It’s no longer a secret for Chinese people:
If you want to save money when visiting a restaurant, the best way to do so is to use your smartphone. The Dianping rating and discount app not only helps you locate bars, cafes, and hair salons but also offers a points system that allows Internet users to quickly and comprehensively rate the quality and service.
Tian Lü Hui Zhuan Shousi, which in English means “green sushi restaurant with a conveyor belt”, is the name of the restaurant that Nena Liu, a student from Chongqing, and her fellow students have chosen to eat at this evening. It is located in the Shanpingba district near her university campus, is not too expensive and the reviews from other users suggest that the restaurant has a good reputation. But the best thing is: that by downloading voucher codes, Nena and her friends can save over 50% on the total price.
After dinner, Nena and her friends decide to go to the cinema. Here, too, Dianping, a student from Chongqing, is the first choice. She clicks on “Entertainment” and finds a selection of KTVs, bars, cafes, and cinemas. UME, a large Chinese cinema chain, is currently showing “Night at the Museum Part 3”, a film that the three fellow students have wanted to see for a long time.
They feel vindicated by the consistently positive reviews and the low price. The students pay RMB 15 (about €2) each for their tickets. Dianping offers special discounts for small groups. Nena is completely satisfied: “We would have had to pay more than four times as much at the box office.”
Services in 2300 cities
In terms of the number of users, Dianping Chinese has been in the fast lane for some time: According to research by the news platform Technode, the app has over 170 million registered users, 130 million of whom log in at least once a month — a whopping increase of 86 percent compared to the previous year (as of Q3 2014). The main reason for Dianping’s increasing popularity is its availability: In total, services can be used via the app in around 2,300 cities.
And not just in metropolises like Shanghai, Beijing or Chongqing. Whether it’s vacation trips, restaurants, hotels, or hairstyles – there seem to be hardly any limits to the use of Dianping at the moment. A lot has also happened in the past few months when it comes to billing: The possibility of using WeixinPay, the payment system of China’s most popular messaging app WeChat, offers additional incentives.
Other apps offer even more extensive discount promotions
Is Dianping alone in China with its concept? In recent years, several alternatives have become established, such as Meituan Chinese. For several years now, the network sponsored by Alibaba has been attracting attention with even more extensive discount campaigns and additional features. Meituan, like the communications portal Ele.me, which was launched in 2011, offers the option of having food delivered directly to your home.
The Yelp platform, which is popular in the USA and Europe, has no chance in China due to strong domestic competition. Nena believes: “If we want to go to a bar or the cinema on Friday night, Dianping offers us a lot of advantages.”