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author: kyra

editor: ray

cindy, who was staying at home on the weekend, suddenly felt like restarting her weight loss plan. "the first step is to get a body fat scale. i want to see how much i weigh now and other indicators. is there one that can be delivered in an hour or two?" cindy said as she searched on her phone. "there is one that can be delivered in less than an hour. i'll take it!"

“i finally caught the plane, but i forgot to bring my phone charger and mouse. it’s definitely too late to buy them online, and i don’t have time to go to the store to buy them. jd’s instant delivery is reliable. i received them in more than half an hour, and i can meet the client with peace of mind.” for talia, who often forgets to bring things when traveling, being able to buy anything at any time is like a lifesaver.

……

nowadays, the accelerated pace of life has led to changes in shopping habits. consumers have higher demands for the immediacy and efficiency of shopping and hope to receive the ordered goods in a short time.

according to the "instant+" 2023 instant retail development trend white paper, the instant retail market size is expected to grow at an average annual compound rate of 25% from 2023 to 2030, and is expected to increase to 3.6 trillion yuan by 2030, equivalent to 6% of the total retail sales of consumer goods in the same period.

it has to be said that the fire of instant retail is getting hotter and hotter.

by definition,instant retail refers to the business model where consumers place orders online and the goods are delivered within one hour or half an hour.for example, jd.com’s express delivery, hema, dingdong maicai, meituan flash purchase, and meituan lightning warehouse.

in fact, we can regard instant retail as takeaway retail. because from the perspective of takeaway, it is to complete the transaction through delivery without going to the store. instant retail is the same as takeaway, that is, it is not to consume in the store, but to complete the transaction through delivery. therefore, instant retail must be retail takeaway.

simply put, instant retail is an extension of food delivery. the riders who used to deliver three meals a day are now delivering food, fresh fruits and vegetables, daily chemical products, medicines, digital 3c and other categories of goods.

since its development in 2015, it has gone through three stages: free growth, explosive growth, and refined operation.

in the process of the development of instant retail, three forms of expression have emerged. the first is the warehouse-store integration model represented by hema and yonghui life; the second is the small forward warehouse model represented by dingdong maicai and meituan maicai, and the large forward warehouse model represented by pupu supermarket; the third is the platform model represented by jd.com and meituan.

the instant retail market has huge potential, so players in the field are increasing their investment.

around 2015daily freshthe forward warehouse model was created. in the same year, yonghui life was established. based on yonghui supermarket stores, it opened online channels and realized the onlineization of fresh food/supermarkets.

jd.comjd.com also established jd.com home delivery in 2015, officially launching its instant retail business, bringing local supermarkets online and developing supermarket takeaway business. two years later, jd.com founder liu qiangdong proposed a "boundaryless retail" model that covers all customer groups, channels, categories and time periods online and offline. in may this year, the original jd.com hourly delivery and jd.com home delivery were integrated and upgraded to "jd.com second delivery", and a first-level traffic entrance was opened on the upper right of the jd.com app homepage.

in 2016,hema freshit was established, which integrates the store and warehouse models, serving as both a store and a forward warehouse, and also completing the internetization of fresh food through online ordering.

in 2018,meituanlaunched flash sale business, transforming from delivering food to delivering everything.

in april of the same year, alibaba and ant financial invested us$9.5 billion inare you hungry?the full acquisition made up for the shortcomings of taobao's instant retail in delivery and completed the closed loop of alibaba's new retail "three-kilometer ideal living circle". ele.me also continued to increase its investment in instant retail business. during the double 11 last year, ele.me announced the launch of the "double hundred plan", which will work with 100 retail brands in the future to achieve 100% growth in two years.

in early 2023,tik tokafter the supermarket was officially launched, douyin's instant retail "hourly delivery" service was tested in some cities. by october, douyin officially separated "hourly delivery" from "douyin supermarket" and opened a separate entrance, which was parallel to douyin supermarket.

however, taking meituan, which has been in the instant retail industry for more than six years, as an example, its flash purchase penetration rate in all categories of commodity retail was only 0.4% by the end of 2023. judging from the data alone, this track is still in its early stages of development.

in fact, as the e-commerce industry has developed to date, competition has become increasingly fierce, but why must the next "match point" be instant retail?

if the connection of the national market through express logistics is likened to the "arteries", then the connection between consumers and local physical stores is the "capillaries" for the circulation of goods.

by making full use of "local supply" in the interaction between supply and demand and improving the efficiency of "capillaries" to meet consumers' daily immediate needs, this has also given rise to the rise of e-commerce "instant retail".

specifically, there are several important reasons for the rise of "instant retail":

the most critical issue is profit.before the instant retail track became popular, the fresh food track had experienced a wave of elimination and reshuffle. in 2021, tongcheng life, dailuobo, and baoneng fresh food failed one after another. in the past two years, e-commerce platforms have also been struggling in the "quagmire" of low prices. faced with increasingly transparent profits and market ceilings, e-commerce platforms are in urgent need of new battlefields.

in contrast, the instant retail sector has shown greater flexibility. it not only covers fresh products, but also involves a wide range of other categories, especially the higher proportion of standard products. this diversified product structure helps to make up for the high losses and low profits brought about by the pure operation of fresh products, and provides operators with a more stable profit space.

secondly, there is the immediate consumption demand generated by the improvement of industry infrastructure and the younger shopping population in recent years.

in fact, consumers' demand for instant consumption has always existed, but in the early days, it could not be met due to the immaturity of technology and logistics distribution conditions.

in the era of underdeveloped logistics, even if you place an order online, you have to wait for several days to receive the goods. however, with the rapid development of internet technology and the improvement of logistics infrastructure, various platforms such as tmall supermarket that provide next-day delivery have gradually emerged, and then half-day delivery services have been developed. finally, today, it can be delivered to your door in half an hour.

"instant retail" companies represented by meituan continue to invest in building an instant logistics system and constructing local forward warehouses and other infrastructure to help physical retail stores achieve digitalization. the large, stable and flexible local logistics fulfillment system makes "instant retail" possible.

the progress of commerce has also further stimulated consumer demand. according to the "focus on china's post-95 consumer group" report previously released by accenture, the younger generation is more concerned about "speed", and more than 50% of post-95s hope to receive the goods on the same day of shopping, and are willing to pay extra for faster delivery.

the requirements for consumption certainty and timeliness are constantly increasing, and "taking food as express delivery" has become a spontaneous shopping method for many consumers. the increasingly common demand for instant consumption has enabled instant retail platforms to achieve sustained growth in all categories in more and more instant consumption scenarios.

in addition, in recent years, the government has vigorously promoted the construction of "half-hour living circle" and "15-minute living circle", further promoting the development of instant retail from a more basic dimension. in may 2021, the ministry of commerce and 12 other departments issued the "opinions on promoting the construction of urban 15-minute convenient living circles", proposing to enrich commercial formats, strengthen market entities, promote agglomeration development, innovate service capabilities, and guide local governments to carry out pilot projects for the construction of urban 15-minute convenient living circles in batches.

however, chaoxiong can’t help but wonder, if consumers’ daily instant shopping needs can be well met by online instant retail platforms, is there still a need for offline convenience stores with higher operating costs to exist?

"once i've used it, i can never go back. i now especially like to place orders in advance, and i can receive them at home just in time. everything is perfect, and it's so hassle-free." for belle, a super homebody, she will never buy anything offline if she can buy it online.

from a certain perspective, instant retail can be said to be a collection platform of online convenience stores, and the process of e-commerce is bound to squeeze offline physical convenience stores in a short period of time.

in the process of retail industry transformation and development, online and offline are more like two parallel lines, which do not intersect and even compress each other's space. the difference between the two lies in the time, place and "human touch" of delivery.

instant retail does not require a good storefront. it can be located underground or in a warehouse. it only needs a customer base within a radius of a few kilometers. the rent of underground or warehouse is cheap, and the goods can be multiplied. the display in the warehouse is convenient for picking. the most expensive part is actually delivery. however, the biggest expense of offline convenience stores is rent, and the location of the store needs to consider the surrounding traffic flow. from the perspective of business operation efficiency,the advantages of instant retail are self-evident.

but even so, instant retail will not replace convenience stores.

in fact,instant retail and convenience stores coexist and complement each other. the cooperation between lawson and meituan is a living example.

previously, offline convenience stores were restricted by location, with a radiation radius of no more than 1 kilometer, and had peak and trough periods for orders. however, through instant retail platforms, convenience stores can break through restrictions, making their coverage wider and their hours more flexible, so that they can receive orders even late at night.

instant retail fully connects offline and online, making offline convenience stores one of the beneficiaries of the change. at the same time, a large number of offline convenience stores can also supplement the product categories of instant retail platforms, forming a mutually beneficial pattern with instant retail platforms.

in addition, the instant retail business relies on a complete set of digital solutions (product management, inventory management, supply chain management), which can also provide merchants with valuable market information and consumer insights, and help stores improve their operational capabilities.

"you see, our community is quite remote. there's almost no one here except after get off work. i was almost unable to make ends meet before. however, last month my daughter helped me open a store on meituan. now the sales are much better than before. i'm happier and happier," the owner of the convenience store near his home excitedly shared with kay.

in addition,putting aside commercial efficiency and profits, the warmth and emotional value provided by offline convenience stores are irreplaceable.

kay, who often works overtime, likes to go to convenience stores after get off work. "on a hot summer night, i can walk into a cool convenience store and have a bowl of steaming hot oden. it's so refreshing." "when i'm at home, i can get the things i need urgently in three to five minutes at the convenience store downstairs. i can also chat with the boss about family matters. such moments are very healing when i'm alone outside."

"tidal business review" believes that community convenience stores with a strong "human touch" will be the mainstream offline store format in the future. they will be deeply integrated into the surrounding communities and will be closer to consumers.

in the future, offline convenience stores can provide more community-specific services, such as community group buying, short break services, bus card recharge, payment of water, electricity and gas bills, collection and delivery of express deliveries, ticket purchasing, printing and copying, etc., to enhance the stickiness with community residents.

convenience stores close to living areas can also provide fresh foods (mainly fruits, vegetables, meat, and fish), daily necessities, frozen foods, and processed foods to facilitate consumers' shopping.

for example, in south korea, transportation cards can also be purchased at convenience stores, and transportation cards can be used to make purchases directly in convenience stores. in addition, convenience stores can also sell cold medicines, digestive medicines, trauma medicines, allergy medicines, plasters, etc., which can meet medication needs in emergency situations.

only by transforming from a retail entity dominated by product sales to a comprehensive community commercial service entity with service as the core can street convenience stores survive in the long run.

the competition between instant retail and convenience stores is not a simple "replacement" game, but a duet that emphasizes both speed and temperature in the business ecosystem.in this era of diversified and personalized consumption, instant retail and convenience stores each play an irreplaceable role, and together they weave a business network that is both fast and warm, so that the needs of every consumer can be met.

just like cindy, talia, belle and kay mentioned in the article, an efficient and warm business system allows every consumer to participate willingly and achieve value exchange between the "buyers" and "sellers".

"to be honest, it's really convenient to have instant delivery, especially on weekends when i'm too lazy to go out. whatever i want to eat can be delivered quickly. but if it's a night when i work overtime on a weekday, the light of the 24-hour convenience store near my home can really give me strength." kay said with a smile.

you see, that's how business works.