Meituan Dianping sees surge in bike-sharing, but don’t call it a comeback
- Users of Meituan Bike are recently taking longer rides, with the nationwide average distance at 1.5 kilometres per trip
Meituan Dianping, China’s leading e-commerce platform for services, has recorded an upturn in its bike-sharing business, as more commuters shift away from crowded modes of transport amid the coronavirus crisis.
“Because of the pandemic, many people prioritised sharing bikes over public transportation,” Meituan said in a statement. “We are seeing an increasing number of bikers choosing to ride bikes directly to their destination without transfer to other means of transportation.”
The total amount of bike-sharing rides nationwide during the first work week in March was up 86 per cent from the same period two weeks ago, and rose 94 per cent compared with the week-long Lunar New Year holiday period, according to a recent report by Meituan Bike. In Beijing, the daily average growth of rides was up 187 per cent, compared with the Lunar New Year week.
Users are also riding bikes for a longer period, the report said. The nationwide average for riding distance was 1.5 kilometres during that week in March, up 24.7 per cent from two weeks ago. User orders for trips of more than 3 kms were also double from the same period two months ago.
Hong Kong-listed Meituan declined to provide comparable data from the same period a year ago.
Analysts, however, said Meituan’s data merely showed a temporary bump for that market.
“After the pandemic, the bike-sharing industry’s performance is likely to return to the previous level,” said Sun Naiyue, an analyst with Chinese research firm Analysys.
“If they compare the March data with the one during Lunar New Year, it will certainly rise because people stayed at home during the public holiday and during the lockdown of cities,” Sun said. “The people using shared bikes now are likely to go back using four-wheeled vehicles because they want a more comfortable and efficient ride.”
Bike-sharing took off in China in late 2016 with dozens of start-ups deploying millions of bicycles on city pavements, funded by billions of dollars in venture capital money. This market growth, however, cooled down as dozens of Chinese cities – including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen – barred operators from putting more new bikes on the streets, which led to a swift consolidation.
“With the weather turning warmer, the user experience in bike-sharing will be compromised,” said Wang Xiaohui, deputy dean at the Institute of Internet Industry in Tsinghua University. “Bike-sharing doesn’t have a price advantage over public transport, so the industry’s performance will not improve [in the long term].”
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