meituan Bike, the yellow shared bikes that replaced Mobike after Meituan acquired it in 2018 (see our article on bike sharing in China).
Who uses Meituan?
Chinese consumers in cities of every size, and foreigners living in China: our guide to the best apps for Shanghai puts Meituan among the food delivery apps to install on arrival. Merchants on the other side include restaurants, supermarkets, pharmacies, hotels and service providers. Meituan and Dianping, the review app, have belonged to the same group since their merger in 2015.
How does Meituan keep quality and delivery times?
Meituan screens the merchants it lists and runs an after-sales service for the problems customers meet. Its delivery network is dispatched by the “Super Brain” system, which plans riders’ routes in real time; Meituan also tests drones and autonomous vehicles for delivery. Recommendations of dishes and hotels are based on each user’s past orders and preferences.
What can a business do with the Meituan open platform?
The Meituan open platform gives developers and companies APIs and SDKs to connect to Meituan’s services, such as food delivery, group buying, dining reservations and delivery:
- Order management: software for restaurants can query, accept and manage Meituan orders without the merchant switching screens.
- Store and order data: merchants analyze their orders to adjust their menu or launch targeted promotions.
- Inventory synchronization: a hotel group, for example, keeps its room availability in sync with Meituan through the APIs.
This kind of connection between your systems and a Chinese platform is what third-party integration (ERP, CRM, logistics) covers.
How QPSoftware can help
A restaurant group, a retailer or a hotel that sells on Meituan works faster when orders, menus and stock flow automatically between Meituan and its own POS, ERP or CRM. QPSoftware builds these connectors and the WeChat Mini Programs that often sit next to them. Learn more about our e-commerce integrations in China.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a foreign company sell on Meituan?
Meituan lists merchants that serve customers in China: restaurants, shops, hotels and service providers with a local business. A foreign brand usually sells on Meituan through its Chinese entity or through a local partner that runs the stores. Once the store is open, the Meituan open platform lets its systems connect to orders, menus and inventory.
Is Meituan available in English?
The Meituan app is designed for Chinese users and works in Chinese. Foreigners still use it every day for food delivery and groceries, with the help of the pictures, a translation app, and payment through WeChat Pay or Alipay. Ordering takes a few tries at first, then becomes routine.
How does Meituan differ from Dianping?
Both belong to the same group since their merger in 2015. Meituan is where people order and pay: food delivery, groceries, hotels, tickets and rides. Dianping is where people read and write reviews of restaurants, hotels and local businesses before choosing one, and where merchants build their reputation.