The fresh produce and grocery e-commerce start-up Dingdong has gained great traction amid the outbreak of Covid-19 in China since people were mandated to stay indoors during this time and switched online to have purchases delivered to their doorstep. The southern-China-focused company is now stretching north, heading towards Beijing and considering places even further. Despite the skyrocketing market share, its asset-heavy approach (self-built “front warehouses”), significant logistics requirements and high attrition rate of perishable goods, which together result in a thin margin, have raised concerns as to whether the platform can keep up the momentum after the pandemic has eased and if and how it will retain users.
