Following the news that Chinese food delivery giant Meituan’s earnings highlighted growth following its shift to a ‘Retail + Technology’ strategy, and that it recorded a year-on-year total revenue increase of 56% after expanding its online food delivery services to operate as an ecommerce retailer;

Shabnam Pervez (MBPsS), an Analyst on the Thematic Research Team at GlobalData, offers her view:

“Thanks to lockdowns, online shopping has become such a natural way to buy, especially when it comes to food deliveries. A series of five quarterly surveys* by GlobalData (between Q1 2021 and Q1 2022) revealed that people have consistently bought food online, with an average of 56%. It is, therefore, of no surprise that Meituan’s retail-technology strategy has reaped them rewards.

“Implementing online services has fast-tracked ecommerce sales growth, with the global ecommerce market growing from $86 billion in 2010 to a huge $178 billion in 2020, according to GlobalData. The key to this growth has been the further spread of the internet, with the number of users worldwide increasing from 847 million in 2010 to 4.9 billion as of January 2022.

“As consumer spending continues to shift from physical stores to online channels, ecommerce platforms such a Meituan will remain the fastest-growing area of retail. COVID-19 significantly accelerated the shift in online retail, and GlobalData estimates that the global ecommerce market will be worth $400 billion in 2023 because of this.

“As online retail markets become saturated, ecommerce giants will rush to grab market share in emerging digital economies. The future is looking bright for ecommerce platforms like Meituan, as online ordering will always retain its relevancy.”