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Meituan founder and CEO Wang Xing says the company is unafraid of the challenges presented by current competitor Alibaba. And, he says, since the company is looking to expand its reach further into the travel and accommodation vertical, Meituan is likely to also ready to face down Chinese leader Ctrip. The angle worth noting here is that, despite the competitive rhetoric from Meituan, Priceline Group's backing is perhaps another illustration of the U.S. company's desire to place its fingerprints over a number of likely dominant players in the Chinese market given its existing investment in Ctrip. What is so different about the strategy in China being adopted by Meituan (and Alibaba) to elsewhere is the cross-vertical focus, with platforms positioning themselves to become lifestyle brands that give consumers travel products alongside everything else that they might need. For its part, Todd Henrich, global head of corporate development of the Priceline Group, says: "Our commercial relationship between Agoda and Meituan-Dianping will help each company benefit from the other's expertise and capitalize on the opportunities presented by China's exceptionally large travel market." It's a heady mix of products for Meituan - alongside cosmetics, consumers might find vacation or short-term apartment rentals, or ride-hailing services, as well as traditional travel booking tools. Read Original Article |
