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Ice cups have been trending on the Internet many times this summer. How can ice tasting and drinking take advantage of the summer peak season to find more growth? Instant retail platforms represented by Ele.me are becoming a key channel for retail brands to expand their upward space. Recently, the "2024 Summer Instant Retail Ice Tasting and Drinking Consumption Insight Report" jointly released by Ele.me and Nielsen IQ showed that the takeaway volume of ice cups around the Great Heat increased by 350% year-on-year, and the takeaway volume of ice cups paired with beer and other alcoholic beverages also increased by about 300% year-on-year.

The report integrates multi-channel retail data and case analysis, analyzes the new consumption trends of ice tasting and drinking in the summer peak season, and how new scenarios such as "ice + X" and meal-near resonance drive the growth of multiple categories. It explores new local life scenarios activated by instant retail in the high-temperature summer economy, and provides a reference for companies to seek new opportunities.

"In the summer, alcoholic beverages and beverages have shown higher vitality on instant retail platforms than on all channels," said Yang Ying, vice president of Nielsen IQ China's e-commerce business. "To boost business growth, brands, offline supermarkets, instant retail platform Ele.me and other players have created a variety of new marketing cooperation models. On the one hand, they have innovated gameplay on instant retail platforms to improve conversions. On the other hand, they have broken through barriers to cross-border cooperation and expanded ecological boundaries. Multiple strategies have been used to activate the summer economy."

Ice-keeping service upgrade, "0.01 yuan ice cup" accurately solves the pain points of "ice cup assassins"

According to the National Climate Center, the temperature in most parts of the country will be high this summer. The report shows that under the high temperature in summer, alcoholic beverages have emerged in the instant retail market with greater vitality. Nielsen IQ data shows that the sales of alcoholic beverages in the instant retail channel in the summer of 2023 will increase by 14% year-on-year, significantly higher than the omni-channel (4%). In June this year, the number of orders for alcoholic beverages on Ele.me increased by 22% year-on-year. Before and after the Great Heat, beverages and iced cold drinks increased by more than 40% year-on-year. Ice cups among iced cold drinks have become the new favorite for cooling off this summer.

But while ice cups are becoming popular, many consumers are also complaining about the price. In order to further promote ice drink consumption and solve consumers' pain points in summer ice drink consumption, this summer Ele.me has upgraded its ice preservation service "Bingbingbao" to optimize the experience. If consumers encounter thawing or un-ice conditions when delivered, they can directly apply for a refund within 15 minutes. In addition, during this summer's "Bingbing has courtesy" event, Ele.me has joined forces with 50,000 retail stores to provide consumers across the country with tens of millions of ice cups that can be purchased at 0.01 yuan.

The report shows that the upgrade of Ele.me's ice-keeping service and the "one-cent ice cup" benefit accurately meet the demand for instant ice tasting and drinking in summer. Around the Great Heat, the takeaway volume of Ele.me ice cups increased by 350% year-on-year. In addition, the hot sales of ice cups have a direct driving effect on the sales of highly related categories such as alcoholic beverages: cola, purified water and beer are the most popular combinations. The takeaway volume of ice cups with fruit and vegetable drinks increased by 320% year-on-year, and the takeaway volume with beer and other alcoholic beverages also increased by about 300% year-on-year.

"Ice + X" activates alcoholic beverages and leads growth in instant retail channels

It is precisely because of the insight into the growing trend of "using ice to promote products" that Ele.me has launched joint marketing such as buy-one-get-one-free ice cups and limited exchange of cross-border customized ice cups around the theme of "Ice + X" this summer, linking multiple industries such as beverages, dairy products, etc. For example, Mengniu ice products, Yili ice products, Wall's, Amul, Heineken, Carlsberg, Mars Wrigley, Yuanqi Forest, Tsingtao Beer, Mengniu Pure Zhen and other brands have jointly launched limited-edition co-branded customized peripheral "Ice Ice Cups" with Ele.me, and you can exchange them by adding 0.01 yuan to the specified amount. At the same time, in key cities such as Shanghai, Hangzhou, Wenzhou, and Guangzhou, we have joined hands with convenience stores such as Zuzu, FamilyMart, Meiyijia, and Youke to create "Ice Ice Cups" that are delivered with orders, and the fastest ice-cold delivery will be in 30 minutes.

For brand merchants, the "ice + X" provided by instant retail channels not only opens up consumption scenarios to drive order growth, but also brings in more target consumers. Ele.me data shows that first- and second-tier cities account for more than 70% of ice product consumption. Taking July as an example, Shanghai, Beijing, and Hangzhou ranked in the top three in ice cup consumption. Shenzhen's ice cup takeaway volume increased by more than 8 times year-on-year, and the growth rate of ice cups in Wenzhou, Harbin, Dongguan, Changchun, and Foshan also exceeded 500%.

In terms of population, the post-00s accounted for the highest proportion of ice cup consumption, nearly 40%, followed by those born after 1995, accounting for 30%. The report also divides the ice tasting and drinking preference groups in the instant retail channel into "disenchanted new youth", "multi-faceted blooming sister" and "small town experiencer" according to the needs of the segmented market, providing a reference for target customer groups for brands with different positioning.

With the help of the "Ice + X" scene, Wall's broke the historical peak of the instant retail channel during this year's Ice Products Festival, and the national order volume increased by 103% year-on-year during the outbreak period of the brand event; while Yili ice products achieved its annual order peak on the day the event was launched, and the number of new customers of its sub-brands "Zhen Xi" and "Qi Xuan" increased by 256% and 369% respectively.

The demand for ice cream in hotels and other travel scenarios has surged, and the growth potential of sub-scenarios is strong

In instant retail consumption, the potential hidden in segmented scenarios is becoming a new opportunity that brands cannot ignore. This summer, Ele.me proposed a new crowd insight model OAIPL, and helped brands find scene opportunities and opportunity crowds by describing 12 potential scenarios including eating ice cream. With the help of cross-border and marketing methods, brand management can find crowds and business growth opportunities from the dimensions of people, regions, channels and goods.

For example, in the core home-staying scenario, consumers who are constantly balancing "pursuing cost-effectiveness" and "pursuing self-pleasure" have found a self-consistent consumption method through instant retail, and DIY to create their own "online bar" and "home bar". Taking the June data of Ele.me as an example, the takeaway volume of "wine + ice cubes + beverages" increased by 211% year-on-year, significantly higher than the increase in orders for wine itself, and the takeaway order volume of "beverages + ice cubes" also increased by 142% year-on-year.

The demand for ice cream in office and hotel scenarios is also growing rapidly. The report shows that in June this year, the number of orders for ice cream delivered to office buildings increased by 30% year-on-year, among which the number of orders for ice cream delivered to late-night overtime increased by 40% year-on-year. At the same time, the demand for instant ice cream in travel scenarios such as hotels and stadiums in summer has increased strongly, and the proportion of ice cream orders on weekends has exceeded 40%, and the number of orders has increased by more than 80% year-on-year.

The platform actively promotes the cross-penetration of "meal + snacks" and activates high potential traffic with "midnight snacks and wine"

Affected by popular events such as the European Cup, the consumption potential of "meal + snacks" on instant e-commerce platforms has been opened this summer. During the European Cup, in addition to the significant growth in late-night takeouts such as fried rice and roujiamo, the volume of alcoholic beverages and drinks delivered by Ele.me in the early morning increased by more than 40% year-on-year, and ice cream and other ice products increased by more than 50% year-on-year. At the same time, this summer, the demand for daily meals such as hotel reunions and nighttime gatherings is also strong. Among them, the volume of ice product takeouts delivered to restaurants increased by 50% year-on-year, and the volume of takeouts ordered at the same time as meals and alcohol within 1 hour in the early morning increased by 44% year-on-year.

The cross-penetration of food and beverages based on real user needs directly means the expansion of traffic and customer base for both parties, achieving the brand's diversified scene positioning and better reaching potential consumer groups. In order to allow retail brands and merchants to seize the high-potential traffic pool of "cross-penetration of food and beverages", this summer Ele.me helped 1919, Jiu Xiaoer and other wine merchants to enter barbecue, crayfish and other catering stores suitable for "midnight snacks with wine", and consumers can purchase food and wine with one click through the exclusive venue.

Carlsberg and Ele.me have directly entered Meiyajia convenience stores and more than 200 stores of the barbecue brand "Chuan Yi Shi Zu" through package sales. Consumers can get a free "Ice Ice Cup" when they order a joint package in the store. With the joint and precise exposure of Ele.me, retailers and catering brands, the brand's retail sales increased by 66% and the brand awareness of the main promoter 1,664 people increased by 88%.

Hong Yong, an associate researcher at the E-Commerce Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce Research Institute, believes that judging from the popularity of ice cups this summer, the "ice + X" consumption scenario is becoming more segmented and full of opportunities. With the help of comprehensive services such as marketing, insights, and sales provided by instant retail platforms represented by Ele.me, more traditional retail brands and channel operators will have the opportunity to find new growth opportunities.