Luckin Coffee announces smart unmanned retail strategy, bringing Luckin closer to customers


BEIJING, Jan. 07, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Luckin Coffee Inc. (“Luckin Coffee” or “the Company”) (NASDAQ: LK) announced in a strategy press conference that the Company is entering the unmanned retail market with the launch of its “luckin coffee EXPRESS” smart unmanned coffee machine and “luckin popMINI” smart vending machine, further increasing the density of its network and bringing Luckin Coffee closer to customers. At the press conference, Luckin Coffee also disclosed that its number of self-operated stores reached 4,507 by the end of 2019, which the Company believes makes it the largest coffee chain by number of stores in China as of December 31, 2019. In addition, the number of cumulative transacting customers reached over 40 million as of December 31, 2019.

Featuring Swiss Schaerer coffee machines, IIAC Gold Award coffee bean blends from WBC coffee masters and other high-quality ingredients, luckin coffee EXPRESS provides freshly brewed drinks with the same quality and taste as in Luckin stores and therefore achieves the “Luckin Coffee, Closer to You” concept. luckin pop MINI’s biggest attraction is “E-commerce Prices in Vending Machines”. By working closely with global suppliers and achieving significant economies of scale through large volume procurement and customization and significantly reducing channel costs with luckin pop MINI terminals, Luckin Coffee enables customers to enjoy the convenience of vending machines and low prices comparable to e-commerce at the same time. The unmanned terminals will cover locations including office buildings, campuses, airports, bus terminals, gas stations, highway service stations and residential communities, supplementing the existing Luckin store network. These terminals are fully integrated with our technology system and are empowered by IoT, big data, facial recognition, and other advanced technologies, which will create new customers experience.

Jenny Zhiya Qian, Chief Executive Officer of Luckin Coffee, commented, “Luckin Coffee’s unmanned retail network, store footprint and e-commerce channels, together form our proprietary omni-channel customer traffic network. With our value propositions of high quality, high affordability and high convenience, Luckin is rapidly becoming a well recognized, on-trend, and mass market fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brand. Luckin Coffee is dedicated to building a closed-loop smart retail platform with our own customer traffic and our own products. We will continue to grow both own traffic and products, improve brand value, expand the scale of our platform, and create more value for our customers. Luckin Coffee is on track to realize our mission of being part of everyone’s life, starting with coffee.”

At the press conference, Luckin Coffee and 14 leading global suppliers, including PepsiCo, Nestle, Fonterra, Schaerer, LDC, Olam, COFCO, CJ, Yili, Mengniu, Orion Confectionery, and Calbee, participated in the ceremony launching Luckin Coffee’s unmanned retail strategy.

Industry experts commented that Luckin Coffee’s unmanned retail network eliminates payroll and decoration costs, lowers rental expenses significantly and enjoys a better cost structure compared to that of small-format stores. As a result, Luckin Coffee is able to become closer to customers at lower transaction costs whilst ensuring product quality. The unmanned retail strategy will fuel customer acquisition and increase customer purchase frequency for Luckin Coffee.

About Luckin Coffee

Luckin Coffee Inc. (NASDAQ: LK) is a leading coffee chain in China that has pioneered a technology-driven new retail model to provide coffee and other products of high quality, high affordability, and high convenience to customers. Empowered by big data analytics, AI, and proprietary technologies of its new retail model, Luckin Coffee aims to realize its mission to be part of everyone’s everyday life, starting with coffee. Luckin Coffee’s coffee beans were awarded a gold medal at the IIAC International Coffee Tasting Competition in Milan, Italy, in 2018 and 2019. As of the end of 2019, Luckin Coffee operates 4,507 stores across more than 40 cities in China. Luckin Coffee is headquartered in Xiamen, China. For more information, please visit investor.luckincoffee.com.

Investor and Media Contacts

Investor Relations:
Luckin Coffee Inc. IR
Email: ir@luckincoffee.com

Bill Zima / Fitzhugh Taylor
ICR, Inc.
Phone: 646 880 9039

Media Relations:
Luckin Coffee Inc. PR
Email: pr@luckincoffee.com

Ed Trissel / Scott Bisang / Jack Kelleher
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
Phone: 212 355 4449