On August 28, Meituan released its second-quarter and half-year report for 2024. The financial report shows that the company's revenue in the first half of the year was 155.527 billion yuan, an increase of 22.9% over the same period last year, continuing the previous steady growth trend. Among them, Meituan's core local business achieved double-digit growth, with both the number of users and merchants reaching record highs.

The high-quality revenue growth is attributed to two factors: First, as the supply of various businesses continues to enrich, user stickiness continues to strengthen. On the other hand, under the adjustment of organizational structure, Meituan's local life businesses are being connected, further stimulating the consumption potential of members, enhancing user stickiness, and promoting cross-synergy between different categories.

Of course, revenue growth is not the whole story of this financial report. Through changes in financial report data, we can clearly perceive that Meituan is getting closer and closer to its mission.

As the platform's supply becomes richer and more diverse, Meituan can not only cover more service scenarios for users but also more accurately meet the differentiated needs of each user, truly achieving the goal of "helping everyone eat better and live better."

/ 01 / Revenue growth remains steady

In terms of the second quarter alone, Meituan's revenue was 82.25 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21%, exceeding market estimates of 80.42 billion yuan. Among them, core local business revenue was 60.7 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.5%, and new business revenue was 21.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 28.7%.

Breaking down the business structure, Meituan's core local business revenue in the second quarter of 2024 came from 23 billion yuan in delivery services, 22.11 billion yuan in commission income, 12.263 billion yuan in online marketing services, and 3.289 billion yuan in other services and sales (including interest income).

Behind the steady revenue growth is the deepening stickiness of Meituan to users and merchants. From operational data, Meituan continued to optimize platform supply in the second quarter, with the number of annual active users and merchants reaching record highs again, and the annual average transaction frequency of annual transaction users achieving sustained growth for 15 consecutive quarters since mid-2020.

Specifically, in terms of home delivery business, Meituan's instant delivery orders in the second quarter were approximately 6.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 14.2% and a quarter-on-quarter increase of 12.9%.

This is due to the continuous improvement of cost-effectiveness in food delivery business, further enhancing user stickiness, user scale, and purchase frequency.

Meituan Flash's business grew strongly. In the second quarter, Meituan collaborated with more retail brands in fast-moving consumer goods, apparel, liquor, beverages, and other sectors, meeting the immediate needs of more consumers in different scenarios such as festivals, travel, and camping trips. The annual number of transaction users and annual average transaction frequency achieved steady growth again. Among them, the innovative liquor retail model "Waima Deliver Alcohol" achieved strong GTV growth this quarter.

The store-based hotel and travel business benefited from the arrival of the traditional peak consumption season, achieving steady growth again. In the second quarter, the number of orders for store-based hotel and travel business increased by more than 60% year-on-year, the number of annual transaction users increased by nearly 35% year-on-year, and the number of annual active merchants also reached a new high.

It can be seen that as competition in the local lifestyle sector eases, Meituan is embracing a round of high-quality growth. So, what has Meituan done right behind this high-quality growth?

/ 02 / What has Meituan done right?

Since the beginning of this year, Meituan has undertaken drastic reforms to its organizational structure. In February, Meituan initiated the largest organizational adjustment since its listing, integrating multiple businesses related to its core local commerce. Among them, two independent business groups, namely store-based and home delivery, as well as two platforms, namely Meituan and basic research and development, were integrated and managed under the unified leadership of Wang Puchong, Senior Vice President of Meituan.

A core purpose of this adjustment is to promote the integration of home delivery and store-based businesses, thereby enabling efficient collaboration between core local business segments.

An important manifestation is the comprehensive upgrade of the Super Membership product. Originating from the membership system of the food delivery business, the Super Membership now covers multiple categories such as food delivery services, food group purchases, hotel accommodations, leisure and entertainment, beauty and health, and family health.

The launch of the Super Membership product marks Meituan's first attempt to achieve a full-business perspective user operation that breaks down business barriers within the scope of its core commercial business. The connection between various businesses in the local lifestyle sector is of great significance for Meituan to enhance merchant and user stickiness.

With the integration of the membership systems for home delivery and store-based businesses, the value of membership becomes more prominent. For merchants, participating in Super Membership marketing is equivalent to capturing Meituan's most consumptive core high-quality users. They have strong consumption power and are keen to fulfill their daily needs for food, entertainment, and other aspects through the platform. In the recently released 2024 Q2 financial report, Meituan revealed that as of early July, the number of merchants participating in the "Super Membership" had reached 5 million.

The new Super Membership offers significant value, as it not only further stimulates the consumption potential of high-stickiness, high-value food delivery members but also creates more value for users, enhances their perception of low prices, and promotes cross-synergy between different categories, driving low-frequency transactions with high-frequency ones.

In terms of data, there is still a certain gap between Meituan's user activity and that of super apps such as Douyin and Taobao. This gap, however, also presents an opportunity. For Meituan, there is still significant room for improvement in user frequency, which is an important growth driver for a considerable period.

The Super Membership will become a core tool for the platform to lock and increase user frequency. The company disclosed that the Super Membership will be further rolled out nationwide in July, and it is expected that in the second half of the year, under the stimulation of the Super Membership connecting both store-based and home delivery businesses, Meituan's various businesses will continue to grow.

In the long run, with product innovation and business synergy emerging, Meituan will not only continue to strengthen the mindset of users and merchants but also create space for subsequent efficiency improvements.

/ 03 / Seeing Meituan's social value from its corporate mission

What is the underlying logic behind Meituan's business iteration, from accurately grasping user needs to product innovation? To answer this question, we must return to Meituan's mission.

Meituan's mission is "to help everyone eat better and live better." This concept is directly reflected in Meituan's business.

Whether it's store-based or home delivery services, one thing Meituan has consistently done is to provide users with more and better options in the field of lifestyle services. Take food delivery as an example. As a flexible and convenient lifestyle choice, food delivery has become an indispensable part of many people's lives and work.

To some extent, the business evolution of Meituan is closely related to this main line.

On the one hand, Meituan continuously optimizes its existing businesses. For example, Meituan Food Delivery's "Brand Satellite Stores" welcomed the addition of brands such as Laoxiangji and Haidilao this quarter, providing services such as commission rebates, traffic support, and operational guidance to more merchants. By the end of June, 120 brands had opened more than 800 satellite stores nationwide. In terms of logistics and distribution, Meituan optimized delivery routes and schedules through an intelligent dispatching system, improving delivery efficiency and service quality.

In addition, Meituan is continuously meeting people's various needs in life through business expansion. For example, the development of the Flash business is a natural extension of the food delivery business. Expanding from food delivery to a wide range of items, the Flash business now covers categories such as medicine and family planning products, supermarket chains, convenience stores, fresh fruits and vegetables, 3C digital appliances, and flowers, greatly satisfying users' diverse needs.

This trend is also evident in the group-buying business. In the second quarter, Meituan's group-buying business expanded into more cost-effective products and service categories. Stimulated by various holiday consumption and marketing activities in the second quarter, the GTV and order volume of leisure and entertainment products achieved year-on-year double-digit growth.

While these demands may seem straightforward, they require strong supply, fulfillment, and operational management capabilities to support.

Take Meituan Pharmacy as an example. Currently, Meituan's instant retail network for pharmaceuticals covers 3,000 cities, counties, districts, and towns nationwide, connecting 250,000 pharmacies, of which 15,000 offer 24-hour services. These pharmacies stock over 80,000 types of medications and can deliver them within 30 minutes on average. Therefore, when medical insurance payments for online pharmacy purchases were recently launched in Beijing and other cities, Meituan immediately became one of the first pilot platforms in each location.

While meeting consumers' demand for quality and price, Meituan also drives the improvement of merchants' operational efficiency and scale benefits. In August, Meituan Pharmacy launched a new digital solution, the "HEALTH" growth model, aimed at helping pharmaceutical companies build brand influence and enhancing pharmacies' service efficiency.

Furthermore, Meituan Pharmacy's online medical insurance drug purchase service has been launched in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Qingdao, and other cities, covering dozens of pharmacy chain brands.

Over a longer period, Meituan continues to address the subtle needs of people's lives, enhancing efficiency in diverse consumption scenarios to make life more convenient and predictable. This is precisely where Meituan's greatest value lies.