互聯網訂餐公司提供多樣化服務
When Beijing was blanketed by heavy smog, three motorcycles passed by a crossroads within 30 seconds. All of them were carrying a big box, stuffed with food and bearing the name of one of China's three largest food-ordering platforms.
當北京被籠罩在濃霧中，三輛摩托車在30秒內路過一個十字路口。他們都帶着一個大盒子，裏面裝滿了食物，上面標着中國三大食品訂購平臺的名字。The motorcyclists were couriers from , a six-year-old startup, Groupon-like and Baidu Waimai, a food-ordering service launched by search engine giant Baidu Inc.
摩托車手是“餓了麼”公司的快遞員，它是有着六年曆史的新興公司，類似於美團、百度外賣的團購，是由搜索引擎巨頭百度公司推出的訂餐服務。They were winding through busy traffic to deliver dinners that consumers had ordered online.
他們在繁忙的車流中穿梭，配送消費者在線訂購的晚餐。
The days-long smog is stoking demand for a business that is booming in China. Thanks to the proliferation of smartphones in the world's second-largest economy, a growing number of consumers are turning to mobile apps for catering services.
長時間的霧霾推動了正在中國蓬勃發展的外賣需求。作爲全球第二大經濟體的中國，由於智能手機的用戶擴增，越來越多的消費者轉向使用手機軟件訂餐。In the second quarter, online-to-offline, or O2O, catering industry transactions hit 8.2 billion yuan ($1.3 billion), up by 89 percent from last quarter, according to Beijing-based Internet consultancy Analysys International.
據北京互聯網諮詢公司易觀國際統計，在第二季度，線上到線下，或O2O，餐飲業交易達到82億元（13億美元），比上一季度增長89%。Although online food ordering only accounts for a small proportion of the catering industry, research company iResearch Consulting Group says its market volume is expected to hit 40 billion yuan in 2017, as more consumers develop the habit of booking meals online.
研究公司艾瑞諮詢集團說，雖然網上訂餐只佔餐飲行業一小部分比例，但就更多的消費者習慣於網上訂餐而言，其市場規模有望在2017年突破400億。Kang Jia, co-founder and chief operating officer of , saying that the platform is expanding its food delivery services to five peak-time phases in one day.
“餓了麼”的共同創始人和首席運營官康佳表示，該平臺正在擴大一天5個高峯段的食品送貨服務。Unlike our peers which only focus on the regular three meals, we are adding desserts and snacks in the afternoon since most white-collar workers tend to have a tea break, Kang said. "Now around 19 percent of orders are for afternoon services."
“不像我們的同行，只專注於普通的三餐，我們在下午增加甜點和小吃，因爲大多數白領往往都會喝茶休息，”康佳說。“現在大約19%的訂單是午後服務。”The company is also rolling out special snacks to meet people's growing appetite late at night. "This is the most promising niche because it covers a long time range which starts from 8 pm to maybe 2 am the next day," Kang added.
公司還推出了特殊的夜宵服務，以滿足人們深夜增長的食慾。“這是最有前途的商機，因爲它涵蓋了很長的時間範圍，從晚上8點，也許一直到第二天凌晨2點。”康佳補充說。
