Keeta's Saudi bet: Meituan playbook tops app charts, #1 delivery app for a year

Keeta is Meituan's international food-delivery app: consumers order from local restaurants, with heavy new-user discounts, free delivery campaigns, and an expanding local rider network.

That Meituan's playbook—deep subsidies, free restaurant commissions, fast rollouts—could beat entrenched local platforms like Jahez and HungerStation in Saudi Arabia.

Meituan has not disclosed Keeta-specific spend; its management stated plans to invest $1B in Brazil over five years, signalling the scale of its overseas bet.

After testing in Hong Kong from May 2023, Meituan picked Saudi Arabia as its first Middle East market, launching Keeta in Riyadh in October 2024, attracted by high smartphone penetration, growing delivery demand, and less crowded competition.

Expansion was fast: three months after launch Keeta covered nine cities—nearly half the population—and by July 2025 it reached 20+ cities. Redseer measured about 10% order share within months; the top two local platforms' combined share fell 1 point and other rivals fell 9 points in its first four months. Citi and Morgan Stanley tracked it as a credible threat to Jahez's #2 position.

Still scaling: Citi said in September 2025 Keeta remained Saudi Arabia's #1 delivery app nearly a year after launch; it had launched in Qatar and Kuwait (both #1 in downloads on day one) with UAE entry expected and Brazil pilots planned.

Concrete, dated chart evidence: #1 Saudi App Store free chart with 3.6M iOS downloads by January 2025, and launch-day #1s in Kuwait and Qatar.

The bet is a clean strategic question—can a foreign platform's playbook displace entrenched locals—tested in a real market.

Independent third-party measurement (Sensor Tower, Redseer, Citi, Morgan Stanley) confirms both downloads and order share.

The outcome is measurable: sustained #1 download rank for nearly a year and expansion to three GCC countries.

It fills the Saudi/Gulf market slot in the app-charts vein with a product-level story rather than a corporate listing.

A proven domestic playbook transfers when the entrant wins the supply side—restaurants and riders—first; chart leadership then compounds into lasting position.

As of September 2026, Keeta is Meituan's flagship international business: it remains the top delivery app by downloads in Saudi Arabia after nearly two years, operates in Qatar and Kuwait, and is expected to enter the UAE with Brazil pilots planned. Meituan has committed $1B over five years to Brazil as part of the same international push, signaling Keeta's role as the template for Meituan's expansion beyond China.