The development of Meituan (3690.hk) can be divided into three main phases:
Entrepreneurship and Group-Buying Competition (2010–2014)
Wang Xing founded Meituan in 2010, pioneering the group-buying model in China. Following the intense Thousand-Group War, Meituan emerged as a leader due to its operational efficiency and strategic execution. This phase established the company’s foundation in the local life services sector.
Business Expansion and Platform Development (2015–2017)
In 2015, Meituan merged with Dianping, creating a larger local services platform. The company rapidly expanded its business scope, officially entering the food delivery market and subsequently branching into hotel, travel, and in-store dining services. During this phase, Meituan transformed from a single-service group-buying site into a one-stop local life services platform.
Technology-Driven Innovation and Ecosystem Maturity (2018–Present)
The company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2018. Since then, Meituan has deepened its food delivery and real-time logistics networks while aggressively scaling retail businesses such as Meituan Select and Meituan Instashopping. The company continues to invest heavily in artificial intelligence, autonomous delivery, and drone technology, driving the digitalization and automation of life services and striving to build a retail-plus-technology ecosystem.
Meituan (3690.hk) faces intense competition in the local life services market. Below is an analysis of its competitors and competitive landscape across key business segments:
Competitive Landscape Analysis
| Business Segment | Key Competitors | Competitive Dynamics and Differentiation |
| Food Delivery | Alibaba (Ele.me) | A long-standing duopoly. Meituan maintains a lead through its superior delivery system and scale. Ele.me leverages the Alibaba ecosystem (Alipay, Taobao) for traffic integration and subsidy wars. |
| In-store/Travel | Douyin (ByteDance) | Douyin aggressively captures market share in in-store dining and hotel bookings by converting traffic via short videos and live streaming. Meituan counters by focusing on merchant fulfillment experience and its service ecosystem. |
| Instant Retail | Alibaba, JD.com | A tripartite battle shifting toward the Everything to Home trend. Meituan strengthens fulfillment efficiency through self-operated models and third-party partnerships (e.g., flash warehouses), while Alibaba bolsters Taobao Instashopping and offline retail. |
Key Competitive Trends (2026)
- Rationalization of Subsidies: Following years of aggressive food delivery subsidies that pressured financials, 2026 sees stricter regulation and a shift toward long-term investment in infrastructure and service quality over pure price wars.
- Traffic Conversion Challenges: Content platforms like Douyin and Kuaishou have altered consumer decision-making paths through short-video recommendations, pressuring Meituan to transition from search-based consumption to recommendation-based consumption.
- Instant Fulfillment (Everything to Home): Instant retail is a critical battlefield. Meituan is enhancing its fresh produce retail capabilities through acquisitions (e.g., Dingdong Maicai) to consolidate last-mile delivery efficiency, while facing direct challenges from JD.com and Alibaba’s logistics networks.
- Technological Moats: Meituan continues to invest in drones, autonomous delivery, and AI dispatch systems to reduce labor costs and improve service stability, forming a core barrier against capital-intensive subsidy competition.
Summary
Meituan’s strength lies in its deep real-time delivery network and comprehensive national life services ecosystem. However, it faces encroachment from Douyin at the traffic entry point and strong resistance from Alibaba and JD.com in retail and fulfillment. In 2026, Meituan’s primary objective is to maintain market share while controlling subsidy expenditures, aiming to improve its profit structure through technological upgrades and ecosystem synergy (Retail + Technology).
Source:
- https://www.meituan.com/
- https://www.hkex.com.hk/Market-Data/Securities-Prices/Equities/Equities-Quote?sym=3690&sc_lang=zh-HK
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