Score Cheap Coffee on This Popular App Before It's Too Late

Tap That App is a regular segment where we feature an app our editors think is cool.

If you haven’t already downloaded the Luckin Coffee app, it’s likely now or never.

Considered the Chinese equivalent to Starbucks, the coffee chain has seen app downloads soar following reports of falsified sales numbers to the tune of RMB2.2 billion from the NASDAQ-traded company.

We can tell you firsthand why they may have needed to fabricate those figures – insane discounts offered to China’s coffee cravers.

Technode reported that daily downloads for the coffee delivery app reached nearly 325,000 following the news, and was for a time the second most downloaded app in the Apple store in China. Reasons for the demand surge can be attributed to Chinese consumer’s loyalty to supporting Chinese companies, as well as Luckin users’ cashing in on various drink promotions (downloading the app can score you a free coffee).

If you’ve used Luckin in the past, we’d bet you’ve likely never paid full price for a cup of joe. That’s what makes ordering from Luckin a more affordable alternative to Starbucks and China-based coffee chains like Coffii & Joy. Oftentimes you’ll be able to buy a Luckin drink product for less than half the price as competitors, although it remains to be seen how long that may last given the company’s current financial distress.

Image via @P_P今天不睡觉/Weibo

Chinese customers have taken to social media to show their support for the company, posting images of their latest purchase. “If it doesn’t close down, I will always drink [Luckin]. It really tastes great and is super inexpensive,” posted one netizen. Another wrote, “Although its finances are fake, the quality of coffee is not fake.” 

Founded in Beijing in 2017, the company expanded at breakneck speed in the last two and a half years, and even managed to surpass Starbucks in the number of store locations. As of January 2020, the company had 4,507 stores in the country, although many operate mainly as a location for pick-up and delivery, as opposed to the sit-down store layout seen in shops from other coffee chains.

So, be sure to take advantage of free and discounted coffee in case Luckin locations start to disappear.

Luckin Coffee app is available for iOS and Android.

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[Cover image via @今天也不想加糖呀/Weibo]