Chinese online food delivery giants, including Meituan and Eleme, are setting up smart cabinets for customers to take orders in Shanghai, something that has played a role in the recent COVID-19 prevention and control.

Meituan’s smart food cabinets. (Photo via Meituan)

Meituan first adopted the facilities for contactless delivery in Shanghai on Feb. 21. Equipped with ultraviolet disinfection and heat preservation functions, the food cabinets can ensure proper hygiene standards while reducing the risk of cross-infection.

With the consent of customers, deliverymen will place the food in the cabinet. If the customers fail to pick-up their orders within 12 hours, they will be informed.

Meituan has installed the smart food cabinets in roughly 100 public places in Shanghai, some locations include hospitals, office buildings, and residential compounds, according to the company.

The platform plans to reveal 1,000 new food cabinets across China before the end of the epidemic, as trial runs currently operate in various buildings, community health centers and hospitals in Beijing and in Guangzhou, capital of south China’s Guangdong province.

Now, each cabinet under trial operation can receive about 200 orders per day, according to Meituan, adding that the facilities will be installed in most of the areas with a high demand for takeout food and a heavy flow of people.

Eleme, Meituan's main rival, is also launching smart food cabinets in Shanghai. The company plans to launch 1,000 dining cabinets in the city, and 3,000 across the country, according to Wu Xuewei, head of the company’s smart logistics division. The platform will mainly distribute its facilities in office buildings.