The competition in the food delivery market has entered a white-hot stage, and the business war between JD Takeaway, Taobao Flash Sale and Meituan Takeaway has intensified. This business war has not only driven a low-price carnival for drinks such as coffee and tea, but also triggered a significant increase in takeaway orders. This article provides an in-depth analysis of the business logic behind this takeaway business war, exploring why the beverage category has become the focus of the business war, and how this business war has gradually spread from the beverage sector to instant retail categories such as consumer electronics, home appliances, and daily clothing.
When the takeaway platform Three Kingdoms killed coffee and milk tea from 9.9 yuan to 1.68 yuan, it was enough to get a glimpse of the intensity of this business war.
Recently, the business war between JD.com Takeaway, Taobao Flash Sale and Meituan Takeaway has become more and more intense, and the endless free coupons and unstoppable large subsidies every day have not only emptied the insulin of young people, but also burned more than 40 million new orders.
As a chained, standardized and large-scale mature industry, coffee and tea are undoubtedly key targets in this business war. As a result, the 1.68 yuan Cudi coffee became a “cattle and horse refreshing liquid”, and the 5.9 yuan Gu Ming and Shuyi Shao Grass Fairy quickly exploded after launching new products, and the higher unit price of Bawang Chaji also easily exceeded 10 million orders.
At present, the business war of takeaway has become a carnival of drinks.
However, this is only the prelude to the takeaway business war. In order to compete for a larger instant retail market, the hot start of the beverage category will also shift to consumer electronics, household appliances, daily clothing and many other categories. At that time, where the wind of carnival can blow and how many orders can be burned by subsidies will truly define the new picture of consumption in the era of instant retail.
Milk tea changed users, and the takeaway market increased by 4,000 orders
Cheng Meng’s coffee machine at home has been eating ash for some time, because Cheng Meng, who usually brews a concentrate before going out, has recently bought coffee on the takeaway platform every day.
There is no fixed platform, and there is no fixed brand, Cheng Meng’s purpose is:Where is cheaper。
“Cattle and horse feed is mainly a refreshing effect, and there is no need to buy too expensive, so I usually look at which takeaway platform is the cheapest to buy every morning, and then place an order decisively.” Cheng Meng believes that there are different cooperation models between different platforms and brands, and similar brands will have different packages and price mechanisms in the live broadcast rooms of different anchors, and consumers do not need to be loyal to anyone, but only place orders on demand.
Feng Peihan, who has no coffee drinking habits, has also been pinched by the recent takeaway business war.
“Meituan gave me 28-18, Taobao flash sale gave me 15-13, JD.com gave me 10-7, and I felt that I had lost 100 million yuan when I received these coupons every day.” Feng Peihan has recently tried almost all the new products of major new tea brands, and every afternoon there is a set of fixed processes for receiving coupons first and then searching for milk tea ordering strategies.
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After drinking for more than a month, Feng Peihan sighed: “I’m afraid that before the end of the takeaway business war, my insulin will go on strike first.” ”
In factThe fact that the takeaway business war has become a milk tea business war has been supported by data。
On May 26, Taobao Flash Sale, which has been online for less than a month, announced that its daily orders have exceeded 40 million, accounting for about 25% of tea orders. Previously, there were also media reports that beverage orders accounted for nearly half of JD.com’s single-day orders.
Looking at the overall data, according to late reports, in 2024, the order volume during the peak period of China’s food delivery market will be about 100 million orders per day, most of which will come from Meituan and 20 million orders will come from Ele.me. This year, with the entry of JD takeaway and Taobao flash sale, the overall order volume has increased by more than 4,000 in less than two months.
All major platforms have ultra-low-priced products
It is obviously not as easy for consumers to quickly develop the habit of ordering takeaway or ordering takeout twice a day in a short period of time. After all, coffee, milk tea drinks can be “cattle and horse refreshing liquid”, can be afternoon tea, or social props, in short, the adaptation scene is very rich, as long as the subsidy is in place, you can get a good response.
For coffee and tea brands, the platform is of course a rare opportunity to give subsidies, as long as there is a good supply chain and management system, then the business war is an opportunity to refresh brand awareness and customer orders.
Cudi Coffee is almost the most prominent brand in the takeaway business war, and because it has varying degrees of cooperation with JD.com, Taobao flash sale, and Meituan, it also provides different degrees of subsidies. For example, Cudi Coffee often has low-priced subsidized products as low as 1.68 yuan on JD.com, but it will limit the category of coffee beans, the amount of concentrate and the sugar content, while Cudi Coffee’s Pinhao Fan channel on Meituan Takeaway sometimes has a special price of 3.9 yuan, and there is no limit to the specific options, and consumers can decide which platform to choose according to their own needs.
Consumers are stocking up on wool and coffee
On social media platforms, a number of Cudi coffee clerks and store managers revealed that their stores have benefited from the business war of the takeaway platform, and the daily cup volume has increased from hundreds to 1,000 cups.
JD.com’s takeaway data also shows that as of May 28, among the coffee and tea brands, the number of orders from Shanghai Auntie exceeded 8 million, Bawang Chaji exceeded 10 million orders, Luckin Coffee exceeded 50 million orders, and Cudi Coffee completed 80 million+ orders.
At the same time, during the “618” period, Taobao Flash Sale announced that it would still increase the amount of milk tea free orders, announcing that milk tea would be sent every day, and young people who have formed a fixed habit of “drawing free single cards every day” may also send a wave of order peaks to Taobao Flash Sale.
The takeaway business war that is currently running wildly in the first stage is actually more like a drink war, a platform that can reach strategic cooperation with more coffee and tea brands and can continue to come up with greater subsidies, naturally obtain more orders.
Where is the next subsidy field?
In the current fierce takeaway business war, coffee drinks and tea drinks have become the focus of the initial competition, which is by no means accidental, but the inevitable result of the joint action of market laws and business logic.For food delivery platforms, choosing this category as a breakthrough is like accurately hitting the key target of the business game.
First, the degree of chain chain of beverage brands is high, as long as the supply chain management is coordinated in the early stage, a large number of orders will be obtained after subsidies and traffic tilt, and the management of chain stores can ensure the speed and quality of meals, which can be called a BUG gameplay to quickly refresh the number of orders.
Second, the playability and interactivity of beverage takeaway are strong, such as the “milk tea free order” activity launched by Taobao flash sale, consumers have the opportunity to obtain both a free card and a guest card. This kind of gameplay is especially suitable for afternoon tea scenes, but if it is changed to treating guests to fast food and rice bowls, it is estimated that the interactivity will be greatly reduced.
Taobao flash sale free order activity continues
SoAt present, the outstanding performance in the takeaway business war is the beverage brandConsumers have picked up cheap milk tea, store turnover has doubled several times, and platform transaction volume has soared, forming a win-win situation.
However, the fiery competition in the beverage category is only the prelude to the takeaway business war, and it is by no means the end. According to a later report, “Taobao flash sales and Ele.me may hit 50 million orders during 618, and JD.com has also been reserving capacity and improving subsidy plans to deal with 618.” But the focus will shift, gradually spreading from food and beverage takeaway to instant retail of consumer electronics and household appliances such as iPhones, rice cookers, hair dryers, etc. ”
Consumer electronics, household appliances, daily clothing and other categories have entered the field of vision of takeaway business wars, stemming from the huge potential of the instant retail market.
Source: Gongyan Network
According to the “Instant Retail Industry Development Report (2024)” released by the Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, the scale of our country’s instant retail market will reach 650 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 28.89%, and the growth rate is 17.89 percentage points higher than that of online retail in the same period, which has become a new growth point to drive household consumption. The report predicts that by 2030, our country’s instant retail market is expected to exceed 2 trillion yuan.
With the acceleration of consumers’ pace of life and the change of consumption concepts, the demand for “instant gratification” is becoming increasingly strong. In the past, when buying a mobile phone or a rice cooker, consumers often needed to go to offline stores to choose, or wait for logistics delivery for several days after placing an order on an e-commerce platform. In the instant retail model, consumers can receive the goods within a short period of time after placing an order, which greatly shortens the waiting time and meets the urgent needs and impulsive consumption psychology.
In addition, the unit price of consumer electronics and home appliances is high, and the value of a transaction far exceeds that of catering orders.
From the hot start of the beverage category to the strategic shift to the field of instant retail, the takeaway business war is not only a business competition between platforms, but also a change and upgrade of consumption patterns.
