January 19, 2022: -Starbucks has expanded its delivery and online services in China through a partnership with Meituan.

The U.S. coffee giant said that customers ordering through Meituan’s app in China would have more customization options. Members of its customer rewards scheme, Starbucks Rewards, will receive the same benefits using the Meituan app as they would using the regular Starbucks app in China.

Starbucks also said that it is the “delivery debut” in China of its Starbucks Reserve range of coffees which it markets as a premium product.

The two companies have partnered on more offline experiences.

Via Meituan’s app, users can reserve areas in select stores in China for private events or sign up for any activities organized by a local shop. Starbucks said that 60 stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Chengdu now offer this service, plans to expand further.

Customers can also book coffee-tasting workshops. Starbucks has launched a feature on Meituan where each of the coffee giants’ over 5,000 stores in China will have a unique page on the food delivery app by the end of the year. Users will be able to order coffee and browse local events and activities.

Meituan is China’s most prominent food delivery platform with more than 660 million transacting users, which offers Starbucks a potentially expanded audience. In China, smartphone users prefer to use so-called “super apps,” which provide several services in one. Meituan is one such app.

The partnership with Meituan comes as it faces increased competition from domestic companies in its largest market outside of the U.S. Tea-based companies such as HeyTea and local coffee chains such as Manner are growing in prominence and have been attracting lots of financing.