Positive Reviews: The Instant Retail Track Unleashes Multiple Values, and Strategic Adjustments by Big Tech Companies Activate New Industry Momentum
In the first half of 2025, the intensive actions of internet giants around instant retail not only reflect the strategic position of this track as a “certain increment” but also demonstrate its positive significance for upgrading the consumption experience, empowering physical retail, and reconstructing the industry ecosystem.
I. The Instant Retail Market Has Great Potential, Promoting the Upgrade of the Consumption Experience to Be “Abundant, Fast, Good, and Economical”
According to the “Report on the Development of the Instant Retail Industry (2024)”, it is predicted that the transaction scale of instant retail will exceed 2 trillion yuan by 2030. This huge incremental space has injected strong impetus into the industry. From the perspective of user needs, the instant delivery of “delivering everything in 30 minutes” has extended from the takeaway scenario to all – category consumption, and users’ mindset of “buying and getting immediately” has gradually solidified. The data that over 100 million users participated in Meituan Flash Sale during the 618 period and the turnover of more than 20 types of high – unit – price products doubled is a direct confirmation of the explosion of user demand.
The strategic adjustments of big tech companies have further strengthened this trend. Meituan adopts a dual – wheel drive of “Flash Sale platform + self – operated Xiaoxiang Supermarket”. It not only covers the instant purchase needs of high – unit – price products such as mobile phones and household appliances (the “abundant” aspect of the platform model) but also ensures the “fast” and “good” of fresh food and groceries through the front – warehouse system of Xiaoxiang Supermarket (the quality control and timeliness of the self – operated model). Alibaba coordinates Ele.me with Taobao, and JD.com expands its takeaway and hospitality businesses. In essence, they all integrate resources through the “super – app approach”, enabling users to meet more instant consumption needs within a single entry point and promoting the full implementation of the “abundant, fast, good, and economical” experience.
II. Physical Retail Is Activated, and the Integration of Online and Offline Enters the Deep – Water Zone
One of the core values of instant retail is to open up an incremental market for offline physical stores. As mentioned in the news, during the 618 period, nearly one million physical stores served over 100 million customers through Meituan Flash Sale. “Physical stores finally felt the power of 618”, and this change is of far – reaching significance. In the past, the “big promotions” of traditional e – commerce were more of a carnival of online traffic. Due to the limitation of delivery timeliness, offline stores were difficult to participate. However, instant retail transforms the “location advantage” of offline stores into a “timeliness advantage” through the instant delivery network of “arriving in 30 minutes”, making physical retailers such as supermarkets, convenience stores, and brand exclusive stores direct beneficiaries of the big promotions.
Meituan Flash Sale’s “Lightning Warehouse” model (more than 30,000 nationwide, and it is expected to exceed 100,000 by 2027) provides a low – cost channel for small and medium – sized merchants to reach instant consumption. Without the need to build their own delivery teams, they can achieve “onlineization” by relying on the platform’s traffic and instant delivery network. This collaboration between the “platform + physical entity” not only improves the operational efficiency of offline retail but also promotes the upgrade of the “online – offline integration” from “traffic diversion” to “supply – chain collaboration”. For example, Meituan Xiaoxiang Supermarket links high – quality agricultural production areas through “direct sourcing from the origin + cold – chain logistics”, which not only ensures the quality of fresh produce but also provides a stable sales channel for farmers in the production areas, forming a virtuous cycle of “consumer end – retail end – production end”.
III. Meituan’s “Focus Strategy” Provides Replicable Experience for the Industry
While Alibaba and JD.com are still exploring “boundless expansion” (such as Alibaba’s business merger and collaboration and JD.com’s expansion into the hospitality industry), Meituan’s “focus” is particularly sober. Its strategic determination is reflected in three aspects: First, the business direction focuses on “food and grocery retail”, deeply cultivating around users’ core needs of “eating” and “daily consumption” to avoid resource dispersion. Second, the model collaboration is clear. The platform model (Flash Sale) and the self – operated model (Xiaoxiang Supermarket) are complementary. Flash Sale covers all categories and all customer groups, and Xiaoxiang Supermarket strengthens users’ mindset through self – operated fresh produce. Third, the long – term investment is stable. From the early exploration to becoming a core business today, Xiaoxiang Supermarket relies on Meituan’s years of accumulation in instant retail and the fresh produce supply chain (such as Kuailv and Youxuan), rather than short – term radical adjustments.
This “focus” not only enables Meituan to gain a first – mover advantage in the instant retail track (the user mindset of Flash Sale and the first – place market scale of Xiaoxiang Supermarket) but also verifies the strategic value of “concentrating efforts in one direction”. In the incremental market, concentrating resources to build a differentiated barrier (such as the instant delivery network and supply – chain capabilities) is more likely to form long – term competitiveness than blind expansion.
IV. International Expansion Opens Up New Imagination Space for the Industry
Meituan’s implementation of the Xiaoxiang Supermarket model in Saudi Arabia under the brand “Keemart” marks the beginning of the export of the instant retail model overseas. The significance of this move lies not only in market expansion but also in verifying the universality of the Chinese instant retail model. As one of the fastest – growing e – commerce markets in the Middle East, Saudi Arabia has pain points such as “insufficient instant delivery coverage” and “weak fresh produce supply chain”. Meituan’s “front – warehouse + instant delivery” model can just solve these problems. If the overseas test is successful, its experience can be replicated in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and Latin America, providing a new paradigm for Chinese internet companies to “go global”.
Negative Reviews: Hidden Worries in the Instant Retail Track, and Big Tech Companies Need to Be Vigilant Against Multiple Risks
Although the prospect of instant retail is broad, the intensive layout of big tech companies also exposes the potential challenges in the industry’s development. From short – term competition to long – term models, and from domestic expansion to overseas exploration, multiple risks need to be正视.
I. The “Brutal Growth” Driven by Subsidies Is Unsustainable, and User Stickiness Is Tested
Alibaba and JD.com’s “aggressive approach” in instant retail in the first half of the year – boosting order volume through subsidies such as 1 – yuan milk tea and 3 – yuan coffee, although quickly increasing the daily order volume (more than 60 million orders for Taobao Flash Sale + Ele.me and 25 million orders for JD.com Takeaway), the sustainability of this “burning money for growth” model is questionable. On the one hand, subsidies raise users’ expectations for low prices. Once the subsidies are reduced, the order volume may decline significantly. On the other hand, high subsidies compress the platform’s profit margin. If the cost cannot be covered through user repurchase and the conversion of high – unit – price products, it will lead to the dilemma of “increasing volume without increasing profit”.
More importantly, the core competitiveness of instant retail lies in “instantaneity” and “product richness”, rather than low prices. If big tech companies rely too much on subsidies to compete for users, they may neglect the construction of core capabilities such as the supply chain (such as fresh produce quality control) and instant delivery efficiency (such as delivery delays during peak hours), and finally fall into the vicious cycle of “subsidy – growth – subsidy reduction – loss”.
II. The “Growing Pains” of Organizational Integration and Business Collaboration Cannot Be Ignored
Alibaba incorporates Ele.me and Fliggy into the China E – commerce Business Group, intending to use the traffic advantage of Taobao and Tmall to support instant retail. JD.com expands its takeaway and hospitality businesses, trying to build an ecosystem of “local life + instant retail”. However, the difficulty of cross – business collaboration far exceeds expectations. For example, the user needs of Ele.me and Taobao are significantly different (Ele.me focuses on “instantaneity”, while Taobao focuses on “planning”). How to achieve a balance in traffic distribution and user experience? The supply chains (takeaway emphasizes delivery, while hospitality emphasizes merchant resources) and operational logics of JD.com’s takeaway and hospitality businesses are very different. How to avoid internal resource consumption?
Although Meituan has a smoother collaboration due to “no e – commerce burden”, the interest distribution between its self – operated model (Xiaoxiang Supermarket) and the platform model (Flash Sale) also needs to be carefully handled. The self – operated business may compete with third – party merchants on the platform. If the balance is not properly handled, it may affect the richness of the platform ecosystem.
III. The “Heavy – Asset” Pressure of the Self – Operated Model May Drag Down the Expansion Speed
Although Meituan Xiaoxiang Supermarket’s “front – warehouse + self – operated” model can ensure quality control and timeliness, the cost pressure of heavy – asset operation cannot be underestimated. Currently, Xiaoxiang Supermarket has opened nearly a thousand front – warehouses in 20 cities across the country. The goal of covering first – and second – tier cities and 200 agricultural production areas means continuous investment in warehousing, cold – chain logistics, manpower, and other resources. Referring to the development history of Dingdong Maicai and Pupu Supermarket, the profit – balance point of the front – warehouse model often requires a relatively high average daily order volume per warehouse (usually more than 1,000 orders). If the expansion speed is too fast, resulting in a decline in the efficiency of each warehouse, it may lead to an increase in losses.
In addition, the “loss rate” of fresh produce retail is another major challenge. Xiaoxiang Supermarket’s agricultural product sales exceeded 20 billion yuan this year. However, if there are any omissions in supply – chain management (such as procurement, warehousing, and delivery), high losses will directly erode profits. How to reduce losses through digital technology (such as demand forecasting and dynamic inventory management) is a problem that Meituan needs to continuously solve.
IV. Overseas Expansion Faces the Risk of “Cultural Mismatch”
Although Meituan’s replication of the Xiaoxiang Supermarket model in Saudi Arabia targets the blank in the local instant retail market, challenges such as cultural differences, policy environments, and local competition cannot be underestimated. For example, Saudi consumers’ shopping habits (such as preferring to purchase fresh produce offline), the impact of religious festivals on delivery timeliness (such as fluctuations in delivery demand during Ramadan), and competition from local retailers (such as local Saudi supermarkets may build their own instant delivery systems) may all affect the implementation effect of “Keemart”.
More importantly, building an overseas instant delivery network takes time. In China, Meituan relies on a mature rider system to achieve “arriving in 30 minutes”. However, in Saudi Arabia, it needs to establish a local delivery team from scratch or cooperate with third – party logistics, which may lead to an increase in delivery costs and unstable timeliness. If it cannot replicate the “instantaneity” advantage in China overseas, the effect of its internationalization strategy will be greatly reduced.
V. Intensified Industry Involution May Compress the Profit Margin
With the increased efforts of players such as Alibaba, JD.com, and Meituan, the competition in the instant retail track has shifted from “incremental competition” to “stock competition”. To attract merchants to settle in, platforms may reduce the commission rate or provide traffic subsidies. To compete for users, they may continuously invest in marketing expenses. This “involution” will put pressure on the industry’s overall profit. For example, although Meituan currently leads, it needs to deal with the “boundless expansion” of JD.com and Alibaba. Alibaba and JD.com need to find a balance between subsidies and profits. If they cannot achieve large – scale profitability in the long term, they may be forced to adjust their strategies, affecting the industry’s stability.
Advice for Entrepreneurs: Seize the Instant Retail Opportunity and Build Differentiated Competitiveness
The explosion of instant retail provides a broad space for entrepreneurs. However, they should avoid blind follow – up and build a differentiated advantage by combining their own resources with market demand. The following are specific suggestions:
I. Focus on Niche Categories and Avoid the “Subsidy Battlefield” of Big Tech Companies
The advantage of big tech companies lies in full – category coverage and traffic scale. However, entrepreneurs can focus on vertical categories (such as flowers, pet supplies, high – end fresh produce), establish users’ mindset through “small but refined” product selection, local supply chains (such as direct sourcing in cooperation with local farms), and personalized services (such as customized packaging for flowers). For example, in response to the demand for “delivering flowers in 30 minutes”, entrepreneurs can cooperate with local flower shops and achieve “city – wide delivery” through the instant delivery network, avoiding subsidy competition with big tech companies in high – frequency categories such as milk tea and coffee.
II. Deeply Cultivate “Localization” and Strengthen the “Last – Mile” Service
The core of instant retail is “local supply + instant delivery”. Entrepreneurs can deeply explore and penetrate around “localization”. For example, they can cooperate with community convenience stores and mom – and – pop stores, provide them with online tools (such as a small program for receiving orders and an inventory management system), and help them connect to the instant delivery network. Or, they can provide “night – exclusive delivery” services according to the needs of community users (such as daily necessities urgently needed after 8 p.m.) to improve user stickiness.
III. Use Subsidies Cautiously and Replace “Low Price” with “Experience” to Acquire Customers
Although subsidies can quickly attract new customers, it is difficult to form long – term stickiness. Entrepreneurs should invest resources in the key links of the user experience. For example, optimize the delivery timeliness (reduce the waiting time through an intelligent dispatching system), improve the product quality (such as marking the origin and quality inspection information of fresh produce), and improve the after – sales guarantee (such as “free of charge if not delivered in 30 minutes” and “instant compensation for damaged fresh produce”). It is easier to cultivate users’ long – term consumption habits through “experience – driven” rather than “low – price – driven” strategies.
IV. Explore a “Small but Beautiful” Collaborative Ecosystem and Avoid Heavy – Asset Investment
The “super – app approach” of big tech companies requires strong resource – integration capabilities. Entrepreneurs can choose to cooperate with vertical platforms (such as local life service platforms and community group – buying platforms) to share traffic and supply – chain resources. For example, they can cooperate with platforms such as Meituan Flash Sale and JD Daojia to enter the market, reduce the cost of self – built logistics by relying on their instant delivery network. Or, they can jointly build “front – warehouses” with local chain supermarkets to share warehousing and operation costs and achieve light – asset expansion.
V. Pay Attention to “Niche Opportunities” in Overseas Markets and Cautiously Replicate the Domestic Model
If entrepreneurs intend to expand overseas, they need to first conduct research on the user needs and local competitive environment of the target market. For example, the Southeast Asian market has a strong demand for “instant fresh produce”, but the cold – chain logistics is weak. Entrepreneurs can focus on the instant delivery of “room – temperature food + daily necessities” to reduce the dependence on cold – chain. Or, they can provide customized instant services for the “religious festival needs” of the Middle East market (such as gift delivery during Eid al – Fitr) to avoid direct competition with big tech companies.
The explosion of instant retail is not only an inevitable result of consumption upgrading but also a strategic choice for internet giants to find increments. For entrepreneurs, there are both opportunities and challenges in this track. By seizing the core of “instantaneity” and “localization”, avoiding the “subsidy battlefield” of big tech companies, and focusing on niche needs to build a differentiated advantage, they can gain a foothold in the competition. For big tech companies, how to balance short – term growth and long – term profitability, avoid “involution” consumption, and truly achieve the “abundant, fast, good, and economical” user experience is still a topic that needs continuous exploration.
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