What Would Luckin Coffee on Pinhaofan Mean for Prices?

Luckin Coffee is rumored to be joining Meituan Takeout's Pinhaofan group-ordering service, a platform known for below-market prices, and staff accounts differ. Stores in Xiamen, where Luckin is headquartered, are said to have quietly started trials with sales rising, though overtime and staffing pressure followed for employees. No official operational notice has been confirmed nationwide.

Pinhaofan lets users group-order with strangers to buy drinks and meals cheaply, so the already low 9.9 yuan cup could drop further. That is welcome news for coffee consumers, but store crews worry about a surge in orders and longer hours. The discussion also touches specialty coffee culture, since buyers ask whether quality control changes once prices fall.

Recently, news that Luckin is about to launch on Meituan's Pinhaofan has been spreading on social media, making many Luckin staff nervous and uneasy. Pinhaofan is a group-ordering service launched by Meituan Takeout, allowing users to buy drinks and meals at prices far below market rate, jokingly called the Pinduoduo of the takeout world. If Luckin really joins, the original 9.9 yuan coffee could drop even further, which is naturally good news for consumers, but store employees worry about the staffing pressure brought by a surge in orders. At present, staff in different regions give different accounts; Xiamen stores are said to have quietly begun trials, with sales clearly rising, but overtime problems have followed.

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Recently, news that Luckin is about to launch on Meituan's Pinhaofan has been spreading on social media, making many Luckin staff nervous and uneasy.

It is understood that Pinhaofan is a group-ordering service launched by Meituan Takeout, allowing users to randomly group-order with strangers, thereby buying drinks and meals at below-market prices, such as single-digit milk tea and boxed meals for just over ten yuan. For this reason, Pinhaofan has been jokingly called the Pinduoduo of the takeout world by many netizens, and is the first choice for many takeout users seeking value for money.

Now there is news that Luckin will join the ranks of Pinhaofan merchants, which means the already affordable 9.9 yuan coffee is very likely to drop further in price, undoubtedly good news for the vast number of coffee consumers. Many netizens who heard about this have been asking Luckin staff across the country when the brand will officially join Pinhaofan, what price users can buy a cup of Luckin drink for, and whether quality control will change after the price cut.

However, regarding this rumor, Luckin staff give inconsistent accounts. Those who just heard the news are confused, saying their stores have not received any relevant operational notice and believing the online rumor is unreliable. But others posted screenshots of group chats they had received earlier, saying that Luckin stores in some cities will begin trials and that the news is not groundless.

Among them, a staff member in Xiamen, where Luckin's headquarters is located, revealed that the brand seems to have quietly joined Meituan's Pinhaofan as early as half a month ago, and drink prices are indeed lower than usual. But Pinhaofan offers consumers fewer product options, currently only a few regular drinks such as standard Americano and Panda Meteor Latte, and the official side may later add other best-selling products depending on the situation.

More affordable drink prices naturally attract local consumers to place orders. According to Xiamen Luckin staff, since the brand joined Pinhaofan, orders at some stores have clearly increased, and combined with the large number of orders pouring in from the takeout platform, some stores have gone from originally selling two to three hundred cups a day to seven to eight hundred cups, with product sales visibly rising.

However, although stores are selling more drinks because the brand keeps adjusting its takeout operating model, Luckin staff report that their stores still suffer from understaffing. They say that once platform promotions cause a surge in store orders, they cannot clock off on time that day and can only helplessly work unpaid overtime in the store. "Who understands! Closing at nine, working until after eleven," "Just worked two hours of unpaid overtime yesterday," "Closing at ten, only got off work at one in the morning."

Therefore, upon hearing that Luckin will subsequently roll out Pinhaofan across the board and may also join the recently hot "zero-yuan takeout purchase" campaign, many Luckin employees look troubled, worried that they will collapse at some moment due to a surge in takeout orders. Some say outright that now whenever they hear the notification sound of an incoming takeout order, their scalp tingles, and they beg the brand not to add them any more takeout orders than they can handle.

Image source: Xiaohongshu

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