After over a decade of development in the elderly care industry, the online transition of care facilities is increasingly capturing capital attention. For many years, the promotion of elderly care services relied heavily on offline word-of-mouth, leaving many family members struggling to find suitable institutions for their elders. The information gap between potential users and care providers even spawned a "care intermediary" profession, acting as brokers. In urban Beijing, intermediaries typically charge institutions around 3,000 yuan for each successful resident referral. During the peak in 2024, industry rumors even suggested some intermediaries could earn 100,000 yuan monthly. Currently, capital infusion is reshaping this traditional offline intermediary model. Various investors are attempting to replicate the online path of restaurants, pushing care facilities to complete a three-step process: listing information on platforms, displaying service packages online, and enabling users to transact and receive services offline.
In January this year, a new player entered the Beijing market for online care facilities. On January 5th, the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau and Meituan held a strategic cooperation signing ceremony, with Meituan set to list hundreds of government-registered care institutions. According to insights from several institutions, Meituan has rolled out incentives to attract Beijing-based facilities, including subsidizing commission fees for six months on key offerings like "travel-based stays, trial stays, and study tours." Chen Mi, Meituan's operations lead for elderly care in service retail, stated that their care business already covers 300 cities, with Beijing being the first to promote online services through government-enterprise collaboration. Expanding this model to more regions will be a key focus for Meituan this year. In 2025, demand for care services on Meituan surged significantly, with potential user growth up 78% year-on-year and transaction volume soaring over 200%; searches for "elderly bathing assistance" jumped 120%, and group purchase orders increased by more than 85%.
However, for care facility operators, the decision to join Meituan evokes mixed feelings. Some managers express delight, reporting exponential growth in orders for services like bathing assistance and home care after going online. Others worry that, already struggling to break even, offering routine care services as group deals—after deducting platform commissions and management fees—might result in losses merely for publicity. Liang Bowen, commercial director at Fushoukang brand, noted that a considerable proportion of seniors use online platforms and are gradually forming habits of seeking information and consuming online. Furthermore, many seniors with limited mobility lack decision-making capacity, while their children, aged 40-60, are more adept with digital products. Thus, despite varying paces and potential growing pains in the online transition, the shift is an inevitable trend.
Since being included in the government's designated home care provider list in 2013, Fushoukang primarily handled long-term care insurance orders from authorities, offering medical, nursing, and bathing services to seniors covered by local health insurance plans. In 2023, the company's decision to expand into C-end (individual) users yielded unexpected positive results. Liang Bowen revealed that government long-term care business had long accounted for about 90% of group revenue. However, with China's rapidly aging population, the group recognized that insurance services only address partial needs, necessitating a move into the broader C-end market. Online channels became crucial for boosting visibility and C-end business volume. Starting in 2023, Fushoukang gradually expanded onto platforms like Douyin, Kuaishou, Xiaohongshu, Baidu Maps, and WeChat Channels. In 2024, with Meituan's push into elderly care categories, Fushoukang benefited greatly, rising to the top spot on Meituan within just six months.
Searching for "Fushoukang" on the Meituan App shows over twenty Beijing outlets, each offering more than 20 group packages, including hospital caregiving, elderly bathing assistance, and 30-day home care services. Currently, about half of Fushoukang's revenue comes from various online platforms like Meituan, with C-end business growth maintaining around 100% annually for the past three years. Chen Mi explained that traditional elderly care long relied on offline communication, where users learned about services through word-of-mouth. Platforms help institutions showcase their brand and services to reach more consumers while enabling users to easily find needed services, read reviews, and make informed decisions. In recent years, hindered by information barriers, many care facilities faced low occupancy rates. A September 2025 report from the Beijing Aging Association indicated 108,000 available care beds in the city, with only 52,000 occupied—an occupancy rate of just 48.1%.
Liang Bowen emphasized that while offline reputations often stem from personal recommendations by neighbors or friends, the credibility of chain care facilities requires broader, "collective-portrait" online reviews. On platforms like Meituan and Dianping, numerous user reviews with text and images help shape an authentic brand image. Of course, a single negative review can require multiple positive ones to counter, which pressures institutions to continuously improve service quality. Following the strategic cooperation between Meituan and the Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau, a dedicated team was formed to assist small and medium-sized care facilities with platform onboarding. Liang Bowen added that seniors today generally possess internet skills and have developed online consumption habits. As the first generation of only-child parents enters the stage requiring care, their children often turn to online platforms first for information, service comparison, and reviews. If user decisions occur online, elderly care services must extend into the digital realm. "Certainly, when expanding online, care facilities need to actively embrace various platforms to find the most suitable path for themselves."
Searching for elderly care facilities in Beijing on the Meituan App reveals an interesting phenomenon: most institutions only symbolically offer a 1-yuan "admission consultation" group package, while substantial "on-site stay" discount packages are scarce. Additionally, user reviews for these facilities typically number only in the dozens, appearing quite inactive compared to service providers offering home bathing assistance or nursing care. According to Du Lin, marketing director of a Beijing-based chain of care facilities, this disparity reflects a rational choice by institutions weighing benefits against costs. While Du Lin's facilities have joined platforms like Meituan, they have not introduced high-value group packages for admissions. Du Lin explained that the industry's inherently low profit margins make operators sensitive to any additional costs. Offering "admission packages" online risks losses after deducting commissions, essentially becoming a loss-leading endeavor.
Previously, Du Lin's institution attempted a partnership with a food delivery platform for senior meal delivery, but collaboration proved unsustainable due to online costs—with meals priced at 20 yuan, profit margins were already thin, and the platform took about 5 yuan in commissions. Multiple industry reports indicate that, under current pricing, a significant proportion of domestic care facilities operate near the break-even point. Consequently, platforms' commission structures make institutions hesitant to list high-value products online. Du Lin detailed that current costs for each facility on Meituan include an annual fee of approximately 6,800 yuan and a commission of about 8% on group packages, though rates vary by location, scale, and services. Following the Meituan-Beijing Civil Affairs Bureau cooperation, support policies were offered, including commission discounts for six months on key categories like "travel stays and trial stays." However, no subsidies are currently available for standard packages like admissions, home bathing, or nursing care.
Du Lin pointed out that, unlike dining packages, the stakes for care facilities are extremely high, directly involving seniors' well-being and family emotions. Therefore, families prioritize an institution's professionalism and trustworthiness over short-term discounts. In this context, facilities view online platforms more as channels for "obtaining precise leads"—exchanging contacts with potential customers online, then conducting in-depth discussions and customized service matching offline to finalize transactions. "It's unlikely that a consumer would decide to place their parent in a nursing home simply because of an online group-buying discount," Du Lin remarked. Beyond cost considerations, Liang Bowen sees a deeper reason for the online disparity: the unique nature of elderly care services. He categorizes them into two types: standardized products like hospital companionship or home cleaning, which have clear durations and pricing suitable for online group purchases; and non-standardized, high-value services like nursing home admissions or 24-hour live-in care, where pricing varies greatly based on health conditions and care levels, making standardized online pricing difficult.
According to Chen Mi, Meituan's approach to bringing care facilities online involves three steps: first, completing the online listing so users can find them; second, promoting the online display of specific services after listing; and third, achieving online transactions. "Encouraging facilities to offer various service packages corresponds to the second step, which is a key initial focus of our government-enterprise cooperation." Despite various capital-driven models evolving from traditional intermediaries, Du Lin believes online channels serve more as enhancements rather than fundamental solutions. "New investors in care facilities must define their project's positioning from the start. Stable service quality and strategic community location attracting natural foot traffic remain the foundation. If there's a mismatch between services offered and local seniors' actual needs, no amount of promotion can fundamentally improve operations," he concluded. (Du Lin is a pseudonym at the interviewee's request.)
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