Meituan played the "Must-Eat List" card

Author | Liu Baodan

Editor | Zhou Zhiyu

From Xiaohongshu to Douyin, recommending local life has become a battleground for content platforms, and Meituan is reshaping its content influence, highlighting the importance of Dianping.

On June 27th, the "Must-Eat List" for 2024 was officially announced in Beijing by Dianping, with 119 cities listed, the first time that the number of cities listed exceeded 100; there were 2,797 listed restaurants, 735 more than last year, the highest number of restaurants listed on the "Must-Eat List" at one time.

Unlike previous years when the number of listed restaurants fluctuated, the number of listed restaurants on Dianping's "Must-Eat List" has been rapidly increasing in the past two years, with over 2,000 new listings each year and a growth rate of over 35%. This also means that user attention to Dianping is increasing.

Zhang Chuan, Senior Vice President of Meituan, stated that the baseline criteria for cities selected for the list has not changed, with the number of reviews on Dianping increasing by 200% compared to last year, indicating that more people are traveling and willing to write reviews.

Through the core competitiveness of the "Must-Eat List," reshaping the external perception of Dianping's content, aligns well with Meituan's current focus on content.

Since content platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou, and Xiaohongshu entered the local life scene, Meituan's sense of crisis has been deepening, and the emphasis on content has reached an unprecedented level. In addition to last year's focus on promoting short videos and live streaming on the Meituan app, Dianping is also a key focus.

In fact, since 2018, Dianping has been attempting content transformation, whether through product adjustments or planned changes in name and product form, but due to reasons such as insufficient investment, these attempts have not been successful. According to Quest Mobile data, in April 2023, Dianping had a monthly active user base of 121 million, far from the traffic scale of Douyin and Xiaohongshu.

However, the situation at Dianping is expected to change.

In February of this year, Meituan underwent its largest organizational restructuring in recent years, with Dianping, SaaS, cycling, power bank, and other businesses to be overseen by Meituan's Senior Vice President Zhang Chuan. In an email, Wang Xing stated that commercial product design and system construction are the fundamental capabilities that Zhang Chuan will urgently need to develop for businesses such as Dianping.

In fact, Zhang Chuan joined Meituan in 2017 and briefly oversaw Dianping at the beginning of his tenure. By the end of 2022, Zhang Chuan had already taken over Dianping. After this adjustment, Zhang Chuan can now focus more on Dianping's business, and Dianping's positioning will be further clarified, focusing on expanding content influence.

"Comprehensive in five dimensions, after 6 months of modeling, analysis, credibility verification, shortlisting announcement, and institutional notarization." According to Zhang Xuejiao, the person in charge of the Dianping Must-Eat List selection team, the team consists of algorithm experts, data engineers, and product managers.

Zhang Chuan stated that Dianping's future slogan is to not only recommend but also to weed out, with the core of weeding out being authenticity, which is also the user's impression of Dianping. He mentioned that Dianping has already tried to introduce AI large models to help users find restaurants and order dishes more effectively "The Must-Eat List" is the content IP that Dianping wants to establish. This is just the beginning. With more and more competitors facing Meituan, Dianping must also take on the responsibilities of a content platform.

The following is a transcript of the discussion (edited):

Question: Today, many small shops are listed on the Must-Eat List. Coupled with the popularity of "reverse tourism" in low-tier cities this year, how do you view the trend of some seemingly non-mainstream reverse consumption this year?

Zhang Chuan: Let me first talk about small shops. We can see that although these small shops are small, they have been operating on Meituan and Dianping for a long time. This year, because more of our users visit these small shops, leaving more review data on the platform, we have seen more lively small shops on our list.

Why are many of these small shops located in small cities? This is what we call reverse tourism. Previously, when people traveled, there was more emphasis on sightseeing and less on dining. Now, the emphasis on dining is increasing. So it's not entirely "reverse tourism." I understand that these people prefer a "leisurely trip" and enjoy experiencing local life.

Dianping has an interesting data point. We see that the best-performing type of tourism is short-distance trips, where people go out for half a day or a day and a half. This is a leisurely lifestyle, not a completely tight schedule, which is a suitable way of travel for the future in China.

Question: There are many small shops on this year's list. What is the relationship between this and the decrease in consumer spending power?

Zhang Xuejiao: It's actually a change in consumer habits. This year, users also choose large restaurants, but they dine out more frequently, are more willing to go out, and are more willing to spend time trying out small shops. However, even large restaurants that have been on the list for five or eight years continue to thrive. This year, we just saw a batch of popular small shops emerge.

Question: The number of cities on the list has doubled this year, and there are also a large number of restaurants on the list. Why has there been such an increase, and has Dianping adopted any strategies?

Zhang Chuan: First of all, our number of reviews has increased by 200% compared to last year. We select cities to release the list based on the number of reviews. The selection of cities has a baseline standard, which has not changed. Secondly, we see more people traveling and more people willing to write reviews. These changes are brought about by users, and we did not intentionally force these cities to be included. There is an accumulation of time and changes in user behavior.

Question: To what extent does the Must-Eat List reflect this year's consumption trends and economic situation?

Zhang Chuan: China's catering industry exceeded five trillion for the first time last year, reaching 4.78 trillion in 2019. So, the overall scale of China's catering industry, the social catering industry, is continuing to grow, which is a positive phenomenon we see. The catering industry is increasingly returning to heritage, innovation, and essence. Restaurants that focus on the essence of ingredients are becoming more and more popular among users and are increasingly favored on the Must-Eat List.

As the catering industry grows, many people face difficulties in operation because they have not adapted to changes in user demand and market changes, and have not truly returned to the essence of heritage.

Returning to the essence of users is the true essence of the Must-Eat List. We see that social dining is gradually replacing eating at home, and this is irreversible. The catering industry will only get better, with more and more chains, cheaper prices, a greater variety of food categories that people pursue, and these changes will lead to differentiation in the catering industry, which is the overall trend Q: Many restaurants on this year's must-eat list are priced at less than 100 yuan. What is the average change in customer spending compared to previous years for these listed restaurants?

Zhang Xuejiao: Delicious food doesn't have to be expensive. This year, there are over 500 fast food vendors, with most of them priced at 50 yuan or below. When considering both formal dining and fast food, 70% of vendors are priced below 100 yuan. Overall, the frequency of dining out has increased, and customers are more inclined to choose restaurants with better value for money.

Q: Will Meituan encourage listed restaurants to participate in new initiatives? How can more merchants improve their online operations?

Zhang Chuan: At the core of this question is the fact that online presence is a major part of the restaurant industry. Out of China's 5 trillion yuan restaurant industry, after deducting 1 trillion for group dining, there are 4 trillion left. 1 trillion is for food delivery, leaving 3 trillion for dine-in. Currently, the online penetration rate for dine-in is close to 15%, with a rapid growth rate in the past two years. When combined with the 1 trillion food delivery sector, the overall online penetration is close to 30%. When online penetration reaches around 30%, the online aspect cannot be ignored in this industry. Whether it's live streaming, group buying, or food delivery operations, these are essential areas to focus on and are core parts of operations.

Furthermore, for all restaurants in their development process, branding is crucial. On one hand, branding helps preserve traditional elements, and on the other hand, when expanding chains, it's easier to spread through online channels, reaching more people.

Q: With multiple traffic platforms focusing on local life, activities such as check-ins, reviews, and exploration videos are becoming more common on some platforms. How does Dianping ensure that its influence is not diluted by other platforms?

Zhang Chuan: All users' impression of Dianping can be summed up in two words - authenticity. Dianping's future slogan is to not only promote, but also to weed out. The core of weeding out is authenticity, which is very difficult to replace in people's minds.

Zhang Xuejiao: Last year, we conducted a full-year verification of all the merchants listed on the must-eat list, supervising their credibility. Nine must-eat list merchants were delisted last year due to credibility issues. What we do most is to adhere to "authenticity," hoping to show users genuine reviews on the platform and present a truly deserving list.

Q: Apart from authenticity, in terms of content, as we enter the era of short videos, many people are accustomed to watching short videos and live streams. Will there be any new developments in terms of traffic or content innovation?

Zhang Chuan: When browsing reviews, you will notice that the information feed includes both text and many videos. The proportion of videos has increased significantly compared to last year, and we insist on the authenticity of both videos and reviews.

Q: This year, there is a lot of interest in county-level consumption. However, counties themselves tend to have close-knit communities. Will it be more challenging to promote rankings in counties?

Zhang Xuejiao: In this year's evaluation, we did discover many hidden gems in county areas. One category that left a deep impression on me is surrounding tourist destinations, such as Wushan in Chongqing and Dujiangyan in Chengdu. It is indeed observed that tourism consumption in these areas is driving improvement. Additionally, with economic development, more counties are introducing large shopping malls and industrial facilities, leading to population migration.

Q: How does the must-eat list regulate and maintain the credibility of the rankings when listed businesses experience a decline in quality, user complaints, or issues with reputation? Zhang Xuejiao: There are three typical issues with credibility. One is that merchants disrupt the platform's order, such as inducing positive reviews. The platform invests a lot in credibility operations and research and development. Service personnel will listen to user complaints and analyze them one by one. We have a complete identification of violations. When discovered, we will promptly delist the violating merchants. Last year, nine merchants were delisted throughout the year, and this year there will also be year-round supervision and control.

Question: Other platforms also release rankings to leverage local life businesses. Will the Must-Eat List be linked to Meituan's in-store business? Will new merchants on the list be guided to create group-buying packages?

Zhang Chuan: Definitely, the businesses are interconnected. When creating a ranking, first, the user's needs and positioning must be very clear; second, it must be fair and just. Third, the ranking should bring value to merchants and users. Data shows that the Must-Eat List can bring merchants 50% to 80% growth. Bringing value to merchants is essential for them to acknowledge it.

Question: AI large models have been very popular this year. Compared to previous years, what applications or innovations does AI have in Dianping?

Zhang Xuejiao: In a city like Xiangyang, it was previously difficult to see what restaurants users liked. There is a famous snack, beef noodles, with two types of tags in the review section. One is having breakfast and drinking yellow wine, and the other is having a lot of bean sprouts. These two tags are discovered through algorithms and models. These two tags are very unique. Drinking yellow wine in the morning is something out-of-town tourists find novel, while locals talk about having a lot of bean sprouts.

Zhang Chuan: The ultimate goal is to solve the difficulty users face in finding restaurants and ordering food. AI can achieve this, and we are working on it. One feature is to extract very short summaries from all historical reviews, which are very clear and effective, providing significant help to users. We are currently experimenting in Guangzhou and overseas. Once it is fine-tuned, we will promote it nationwide