'Price war discounts raging online> cut-price food delivery apps'
http://www.thestar.com.my/Tech/Tech-News/2015/10/09/Hungry-Chinas-food-delivery-apps-bite-into-Yum-revival/ Hungry? China's food delivery apps bite into Yum revival October 9, 2015 — Reuters [image / Reuters http://www.thestar.com.my/~/media/Images/TSOL/Photos-Upload/Technology/2015/10/09/ElemefooddeliveryRe.ashx Taking a bite out of fast food: An Ele.me food delivery courier on his electric bicycle along a street in Shanghai, China. A slowing economy and a rise in food delivery apps are putting the squeeze on fast food chains like Yum Brands Inc's KFC and Pizza Hut in China. ] SHANGHAI: As China's economy stutters, growing numbers of diners on a budget are tapping into smartphone applications to snap up meal delivery deals, spelling big trouble for fast food chains like Yum Brands Inc's KFC and Pizza Hut. People like Li Jiali, a 20-year-old Shanghai student, say they have all the dining options they need nestling in their phones, without needing to venture out of the house ... Li's Huawei smartphone is packed with cut-price food delivery apps from some of China's biggest Internet firms, like Baidu Inc's Waimai, Alibaba-linked Meituan and Tencent-backed Ele.me – meaning "Hungry?". These allow thousands of mom-and-pop restaurants to lure diners previously beyond their marketing reach. "On my phone I have Meituan, Baidu and Ele.me, and I use whichever one has the biggest discount," Li said. Baidu's platform is currently offering the best deals at around 40% off, she said, evidence of a price war raging online. Yum this week pointed the finger at a "savage battle" under way between apps ... whipsawed by food safety scandals and marketing missteps over the last few years ... Levelling out ... "Apps like this level the playing field so that every venue has its virtual spot that's equal," said Stone Shi, Shanghai-based founder and chief executive of restaurant search platform Bon App. "It used to about being a household name in one sector – pizza, pasta, fast food etcetera. Now people want to see what else is out there." ... "(Chinese) consumers now really watch what they are spending," said Edward Jones senior analyst Jack Russo ... online apps will continue to cause a drag in the market ... "These guys are only going to get busier in a down market." [© thestar.com.my 2015 Star Media] ... https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/takeaway Frequently used in the question “eat-in or takeaway?” (North American: “for here or to go?”) at restaurants that offer food for both on and off premise eating. For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-e-bike-delivered-to-go-take-aways-Yum-Good-for-mom-and-pop-tp4678087.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
