moondog

Before the big lockdown, I was a Sherpas loyalist because the interface is in English and it is clean (i.e. no pointless distracting menu options).

When Sherpas basically closed during the lockdown, I ended up using Eleme and Meituan Waimai instead. I also tried Hema, but without success.

Now, Eleme is my go-to option. The interface is Chinese only (as far as I know), but it's honestly pretty easy to use. I don't know of any restaurants that are on Sherpas but not Eleme, though there must be some. And, Eleme has many restaurant clients that aren't on Sherpas. More importantly, a lot of Eleme deals are significantly cheaper than the menu prices. For example, I ordered Hainan chicken rice (including the soup) for lunch today, and it was only Y30, including delivery. It certainly wasn't the most delicious, but a $5 lunch brought to me is remarkable in this day and age in Shanghai.

For groceries, I use the City Super, Just Fresh, and Times Grocery miniprograms (I think all are Shanghai only).

What are your thoughts? Am I missing out on anything good?

Palal

With Ele.me and Meituan you're pretty much covered all around the country.

YariGuy

I'm not sure about Meituan, but at least with ele.me, if you pay with wechat or Alipay, you can use foreign cards linked to them and get credit card points.

Cotton Candy Lobster

With Meituan you can pay directly and it codes as dining.

moondog

One thing I noticed about Eleme for the first time yesterday when I was browsing restaurants at the same time as my friend is that my red prices were usually lower than hers in most cases. I asked about red prices in our WeChat group and YariGuy explained that the red prices are estimated prices based on eligible discounts and membership cards. I readily admit that I sign up for loyalty programs at pretty much every restaurant that I think is good enough to warrant a repeat visit (a ten-second process with WeChat), so I have many. However, recently I've been trying out restaurants on Eleme that I've never even heard of before, let alone been to, and have still been offered 30-60% off many dishes. As you can probably imagine, going in blind is a risky strategy, but I've only encountered a handful of true losers, which have definitely been offset by the good ones I've discovered.

YariGuy

Wasn't me, but glad you're discovering stuff on ele.me.

Like I said I use it because it has a wide selection and payment is easy. It also has a tipping option which I use from time to time, especially if it's raining.

One thing I do miss from the old Mealbay (remember that?) was the ability to add convenience store items (booze, etc.) to your order. I think Sherpas got rid of that, too.

YariGuy

Another trick is to close the ele.me app at checkout, before completing payment. Oftentimes they'll ping you with a RMB5 coupon or something.