Demand for China's Luckin app surges as consumers rush to claim free drink

Demand for China's Luckin app surges as consumers rush to claim free drink

A customer exits a Luckin Coffee outlet in Beijing, China, on Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019. Photographer: Gilles Sabrie/Bloomberg

Luckin Coffee’s app has rocketed to become the second most popular in China as consumers rushed to claim a free drink that it has long offered for downloading, worried the chain might collapse after it said much of its sales last year were fabricated.