Meituan’s Keeta, one of China’s largest food delivery platforms, is now the third-biggest platform of this kind in Saudi, too, in just four months following its overseas launch. Its aggressive, price-slashing strategies are seen as credits for this, squeezing smaller players and challenging the bigger platforms in the lucrative Middle Eastern market, which could inspire others to carry out the same.
It was only in October when Keeta launched in the Middle Eastern nation, but already taking over 10 percent of the country’s food delivery market in terms of order volume, the business community has evaluated.
As of January, its market share has overtaken that of over 10 smaller delivery apps, challenging the domination of the country’s two trusted platforms, Jahez and HungerStation.
Keeta is introducing new perks for its new Saudi market. For instance, the platform is offering vouchers upon sign-up and waiving delivery fees for orders since entering the region. The potential to compete with leading Middle Eastern food delivery peers, such as Careem, Talabat, and Deliveroo, is there.
At the same time, Keeta is also continually expanding locally. In Hong Kong, where its headquarters are nearby, it has launched the “Triple Feast” initiative, which offers discounts to both new and existing users.
Users can avail of a savings voucher for only, get this, $0.01, which they can use alongside merchant discounts and delivery fee offers.
Alongside, Keeta is also offering a flexible and user-friendly experience that automatically refunds users if none of the package’s vouchers are used, but expiring in about a month.
New to the platform? Fantastic. You can enjoy an exclusive $13 discount on your first delivery order. Meanwhile, existing users can get their limited-time $6.43 discount. What more could you ask for?
Once again, Keeta is in third place in the Saudi Arabian food delivery market. Courageous as it is, it has the goal of becoming number one in the country as soon as possible, people working for Keeta stated.
The biggest food delivery platform in China, Meituan is a shopping platform for locally found consumer products and retail services, which include entertainment, dining, delivery, travel, and other services.
It is among the slew of Chinese tech giants expanding overseas, following the footsteps of other Chinese brands, such as TikTok. Founded in 2010, the company now has 500 million active users yearly in mainland China. Its first venture outside the mainland Chinese market is in Hong Kong in May 2023. In early 2024, Meituan moved Keeta directly under its helm.
“Due to the stress in the local economy, many Chinese companies are starting to realize that it is promising to replicate their successful business model in China to other places. Meituan is one of them,” Mandy Hu, a Hong Kong consumer expert told the media.