What Does Luckin Coffee's Malaysia Launch Mean for Prices?

Luckin Coffee has entered Malaysia, opening two stores on the same day at Sunway Pyramid and Menara Eco City in Kuala Lumpur. It is the chain's second overseas market after Singapore, following a cooperation with local firm Dazhi Industries. Drinks are priced at 8 to 17 ringgit, with a 2.99 ringgit first-cup offer for new app members.

Local reaction was mixed. Some customers lined up on opening day, but others questioned value for money next to Cotti, Starbucks, and the homegrown chain Zus, which already dominate the market. Bestsellers such as Orange C Americano and Meteorite Latte were left off the Malaysian menu, and the small store count plus conservative product selection make rapid expansion a test.

Luckin Coffee has officially entered Malaysia, with two stores opening on the same day at Sunway Pyramid and Menara Eco City in Kuala Lumpur, seen as its second overseas market after Singapore. On opening day, many consumers lined up to try it out. With pricing of 8 to 17 ringgit and a 2.99 ringgit first-cup offer for new users, it appeared to continue the low-price strategy from its home market. Yet beneath the hype, local netizens questioned the value for money; Cotti, Starbucks and the local brand Zus had long dominated the market. What surprised domestic fans even more was that bestsellers such as Orange C Americano and Meteorite Latte did not appear on the local menu. With few stores and a conservative product selection, whether Luckin can gain a firm foothold in Malaysia amid fierce rivals has become the focus of attention.

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Last November, Luckin reached a cooperation intention with the Malaysian local company Dazhi Industries and signaled publicly that it would open multiple stores and rapidly expand its network locally in the first quarter of this year. Today, Luckin officially announced through multiple social platforms that two stores in Malaysia are opening simultaneously, marking that after Singapore, Luckin has captured its second overseas market.

On opening day, large numbers of customers who had heard the news gathered in front of the two new stores at Sunway Pyramid shopping mall and Menara Eco City in Kuala Lumpur, showing just how much local coffee lovers had been looking forward to Luckin.

The factors attracting locals to line up and pay were not only the novelty of an overseas brand, but also the fairly competitive drink pricing.

It is understood that Luckin's per-cup price range in Malaysia is 8 to 17 ringgit, roughly 13 to 27 yuan, a price even slightly lower than menu prices in markets such as Hong Kong and Singapore. If consumers register as members of the Luckin Malaysia App, they can also enjoy a first-cup benefit for new users at 2.99 ringgit (about 4.89 yuan).

However, after excitedly finishing their first cup of Luckin, many Malaysian netizens said frankly after browsing the menu that without coupons issued by the brand, Luckin Coffee's value for money is not attractive enough compared with other brands.

One netizen said bluntly: "cotti is more worth it, at this original price why not drink coffee bean zus," "I thought it could crush zus...," "Starbucks promotion prices are even more attractive than this."

According to local coffee lovers, before Luckin entered Malaysia, its old rival Cotti, which had established itself earlier, had already secured a solid position in consumers' minds through low-priced coffee. In addition, international chain Starbucks, which periodically launches price promotions, and the local coffee brand Zus are also alternatives many people consider when buying coffee daily.

They pointed out frankly that under the multi-front pressure from Starbucks, Cotti and local chain brands, if Luckin wants to win a place in Malaysia's coffee market, it will probably need to issue coupons on a large scale over the long term and maintain low-price discounts in order to keep customers repurchasing. In response, domestic Luckin fans offered a friendly interpretation, believing that long-term discounts have always been Luckin's strength. In their view, after the opening promotions end, Luckin will most likely continue to distribute large numbers of discount coupons to retain consumers.

Interestingly, some noticed that in the Luckin App menu shared by users, domestic hit drinks such as Orange C Americano and Meteorite Latte did not appear. The product variety on the entire menu was clearly limited, causing fans who could not drink their favorite items to lament that their expectations had not been met, saying bluntly, "all the good ones are missing."

However, some users analyzed that perhaps because the brand has only just entered the Malaysian market and has not yet figured out local consumers' taste preferences, it has offered a relatively conservative menu with limited choices. They speculated that Luckin will later selectively put some bestsellers that fit local demand on the menu to strengthen the brand's competitiveness in the coffee market.

In addition, some coffee consumers said that compared with existing chain brands in Malaysia, Luckin's number of stores is really too small, which is inconvenient for users who need caffeine every day to keep going, "I won't go out of my way to buy it, zus is everywhere, convenient."

Taking all the above together, onlookers expressed their own views one after another, believing that in Malaysia, surrounded by strong rivals, Luckin's entry this time will probably not be as easy as in Singapore to reap a large number of consumers. But more people still hold some expectations for it, believing that if Luckin can consistently maintain exciting discount strength, and from time to time launch regional limited-edition new products and broadly set up stores, winning local consumers' recognition may not be difficult.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.