With the growing consumer demand for instantaneousness, instant retail is becoming a new battlefield in the e-commerce industry. Giants such as Meituan, JD.com, and Taobao have laid out to try to occupy a place in this emerging field. This article will delve into the concept of instant retail, its differences from traditional e-commerce, and why it has become the focus of competition among e-commerce giants.
When JD.com entered the takeaway market, many people only paid attention to the point that “JD.com started to do takeaway”, but did not really understand the new logic behind “JD.com started to do takeaway”.
With the addition of Taobao, especially as more and more interpretations begin to appear, people have begun to find that JD.com is not just doing takeaway, but to occupy a place on the new battlefield of instant retail.
As a result, the concept of “instant retail” has been pushed to the forefront.
If nothing else, the term “instant retail” will be a hot word in 2025.
Similarly, as more and more players begin to dive into the “instant retail” track, a new battle will begin.
If we regard the competition for e-commerce in the Internet era as a consumer Internet battle between players represented by Meituan, JD.com, and Taobao, then when the era of “instant retail” opens, players represented by Meituan, JD.com, and Taobao will engage in an industrial Internet battle.
For any player who still wants to stay at the e-commerce table, it will be inevitable to occupy a place at the “instant retail” table.
So, why is instant retail so magical? What is the difference and connection between instant retail and previous e-commerce?
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When we have a comprehensive and complete understanding of instant retail, we may understand why instant retail has become the new focus of competition.
Instant retail measures the comprehensive strength of players
After experiencing the baptism of PC Internet and mobile Internet, we have a relatively clear and clear understanding of e-commerce.
If we summarize and define the previous e-commerce model, it is more of a test of players’ ability to match and intermediate.
It is precisely because of this that all those players who can complete matching and intermediary with the fastest efficiency are all leaders in the e-commerce era.
However, when the asymmetry of information is broken, especially when matchmaking and intermediary are no longer effective, the development model of e-commerce players who only act as intermediaries begins to encounter more and more challenges and difficulties.
In other words, just using the traditional e-commerce model can no longer meet the needs of users and the development needs of the industry.
It is in such a situation that the concept of instant retail will be pushed to the forefront.
The so-called “instant retail” is actually that e-commerce players rely on their comprehensive strength in information intermediary, logistics and distribution to meet users’ immediate needs for goods.
Under the instant retail model, the shopping time has been shortened again, the satisfaction of demand has been accelerated again, and the speed of transactions has been increased again.
From this point of view, instant retail can be seen as a re-evolution of e-commerce.
In the context of instant retail, it is difficult to meet the needs of the new evolution of e-commerce just by using the previous model, it requires more in-depth intervention from e-commerce players, and it requires more multi-dimensional capabilities of e-commerce players.
Therefore, instant retail is more like a new species of e-commerce, which is the inevitable result of the evolution of e-commerce.
Similarly, it tests not only the capabilities of traditional e-commerce, but also the comprehensive strength of e-commerce players.
Instant retail competes for online and offline integration capabilities
We all know that when e-commerce begins to evolve, especially when the concept of industrial Internet begins to be mentioned more and more, the integration between the virtual economy and the real economy has become a major development direction in the future.
The new retail and new e-commerce we mentioned in the past almost always see the shadow of online and offline integration. However, although this concept was put forward early, there are very few that truly integrate online and offline.
For many e-commerce players, their understanding of online and offline integration is only at the traditional traffic level, and only stays under the traditional platform thinking.
It can be said that when the integration of online and offline is still under the traditional model, the so-called online and offline integration will be trapped under the traditional e-commerce model, and only by breaking the traditional traffic concept and abandoning the previous platform thinking can we truly find the right way and method to achieve online and offline integration.
The emergence of instant retail has allowed us to find a correct way and method to achieve online and offline integration beyond the concept of traffic and platform.
In the context of instant retail, the concept of traffic in traditional e-commerce and the thinking of platforms in traditional e-commerce have begun to cease to exist.
For e-commerce players such as Meituan, JD.com, and Taobao, they are not only a matchmaker between supply and demand, but also a participant in the rapid docking of supply and demand.
At this point, we can see a hint from the rider power invested by Meituan, JD.com, and Taobao to increase the docking and achievement of supply and demand.
It can be said that only those who have achieved deep integration of online and offline, and only those players who have eliminated the traffic and platform thinking and concept of traditional e-commerce, can win in such a new instant retail war.
Instant retail presents a new business model
Just seeing instant retail as an e-commerce model is actually a great underestimation of the significance of instant retail.
One of the important reasons why players represented by Meituan, JD.com and Taobao have joined the new battlefield of instant retail is that instant retail has brought about a new evolution of business models and e-commerce.
It can be said that instant retail allows us to see a new business model.
If we summarize and define such a new business model presented by instant retail, a de-platformized and decentralized business model is undoubtedly the most suitable.
Just looking at the performance of Meituan, JD.com and Taobao in the takeaway market, we can see this.
It can be said that in the current food delivery market, Meituan, JD.com and Taobao are no longer a third party, but have become a real participant.
When Meituan, JD.com and Taobao become one of the participants, then, in the past e-commerce era, the platform and center-led business model we saw began to disappear, replaced by a new business model.
Under such a new business model, Meituan, JD.com and Taobao are no longer a third party that matches both ends of supply and demand, but have become real participants.
They not only provide logistics and distribution support, data integration coordination, but also provide products, warehousing and even more other supporting facilities.
It can be seen that instant retail presents us with such a new business model, and it is precisely because of this that we have seen that e-commerce players represented by Meituan, JD.com and Taobao are so enthusiastic about it, and even Liu Qiangdong, who has not appeared for a long time, has once again come to the forefront.
It is no exaggeration to say that instant retail will be the key to determining whether e-commerce players can continue to stay at the table in the future.
conclusion
When Meituan, JD.com, and Taobao compete in the takeaway market, in fact, this presents us more of a new battlefield for instant retail.
What is certain is that starting from instant retail, the e-commerce industry will start a new evolution in the true sense.
For any player who wants to stay at the e-commerce table, how to use instant retail to have a certain voice in it, especially how to continue its leading position with the help of instant retail, is the key to ensuring that they can continue to develop.
