On October 28th, Shenzhen Window of the World and Splendid China, two 5A-level scenic spots, announced a cooperation with Meituan UAV, which will open the country’s first scenic spot pop-up drone convenience store from now until November 6th. In the scenic area, you can use your mobile phone to order takeaways. After the merchants have taken out the meal, the drone can deliver the meals to the tourists in the scenic area in 5-8 minutes.
The first scenic spot pop-up drone convenience store in China located at the Window of the World (Photo: Chen Shu)
Previously, traditional take-out delivery services could not directly deliver goods outside the scenic area to the scenic area, and tourists who ordered take-out had to walk to the entrance of the scenic area to pick it up. With the addition of drones, both convenience and delivery speed have been greatly improved. The reporter saw at the scene that this pop-up store is located in the Window of the World Scenic Area, covering an area similar to that of other snack shops in the scenic area. It’s actually a large smart dining cabinet with a drone landing spot on top. A system architect of the UAV department of Meituan told reporters that the UAV used this time is a third-generation product, with a take-off weight of 8.5 kg and a maximum load of about 2.5 kg.
Staff take meals
Drones deliver meals at the Window of the World (Photo: Wind Music)
On the same day, the pop-up store provided drinks and desserts to choose from. After the reporter placed the order, the merchants outside the scenic area prepared the meals and delivered them to the take-off point by the courier. The drone landed on the Window of the World Express in just 5 minutes. Pop up the store and put the takeaway into the smart cabinet, and the staff only needs to take out the takeaway below. The reporter noticed that the business that provided meals this time was located on the Happy Coast, and the straight-line distance from the pop-up store was about 3.2 kilometers. If it takes more than 30 minutes for manual delivery, the delivery time will be greatly shortened with the use of drones.
Consumers take meals
According to the reporter’s understanding, the drone landing point currently set up in the scenic spot covers an area of about 3-4 square meters. Under normal conditions, it can provide tourists with goods within a radius of 3 kilometers, and the delivery time is up to 15 minutes. Meituan revealed that in the later stage, it will launch normal operation routes in the Window of the World scenic area. It is expected that 2 to 3 drone landing points will be set up in the scenic area. At that time, tourists will use the Window of the World applet to place orders, and they will be placed in the scenic area. You can receive takeaway at the landing point. The types of catering will be further expanded to cover businesses around the scenic area.
The cooperation between Window of the World Scenic Area and Meituan has a long history. Window of the World said that the introduction of drones to deliver food in scenic spots is an innovative attempt to integrate technology into tourism consumption scenarios. Meituan said that in recent years, take-out services have become increasingly perfect. Many consumers will purchase necessities such as toiletries through take-out near destinations such as hotels and scenic spots when they go out, and even purchase warmth and change of clothes through take-out. Meituan data shows that the number of takeaway orders sent to scenic campsites during the National Day holiday this year increased by more than double digits year-on-year.
Wu Ruoshan, a special researcher at the Tourism Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that with the upgrading of various commercial formats, leisure vacations and local living needs are moving towards integration. In the long run, consumers will gradually become a new trend of travel consumption by tapping the rich supply of local platforms to obtain more diversified life experiences, and the new experience will also effectively help the recovery of the tourism industry.
According to Hong Kai, the relevant person in charge of Meituan drones, Meituan has reached cooperation with dozens of brands in Baiguoyuan, and can provide users with takeaways in different categories such as meals, drinks, and fresh fruits through drones. As of August this year, Meituan’s drone delivery service has landed in 4 business districts in Shenzhen, with routes covering more than 10 communities and office buildings, serving nearly 20,000 residents, and has completed nearly 75,000 orders for real users.
Shenzhen has also introduced relevant policies and plans to support and guide the development of the industry. Among them, the “Shenzhen Action Plan for Promoting New Information Infrastructure Construction (2022-2025)” and “Shenzhen Comprehensive Transportation “14th Five-Year Plan” have been issued, which clearly define the construction of low-altitude civilian UAV networking systems and the creation of UAVs. Target tasks such as urban low-altitude logistics operation center and dispatch supervision platform, building urban low-altitude logistics network, and promoting the innovative application of drones in smart city logistics. Not long ago, the approval of national-level civil unmanned aviation pilot zones in Shenzhen, Taiyuan and other places is also accelerating the landing of low-altitude drone logistics applications. “In the future, we hope to cooperate with more new brands and new scenarios, so that everyone can enjoy the higher quality consumption experience brought by technology.” Hong Kai said.
Duchuang/Shenzhen Business Daily reporter Chen Shu and Chen Linlin
Edited by Shi Zhanpu
Editor-in-Chief Li Yan
Producer Yuan Changqiao
Proofreading Tan Lugang