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At the lobby of office buildings across China, you often see anxious Meituan riders on the phone with customers. They have very strict KPIs on delivery time and customer ratings – a system that keeps this large fleet functional and efficient.
Meituan is estimated to have millions of registered riders, and more than half a million active ones.
There are instances where they are so frustrated with the lost time that they jumped into the fray themselves, like this one:
It was later revealed that the rider was really in a rush, and the restaurant was indeed short-handed.
Riders have got talent
Apparently this was not the only time people were impressed by Meituan riders’ talent.
They can sing (on stage):
And dance (on the street):
Some of them can DJ as well:
In fact, on platforms such as Bilibili, Meituan riders have become a cultural phenomenon, with videos of them showcasing lots of different talent.
On Taobao, Meituan uniforms are quite popular:
Viral marketing?
There might be Meituan seeding some of these activities; however, it is highly likely that most of these are organic. Ultimately, when you have millions of migrant workers, you are bound to have many talented ones.
The customer facing nature and high visibility of working as a Meituan rider give many an opportunity they might otherwise not have.
Either way, very good way of increasing the publicity and buzz of Meituan as a platform.
One might ask, how about Alibaba-owned ele.me, the biggest competitor of Meituan. Well, the blue uniform of ele.me is in no way as shiny and cool as Meituan’s bright yellow.