Dai Wei, the former creator of Little Yellow Car, has been in the headlines recently discussing launching a company in the US, which has caused many people’s “sleep memories” to come back. It was believed at the end of 2017 that the bike sharing company ofo had disrupted the capital chain, making it impossible to withdraw the APP deposit. Following that, Xiaohuangche filed for bankruptcy, and Dai Wei, the founder, was prohibited from making purchases.
As this spread, the Weibo hot search item “It is estimated that 16 million people ofo deposits will not be refunded” also surfaced. Anger erupted as several screamed that David fled to the United States to launch a company using a deposit owing to Chinese customers. Aside from the deposit, there is something to look forward to whether Dai Wei can really launch a company and repay the debt. Ultimately, the deposit for the author is yet to be reimbursed.
I would want to know whether David decided to come to the US in order to launch a new coffee brand since the US market is too narrow back home? Is it simple for American customers to earn money if they go to the United States to establish a company if the American coffee industry is not rolled?
Does flavored coffee function properly in the US?
Foreign media sources state that David founded About Time Coffee, a chain of coffee shops in New York that sells iced pearl coffee, on May 16. There are now five locations in New York. In February 2022, the first shop opened in Manhattan, New York’s core district. Three more core sites were shortly to follow in Manhattan.
The store’s distinctive coffee further indicates that About Time Coffee mostly offers seasoned coffee, which is another well-liked coffee kind in China. Coffee that has been enhanced with different auxiliary components, such syrup, cream, chocolate, and cinnamon powder, isn’t just syrup, concentrate, and milk (as in Starbucks’ variety of flavor lattes).
According to reports, the price of its famous “iced boba coffee” is $4, which is around $1 less than the typical Starbucks pricing in the US.
Coffee businesses may get five cups of coffee or one cup at a time as long as they download the app to register, in an effort to draw consumers. Cans are used to seal the coffee, making it easy for customers to pack it in bags. The business does not give packaging bags. It’s probably to cut expenses.
Does this model have a familiar appearance? The process is the same as with national coffee brands.
About Time functions similarly to domestic coffee businesses like Luckin. It has created its own mobile apps and gathers client information to provide personalized deals and discounts. This approach is also somewhat comparable to how domestic firms provide various promotions to customers based on how often they consume their products.
It makes sense why international media refers to this café as an unconventional cafe. It was started by a tech-savvy startup company. A Chinese venture finance firm is the driving force behind it. The embattled Chinese IT company’s founder wants to focus on expanding internationally.
About Time’s CEO, Marian Chen, said in a media interview that the company’s coffee business model has worked well in China and that the coffee tastes better than Starbucks. In addition, American social networking platforms like TikTok and Instagram have been depleted of their ability to draw in youth users by About Time.
Foreign media outlets claim that although Dai Wei did not actively oversee the day-to-day operations of the coffee brand, he did assist in assembling a group to take part in topics such as attracting investments and other business ventures. Dai Wei has a little ownership position in the business.
As of right now, About Time Coffee has raised over $10 million from investors, including IDG and Zhengge Fund, and is valued at $40 million (or around 279 million yuan).
The demand for coffee is booming both domestically and outside.
Although the markets for coffee in Europe and the US are already well-established, classic American, Italian espresso, latte, and other flavored coffee continue to dominate these regions’ coffee consuming customs.
Does David’s local American coffee brand have the potential to win over American consumers?
In addition to coffee tastes and consumption patterns, the US has seen a rise in start-ups recently. In addition, these businesses concentrate on cold extract coffee, speciality coffee with vitamins and minerals, canned and bottled coffee, and freeze-dried coffee, which has developed a sizable market in China (a kind of instant coffee that is ground and frozen rapidly to retain the taste).
In addition to the plethora of local start-ups, a number of Chinese entrepreneurs have established coffee businesses in the US and developed distinctive brands that include Chinese coffee beans.
Mandarin Coffee Shop aims to raise awareness of Yunnan, China, coffee beans so that more international customers may sip Chinese coffee and learn more about them.
Boutique coffee beans from traditional coffee-growing regions of Africa and South America, such as Guatemala, Ethiopia, and Yemen, are long imported by specialty coffee shops in Europe and the US. It can draw in a few coffee aficionados with its Yunnan, China, coffee beans.
These kinds of start-up stores are commonplace on American streets.
New businesses compete intensely. Clearly, copying Luckin’s inexpensive traffic code in China is not a simple task. In this highly developed American market, About Time seeks to stand out and draw in American customers.
Of course, in the beginning, depending only on affordability might draw in certain customers. Both Shein and TEMU choose the attribute label “cheap” in order to penetrate the European and American markets.
The issue is in the fact that e-commerce and the coffee track are not the same. Both Shein and TEMU’s supply chains are domestic, and coffee has distinct issues and customers as a food and beverage industry. I fear that About Time will have to make its own path if it want to join the American market.
Using repurchase as an example, Luckin’s concept calls for low-cost draining, transformation into private traffic, and operational revitalisation efforts to create continuous repurchase (of course, explosives play a significant role in this as well).
From the standpoint of the About Time model, however, it is evidently difficult for About Time to depend on Luckin to acquire and stimulate traffic due to cultural backdrops, such as the United States’ low mobile payment ratios and more focus on privacy.
It is evident that there is a dilemma when it comes to using free as a means of attracting and keeping customers. Whether David “retreats second” to travel to the American coffee track to start a company is still a mystery. Whether he can escape the siege remains to be seen.
Will the small yellow automobile be the one to repay the user’s deposit first if there is really a second “fame” day?
