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the e-commerce world has undergone irreversible changes due to "instant retail".

on september 20, the latest flagships of the two major mobile phone brands, apple and huawei, were officially launched. this is not only a major news in the mobile phone industry, but also a major event in the consumer and e-commerce fields. a large number of consumers are eager to grab the two most dazzling new star products of the year. whoever can deliver the products to their doorsteps in the first place is a great opportunity for all platforms and merchants to show off their strength.

judging from the sales of the two major brands this year, the trend is becoming more and more obvious: high-potential consumption scenarios such as the launch of new products are no longer the exclusive domain of e-commerce platforms. instant retail, where food is delivered quickly to your door by delivery boys, has steadily risen.

if we broaden our perspective a little, we can also see that buying mobile phones, computers and even all kinds of home appliances through takeout is becoming the norm, regardless of specific time or city.

when the delivery man shuttles in the mobile phone store

"people are getting more and more used to buying mobile phones on food delivery platforms."

this statement comes from wang ming, the manager of an apple authorized store in jinghong, xishuangbanna. four years ago, they tried instant retail through mini programs. at present, 60% of their online sales are generated from this emerging channel.

instant retail is derived from food delivery, and the scope of food delivery has long gone beyond food and beverages. nowadays, the electric bikes of food delivery boys shuttle between various businesses related to daily necessities, and mobile phone stores are one of the most important categories. especially when new high-end flagship products are launched, food delivery boys will go to mobile phone stores to pick up the goods more frequently.

according to a white paper released by iresearch in march this year, 40% of consumers who purchased mobile phones through instant retail were new product launches, and the average purchase price was as high as 5,579 yuan, which reflects the attraction of instant retail to high-potential consumer groups.

whether it is the first ai flagship of iphone or the blockbuster new product of huawei, for fans of both sides, what they want is not only to buy good configuration, but also to experience it first. next-day delivery is not as good as same-day delivery, same-day delivery is not as good as hour delivery, and hour delivery is not as good as 30-minute delivery.

when it comes to speed, takeout is fast enough.

the trend is not limited to a certain place. whether in high-tier or low-tier cities, whether inland or on the border, more and more consumers are starting to buy mobile phones through takeout. it is reported that after the iphone 16 went on sale this year, a consumer in ordos only waited for 10 minutes and received a desert-colored titanium iphone 16 pro max delivered by the takeout boy.

this apple authorized store in jinghong has been in operation for nearly a decade. its director wang ming revealed that the main sales force of the store has shifted to online, and takeaway is an increasingly popular way to buy mobile phones.

first of all, there is the immediate demand of tourists. as a popular tourist city, xishuangbanna receives more than 47 million domestic and foreign tourists every year. sometimes, when your phone gets wet during the water splashing festival, you need to "order takeout for emergency."

consumers traveling from first-tier cities are more adept at using food delivery to get discounts. when they see discounts on apple products in stores, they will search online channels. when they find food delivery platforms offering coupons, they will place orders directly on the food delivery platforms.

locals are also becoming more and more enthusiastic about "takeaway mobile phones". wang ming mentioned that locals buy mobile phones through instant retail, in addition to hoping to enjoy discounts, mainly focusing on genuine product guarantees and convenient after-sales service. "although apple now has a nationwide warranty, it is still most convenient to go to physical stores to ask for staff for services such as trade-in, file transfer, and film application."

last year, this apple authorized store in jinghong participated in the launch of the new iphone 15. one week after the launch, all the new phones were sold out. wang ming also mentioned that since the beginning of this year, his store's sales on meituan have doubled compared to last year.

in high-tier cities, the penetration rate of takeout dining consumption is higher, and buying mobile phones through instant retail is more common.

li yue, who used to work at two apple authorized stores in beijing, said that after the epidemic, consumers prefer to "buy mobile phones through takeout." for an apple authorized store in wangjing where she worked this year, the proportion of online and offline consumption is not much different. "our store's main online sales are in meituan and jd's instant retail. this year, the sales of the new iphone 16 through store takeout channels have increased slightly compared to last year, and it has been an upward trend in recent years."

on the one hand, it is because of discounts. online channels often set up promotional activities. in li yue's opinion, this is the most attractive part of instant retail. whenever the food delivery platform gives out coupons, the online order volume of the store will increase significantly, with an average of 40 to 50 orders per day, and the most stores can reach 70 to 80 orders.

on the other hand, instant retail solves the trust problem. "in the past, people always thought that online products were fake, but now with instant retail, people can search for specific stores near them to place orders, and the sense of trust is much stronger."

nowadays, store management pays more and more attention to instant retail channels. "they assess the packaging when they deliver the goods and the rate of favorable comments on the platform."

it can be said that instant retail has become an important channel for mobile phone sales.

changes in consumer electronics channels

changes don’t happen suddenly. just search on social media and you’ll easily see similar cases.

in 2021, a woman in shandong who was used to ordering takeout food bought a mobile phone charging cable with takeout food, and since then she realized that takeout food apps are not just for ordering food and drinks. after that, she placed 65 non-catering takeout orders in one month.

in 2022, a netizen in shanghai needed to buy a laptop, but due to the epidemic, he could not receive express delivery normally, so he tried to search on meituan, and ordered the "most expensive takeaway in his life" - a macbook air of nearly 8,000 yuan.

for instant retail consumers, they started with food delivery and are used to having their needs met instantly. after gradually building trust in food delivery platforms, they have developed a consumer mentality of "checking out food delivery apps before everything." especially when encountering emergencies, "ordering food delivery" has become a subconscious action.

the young group known as the "internet generation" is the core user of instant retail. according to the iresearch report, compared with express e-commerce and offline stores, instant retail consumer electronics users are generally younger and have higher education. the proportion of users born after 2000 and those with a master's degree or above has reached 14%.

this group is willing to explore, good at using the internet, has higher requirements for quality of life, and pays more attention to experience and efficiency in consumption, which determines their preference for instant retail channels.

for merchants, “where consumers are, there is business.” any product that can be posted on the takeaway channel can be posted there. as a result, instant retail has emerged from nothing, which has not only affected mobile phone consumption, but also changed the channel structure of the entire consumer electronics industry.

in addition to mobile phone brands, a number of digital and home appliance manufacturers are promoting cooperation in instant retail channels, including computer manufacturers such as lenovo and hp, as well as leading home appliance brands such as midea, haier, and supor.

for example, lenovo launched a brand day live broadcast on the food delivery platform in september 2023. supor promoted the upgrade of cooperation with instant retail platforms such as jd.com in the first half of this year, and it has also reached a cooperation with meituan flash purchase. midea announced last month that it plans to let all 25,000 of its own retail stores settle in meituan.

sales data further proves the boost that instant retail has on the consumer electronics industry. for meituan flash sales alone, on november 11, 2023, the platform's computer transaction volume increased by 367% year-on-year, game equipment transaction volume increased by 838% year-on-year, and electronic education products increased by 547% year-on-year.

from the perspective of segmented scenarios, graduation season and the start of the school year are peak seasons for laptop consumption. educational products have obvious advantages during winter and summer vacation promotions, and gaming equipment attracts much attention in new product launches and rush purchases... at these times, instant retail that can be delivered at any time and saves time and effort can often attract consumers to "try new things."

after experiencing this, most consumers will develop the habit of buying electronic products through “takeout”. relevant surveys show that more than 70% of consumers are willing to repurchase.

it can be foreseen that the importance of instant retail channels will further increase in the entire consumer electronics industry.

it’s time to rethink instant retail.

just like what happened with food delivery. according to the cnnic report, as of june 2024, the number of online food delivery users in my country reached 553 million, accounting for 50.3% of the total internet users.

in essence, ordering takeout is not only a consumption habit, but also a lifestyle. more and more people order takeout not only to meet their food and drink needs when they don’t have time to cook, but also to enrich their taste buds. it is not only to satisfy hunger, but also to enjoy the fun of eating.

the same is true for instant retail, except that it brings the story that has already happened in the catering industry to the broader business world.

let’s take the consumer electronics industry as an example. in general, consumers initially “ordered takeout and bought electronic products” for emergency needs, but now the reasons for purchase have changed from emergency needs to non-urgent needs, from emergency needs to daily needs. the release of new digital electronic products, platform promotions, and gift exchanges on social media have all become high-frequency consumption scenarios for instant retail.

these new consumer demands provide businesses with new development opportunities.

as philips greater china health and living business group national sales senior director said, instant retail breaks the physical space limitations of stores and maximizes the attraction of local customers. more importantly, digital home appliance brands have been trying to adopt a younger strategy to cater to the needs of a new generation of consumers, and they also need an incremental channel that is easier to reach young people. instant retail is "playing their cards right".

as a result, a combined force of merchants and platforms has created a unique advantage for instant retail and pushed up the upper limit and scale of the instant retail consumer electronics industry. it is expected that by 2026, its market size will exceed 100 billion.

specifically, "fast" is the most prominent feature of instant retail. in addition, just like the early development of e-commerce, food delivery, online car-hailing and other industries, there are often large discounts. in order to seize the market, the current instant retail platform allocates resources to marketing, which also allows consumers to "save" more. this time, when the new iphone was launched, meituan flash purchase launched an activity that offered membership privileges to customers who bought new mobile phones. this is an example.

at the same time, compared with pure express e-commerce, instant retail is linked to surrounding physical stores, which makes it easier to communicate with merchants and return and exchange goods. compared with pure offline stores, the supply of goods is more complete. all these also allow instant retail to reshape the consumption channel pattern.

the changes first concentrated in first- and second-tier cities, and are now spreading to third- and fourth-tier cities and even lower-tier markets.

according to data from meituan's flash sales, in previous years, pre-sales of new iphones were limited to more than 1,000 apr stores (i.e. apple's premium dealer stores) in first- and second-tier cities across the country. this year, the number of apple authorized stores supporting the first batch of pre-sales has doubled, and most of the new stores are in third- and fourth-tier cities, counties and other lower-tier markets.

back to the early days when instant retail extended its tentacles to consumer electronics. in october 2020, the iphone 12 series of mobile phones went on sale, and the food delivery platform launched an event to grab iphones. because it was limited to certain regions such as beijing and shanghai, and the number of mobile phones was limited, some people questioned at the time that this was a gimmick.

however, four years later, the number of apple authorized stores and huawei authorized experience stores and huawei smart life centers that have joined meituan flash purchase has reached nearly 7,000, and more than 4,300. in addition to meituan flash purchase, jd.com, ele.me, douyin, and kuaishou have also supported hourly delivery, making "takeout ordering mobile phone" a normal practice.

the shift in consumer habits driven by technology is irreversible.

in fact, the demand for instant consumption has always existed. no matter what you buy, everyone hopes it can be as convenient and fast as ordering takeout. it’s just that the previous technical conditions and transportation resources were not sufficient to support such universal demands.

now, more than 2,800 counties, cities, districts and flags across the country have food delivery services. the air wall separating the supply and demand sides of instant demands will inevitably be gradually broken down, and more and more people can order a wider variety of goods through food delivery.

instant retail of "buying everything by takeout" has become a highly certain lifestyle. it is no longer limited to food and drink, and in the future, it will not be limited to mobile phones, computers, refrigerators, and air conditioners.

**wang ming and li yue are pseudonyms in this article