This article only represents the author's own views.
It’s been a long trip down the shopping aisle for online grocer Dingdong (Caymen) Ltd. (DDL.US), which has rung up billions of yuan in losses since its founding in 2017. But after trying out a number of formulas, the company has finally found a recipe for sustainable profits, setting it apart from its many peers that are mostly losing money in China’s huge but extremely competitive grocery market.
Dingdong logged its third consecutive quarterly profit in the three months to September, reporting 133.4 million yuan ($18.6 million) in net income for the period, according to its latest results released on Wednesday. The company has been consistently in the black this year since reporting a 12.3 million yuan profit in the first quarter. That grew to 67.1 million yuan in the second quarter, meaning the latest figure represents a doubling on a sequential basis.