At a time when consumption is upgrading and the pace of life is accelerating, instant retail is becoming a new outlet in the field of e-commerce. This article delves into the background of the rise of instant retail, its profound impact on the pace of consumers’ lives, and the strategic layout of major e-commerce platforms in this field.
“Instant retail” has been too popular lately.
Even the taxi uncle in the 49th city didn’t talk about Yiyi and started talking about instant retail.
There are not many things that can grab hot searches in the taxi uncle, last time it was AI large models, and last time it was Bitcoin.
But this matter is lively and lively, and many people still don’t understand. Isn’t it just that things are delivered faster? What’s wrong? Does this matter have anything to do with the rhythm of life?
How did instant retail become the final battle of e-commerce? Why do these major platforms such as Meituan, Alibaba, JD.com, and Pinduoduo all have to be all in here?
How can this thing rebuild the supply chain logic?
01
I used to do cosmetics e-commerce for a while.
At that time, a user lived near my warehouse.
After 10 years of interaction design, why did I transfer to product manager?
After the real job transfer, I found that many jobs were still beyond my imagination. The work of a product manager is indeed more complicated. Theoretically, the work of a product manager includes all aspects of the product, from market research, user research, data analysis…
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This sister is very anxious after placing an order every time, obviously the goods are only 1-2 kilometers away from her, but no matter what, they have to receive them the next day. Because of the express delivery process, the goods must be advanced to the transfer center and then distributed to the outlets. She can’t wait to go over and mention it every time.
She is not the only one who is anxious, and there are also many local users who are also very anxious.
Many people “talk” to customer service, preferring to spend more money to order flash delivery than to wait one more day.
But this operation is quite tedious for me. Because users place orders on the platform and send them in flash, it means that they cannot leave the platform system and have to be processed manually.
Occasionally, one or two orders are fine, but if there is more demand, there must be a special person on the warehouse and customer service side to handle this matter. It is an increase in human consumption, but it does not increase profits.
It is simply to brush the user’s favorability. The price is a volume, and this kind of favorability cannot be brushed.
But this urgency is understandable.
For example, when she had an appointment in two or three days, she looked at the motionless robes, YSL small gold bars, and Pan Heiligen’s fox head in the transfer center, and she must be anxious.
I’m in a hurry to change me.
Another example is that you forgot to replenish your facial cleanser and shampoo after running out, and you look at the soap in the bathroom and fall into deep thought. I definitely hope that my red pomegranate and NIUCOCO can arrive in seconds.
So you see, the demand for instant retail has always existed. This innovation is not only available in the past few days, but has actually been done for several years.
It’s just that in the past, the infrastructure departments of transportation capacity, systems, and warehousing were not enough and were not thoroughly excavated.
What traditional e-commerce platforms have done over the years can be summed up as rolling low prices, hitting explosive models, and fighting logistics.
In the eyes of users, it is a centralized promotion, several shopping festivals to buy things throughout the year, plan first and then place an order.
But in the past few years, users have found that this is a consumption trap. The hoarding is simply not used up, and then the big promotion is getting lower and lower year by year. There are always 10,000 reasons on the platform to tempt you to place an order.
At this point every year, if you don’t do some “even-pulling” operations, you always feel that you have lost hundreds of millions.
In fact, the goods stocked at home are enough for 2 or 3 years later.
At this time, the advantages of instant retail are revealed.
You don’t have to think about making up orders, you don’t need to stock up, and you don’t have to be a mathematician when it’s a big promotion. No need to wait for the live broadcast at a fixed time, no need to pull the list a few days in advance.
Only buy what you need, buy it when you need it, and it will arrive in half an hour, without entanglement.
At this time, is the little money that instant retail is expensive or money? Spending a little money to buy a spiritual liberation is far more cost-effective than laboring and wasting things in the end.
You see, instant retail is not just retail, but the rhythm of users’ lives.
This compulsion and emotional value came up all of a sudden. Is there a look like an endgame battle of e-commerce?
According to the research group of the Ministry of Commerce, China’s instant retail scale will reach 780 billion yuan in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 20.0%, accounting for 4.2% of online retail sales, and it is expected that the scale of instant retail sales will exceed 2 trillion yuan in 2030.
02
Moreover, instant retail will affect the business model and supply chain logic of many offline small entities.
It’s like I just got a new bar.
The problem with the new store is that the sales volume and customer flow cannot be estimated. The wine business is not bad, because the product has a long shelf life, and the traditional stocking method is nothing more than more pressure points in the early stage, and the turnover rate is slower.
But the cocktail category requires a lot of goods with a short shelf life.
People who have never been in this industry will never know how many cocktail bars are growing their own mint leaves to maintain their supply chain.
Instant retail is a good solution to this problem.
Another example is VSOP. Every store has to prepare a few bottles, maybe one day someone will want to drink it. But the sales are very slow, and the packaging is always changed. However, the difference between the wholesale price and the daily retail price of this product is not large, but the premium in the bar is very high.
The supply chain is particularly well-suited for instant retail.
Another example is the hotel.
Everyone who knows this industry knows that over the years, everyone has been thinking about what else can be sold besides selling guest rooms. Once this matter is understood, the traditional hotel floor efficiency utilization rate and store model may be broken.
Many hotels have tossed a lot.
There are souvenirs and souvenirs for sale. There are people who help guests prepare red wine in advance and decorate the rooms. But all of these actions have a problem, which is to stock up.
There is little stock, and some needs cannot be met. There are too many stocks, which affects the flow of funds, and some things cannot be sold at all.
But as long as instant retail is added, you will find that the so-called limitations of the past have been solved a lot in an instant.
For limited service hotels, even users drink alcohol in the middle of the night without ice, forget to bring clothes on business trips, and travel empty-handed.
There is also clothing retail.
On Meichuan Road in Shanghai, there were several clothing stores in the past few years. Sales will take clothes and product brochures to nearby beauty salons, barbershops, and massage parlors to sell.
It is said to cover 3-5 kilometers.
You can try the clothes on the spot, and if you are not satisfied, go back immediately to get the goods for you to change.
I don’t know if these stores are still there, if they are still alive, I believe it will say that instant retail is really fragrant.
So you see, the essence of instant retail is to shift from price wars and traffic competition to supply and demand scheduling.
All e-commerce platforms are actually doing “how fast and easy to save”.
Among them, “how good and saving” has peaked, and the only thing that can make a fuss is “fast”. Instant retail is a dimensionality reduction blow to traditional e-commerce in the “fast” link.
In the past, users placed orders passionately and received the goods in 3-5 days. Maybe the next day when the goods are on the road, the user’s passion will subside and the dopamine will stop surging.
Directly a calm return.
Now instant retail is different, the user’s “up” energy is not over yet, the goods are all at the door.
03
So understand why each platform has to take action in instant retail.
It’s just that everyone plays differently now.
Meituan Flash Sale is a platform business joining the Lightning Warehouse, which started early and covers a wide range, and has connected nearly 3,000 merchant resources in urban areas and counties.
According to Wang Puzhong, CEO of Meituan’s core local business, the number of Meituan flash sale flash warehouses will exceed 100,000 by 2027. This means that in the next three years, Meituan flash sales will add an average of 70 new flash warehouses a day.
And Meituan flash sale is now promoting three major categories.
The first is high-frequency consumer goods such as wine and convenience stores. The second is supermarkets and clothing categories with higher demand for instant delivery. Third, traditional e-commerce penetrates deeper and has higher profit margins for 3C digital, home appliances and home furnishings.
Starting with takeaway, market education is “everything can be delivered to home”.
It is rumored that Meituan’s flash sale of 3C digital orders has reached 40% of JD.com’s entire site.
JD.com is doing self-operated instant retail, with advantages in procurement and supply chain management, but currently focuses more on North China. And use the takeaway business to undertake high-frequency actions, that is, to drain traffic for the main station, and also temper the ability to deliver instantly.
And it integrates 8 entrances such as JD Seven Fresh, JD Convenience Store, JD Wine World, and JD Medicine, and puts them on the page of self-operated second delivery. It is said that JD Qixian has issued a clear instruction to ensure that the quality of goods is better than other platforms, and the price competitiveness should strive to be the first in the same industry.
Alibaba has migrated the accumulated brand merchant resources to instant retail through Ele.me and Taobao flash sales. At this stage, the main thing is ecological collaboration and business opening.
For example, Ele.me announced that it will open 100,000 near-field brand flagship stores within 3 years. It is to allow the brand merchants accumulated by far-field e-commerce to participate in near-field instant retail and better connect with consumers.
And on April 30, Taobao Tmall’s “Hourly Delivery” was upgraded to “Taobao Flash Sale”, and displayed as a “flash sale” first-level traffic entrance on the Taobao app homepage tab.
It is said that the daily order volume of the business exceeded 10 million orders in 6 days after its launch, while JD.com took 70 days. On May 26, the 27th day of Taobao’s flash sale, the daily orders of the flash sale business exceeded 40 million.
Douyin and Pinduoduo can’t sit still.
Pinduoduo’s “Duoduo Grocery Shopping” is experimenting with self-built commodity warehouses in first-tier cities such as Shanghai.
The instant delivery service will be launched as soon as August, delivering goods to your door at a speed similar to JD.com’s second delivery and Taobao flash sale.
In May, Douyin also released information on the recruitment of agents in the city.
But the disadvantage of Douyin in instant retail is also the capacity. The reason why Douyin takeaway has not been good before is that it cannot solve the delivery problem.
So you see, all in instant retail is an inevitable trend.
It’s just the same as other industries. When the number of flash silos increases, all kinds of messy and inefficient competition will also appear.
And what really takes instant retail to a higher level may be when the era of unmanned warehouses and unmanned delivery really comes.
