Dianping is the most popular review and rating APP in China, which allows you to find local restaurants & shops, buy coupons and write reviews. Sometimes it’s called “Chinese Yelp”. Recently it develops its own community (the layout very much looks like RED/Xiaohongshu. When you open the APP, there is a search bar on the top. Below there are different categories including local restaurants, cinema, shopping malls and spa etc. Then the bottom half is a very eye-catching RED-like community. Like RED, users can post photos/videos and like/comment/collect other users’ posts. The content is pushed to you according to your interest (what you read/like/search) and also your GPS position (for example a restaurant that’s 100 meters away from you). Funny thing is last year when Dianping just developed this community, they tried to copy a lot of UGC content from RED and eventually got sued. The second image shows an official statement from RED accusing Dianping of copying UGC content from RED.
In the past, people open Dianping with a specific purpose - to look for a nearby restaurant or retail shop. You would have to click on a restaurant page and then see other people’s reviews.
With O2O function, Dianping community provides a great opportunity to offline shops. For example, inviting KOLs to come to your shop and take photos, then post on Dianping, or encouraging customers to post positive comments by giving them a small gift are something you can try. The image below shows a “MUST-DO” Ranking List for Restaurants/Shopping Malls/Tourist Sites.
