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meituan has made new progress in the middle east market.

on september 9, a reporter from the "daily economic news" learned that keeta, the overseas version of meituan takeout, has been quietly launched in al kharj, saudi arabia. public information shows that al kharj is located southeast of the saudi capital riyadh, only about 180 kilometers away from riyadh, and is an important agricultural center.

a source close to meituan waimai exclusively revealed to the reporter of "daily economic news" that the reason why al kharj was chosen as the first stop in saudi arabia was to "test the effect in a small place first." it is expected that keeta will be officially launched in riyadh, the capital of saudi arabia, next month.

after taking the top spot in market share in hong kong, china within a year, meituan wants to replicate its experience in hong kong operations in overseas markets. the importance of going overseas is also increasing within meituan.

since recruiting employees for multiple positions in riyadh, the capital of saudi arabia, in april this year, meituan waimai has made rapid progress in its layout in riyadh. in terms of overseas expansion, meituan’s senior management said in the second quarter conference call that it will continue to evaluate market opportunities in different regions, and overseas business is an indispensable part of its long-term development strategy.

keeta’s interface when it is located in alkaj image source: app screenshot

well-known saudi brands have launched keeta, with free delivery in the initial stage

after switching the keeta app to al kharj, the reporter of daily economic news found that it is now possible to order takeout through keeta in the region, including local saudi catering brands such as kudu (the largest sandwich chain in saudi arabia), herfy (a local hamburger restaurant in saudi arabia), as well as global chain brands such as starbucks, pizza hut, and burger king.

the reporter noticed that perhaps because the business has just been launched, the takeaway delivery fee of these merchants is currently free, while the original delivery fee is 15 saudi riyals (about rmb 28.45). how long can such a free delivery offer last? the above-mentioned source told the reporter that it is not convenient to disclose it for the time being.

it is worth mentioning that the reporter learned that before keeta went online, the delivery time of takeout in saudi arabia was almost one hour, and the local market has formed this habit. on the keeta platform, the delivery time of restaurants 1 km away is about 25 minutes, which may mean that meituan will greatly improve the delivery time of local takeout.

previously, relevant sources revealed to the reporter of "daily economic news" that keeta will take measures such as algorithm optimization and rider training to make some breakthroughs in the timeliness of local food delivery in saudi arabia. for example, local users can experience what it feels like to have their food delivered in half an hour.

according to local officials who previously revealed to reporters, meituan will focus on training a group of riders to see if they can make these riders work harder.

merchants on keeta image source: app screenshot

meituan takes its first step overseas

meituan’s progress in the middle east is much faster than expected.

it has only been five months since meituan started recruiting employees for multiple positions in riyadh, the capital of saudi arabia, in april this year and officially launched its app, which shows meituan's determination to expand overseas. the low-key launch in saudi arabia also means that meituan has taken the first step in its overseas expansion.

on august 23, meituan ceo wang xing released an internal email titled "the company's organization continues to iterate", announcing new progress in the organizational structure adjustment. according to the email, meituan's saas, cycling, power bank and other businesses were merged into "software and hardware services", which will be managed by zhang chuan; kuaidi, xiaoxiang, youxuan and other businesses were merged into "grocery retail", which will be managed by guo wanhuai; the overseas business was officially renamed keeta, which will be managed by qiu guangyu; the rest remains unchanged. meituan's overseas business has an official name for the outside world, and its strategic significance is obvious.

in the earnings call in june this year, wang xing further stated that he was studying and evaluating various markets around the world. in addition to the middle east, europe and southeast asia were also important areas of focus. but he also emphasized that going overseas would not just be about throwing money at it.

an insider of meituan previously analyzed to reporters that the market in riyadh itself may not be that large, and its value lies more in the fact that it is the company's first stop overseas. this is related to whether meituan takeout can replicate its experience and expand it to other places in the future.

"we hope to gain a deeper understanding of the local market and we will share some progress in due course. from a financial perspective, overseas business is included in the statistics of new business, and it is still relatively small at present. i believe that overseas business is an indispensable part of our long-term development strategy, and we will remain patient," said a meituan executive in a recent earnings call.

however, meituan still faces considerable challenges after its first truly overseas expansion. currently, there are two mainstream food delivery platforms in saudi arabia: one is the local brand jahez, and the other is hungerstation, a sub-brand of the international food delivery chain deliver in saudi arabia.

research data shows that the combined market share of jahez and hungerstation has reached 70%. will meituan compete head-on with local saudi players? after the middle east, what will be meituan's next target?

time will tell.

daily economic news