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whenever a first-tier brand releases a new mobile phone, hundreds of fans eager to get it first line up outside offline retail stores, which was once a "famous scene" in the mobile phone circle. but in the past few years, such scenes have become less and less common.

on september 20, the latest generation of iphones officially went on sale. coinmarketcap (id: wujicaijing) saw that apple retail stores in sanlitun, beijing, and nanjing east road, shanghai were crowded with hundreds of people queuing up.although its popularity can be said to be high, it is not comparable to its popularity many years ago.

in the first few years after the iphone was introduced to china, when a new product was released, many fanatical "apple fans" would go to apple retail stores a day in advance. coupled with the instigation of "scalpers" who hired people to queue up, there were often thousands of people on the scene, and apple was even forced to close its stores and suspend business.

today, apple retail stores are still crowded, but the popularity has declined significantly compared to previous years. this is due to the fact that mobile phone manufacturers have adjusted their sales methods: consumers need to place orders online and pick up their products in stores, and queuing up on site does not guarantee that they will be able to buy them; but more importantly,more and more consumers who want to "try out" the new iphone are turning to instant retail platforms.

after the iphone 16 was officially released, many people posted their experiences of buying it through instant retail platforms on platforms such as tiktok.

douyin user "tengkuaikuai" said, "the first iphone 16 was still available on meituan. i couldn't get in after browsing the official website for half an hour." another user "ahao digital" said that he grabbed another iphone 16. he thought ele.me was a niche market and there was still stock at 9 o'clock.

as early as 2020, meituan reached a cooperation with apple, and a large number of apple authorized stores entered meituan flash sales, making it convenient for consumers to purchase the iphone 12 as soon as possible after its release; now, delivering new mobile phones to consumers as quickly as possible has become one of the "reserved projects" of instant retail platforms such as meituan flash sales, ele.me, jd second delivery, and douyin hourly delivery.

brands, merchants and consumers all favor this new consumption mode. by significantly speeding up delivery, brands and merchants can meet the consumption needs of core users in the first place, while minimizing order loss and amplifying the exposure and publicity of new products; consumers can enjoy faster door-to-door delivery than traditional e-commerce, and do not have to endure long offline queues and harassment from "scalpers".

consumers buy iphones and other 3c digital products through riders, driving the rapid growth of the entire instant retail market. according to the recently released "china e-commerce regional development big data analysis report",the scale of the domestic instant retail market will reach 1.5 trillion yuan in 2025 and exceed 3 trillion yuan in 2023.

faced with the rapidly expanding market size, instant retail platforms are showing their strengths, eager to get a bigger piece of the pie.

in the first stage of industry competition, "speed" was the key to compete among all players, and "delivery in x minutes" for new mobile phones gradually became the industry standard. after years of polishing, platforms such as meituan flash purchase have already possessed relatively mature online and offline fast fulfillment capabilities, and have collectively crossed the threshold of "speed".

nowadays, the “speed” of instant retail is deeply rooted in people’s minds. the delivery time difference between different platforms is getting smaller and smaller, and even needs to be measured in minutes. how to continue to provide users with a refreshing consumption experience is a common issue for major instant retail platforms; and brands and merchants who increase their investment in instant retail are also eager to find business growth through instant retail platforms in addition to fast delivery.how to innovate on both the supply and demand sides based on high timeliness?it is becoming the next competitive focus for instant retail platforms.

"this is the first time i've ordered such an expensive takeaway! i'm waiting for it to be delivered! i'm also one of those who can use the first-come, first-served option!"

recently, a xiaohongshu user named "ningzai nico" spent nearly 9,000 yuan to buy an iphone 16 pro from an instant retail platform. he placed the order at 10 a.m. and it was delivered at around 2 p.m.

most users who are willing to spend thousands of yuan on ordering takeout are loyal fans of the brand.compared with ordinary consumers, they are less sensitive to prices and value the "satisfaction" and social value of getting new products first, which is highly matched with instant retail services with delivery time as short as ten minutes.

however, in an atmosphere where people are tightening their belts and budgeting, brand fans are eager to get more benefits. before the iphone 16 officially went on sale, various money-saving strategies had been widely circulated in content communities such as douyin, kuaishou, xiaohongshu, and bilibili. consumers who were interested in buying the iphone 16 turned into "mathematicians" and repeatedly compared the discounts of different purchasing methods.

instant retail platforms have noticed this consumption trend and have launched packages such as free gifts and interest-free offers for major new products.

taking the iphone 16 as an example, meituan’s flash sale comes with 16 months of “god member” benefits, which can be used for local consumption scenarios such as takeout dining, food group buying, hotel accommodation, leisure and entertainment, daily necessities, etc. within the meituan ecosystem, and provides 12 interest-free installments; ele.me and huabei provide 3-, 6- and 12-installment interest-free plans; jd.com provides double 11 price guarantee, old-for-new subsidies, etc., and users can also purchase apple care+ warranty services at a low price.

in addition to meeting consumers’ needs for “fast and economical”, instant retail platforms also need tohelp brands and merchants find new scenarios, orders and users.

as the dividend of new internet users disappears, how to find new sources of growth is a difficult problem for all brands and merchants; and instant retail is one of the few consumption scenarios that is still growing rapidly, and it is expected to alleviate the widespread traffic anxiety on the supply side.

what is more imaginative is that the users of instant retail are generally younger. according to the "instant retail consumer electronics industry white paper" released not long ago,generation z (born after 1995) accounts for nearly 40% of people who make instant purchases through mobile phones.platform data also reflects this feature, with the penetration rate of post-00s in meituan’s flash purchases reaching 48%.

at the same time, young people have a stronger willingness to consume on instant retail platforms. in traditional e-commerce, offline stores and other channels, consumers' annual mobile phone replacement frequency is 4%, while on instant retail platforms it is 8%, which is twice as high; in addition, the instant consumption behavior of young people in generation z has joint characteristics, such as the continuous evolution of "accessories-mobile phones-computer digital-home appliances", which increases the frequency of instant consumption.

it is not difficult to see that brands and merchants can achieve a higher input-output ratio than other scenarios by increasing their investment in instant retail. this is also the new development direction of instant retail platforms, that is, on the basis of "fast",provide diversified services to both the supply and demand sides to help brands and merchants further expand their business.

taking meituan flash sale as an example, by giving away "super membership", the platform can attract more users from meituan takeout, in-store dining, hotel and travel, and other scenarios to buy iphones; and through user portrait analysis, educational discounts and other operational methods, more accurate marketing conversion and long-term sales can be carried out for these users, thereby bringing long-term growth to brands and merchants.

in addition to accurately reaching the target population, helping brands and merchants expand their sources of new users is also one of the goals of instant retail platforms.

in the past, in order to ensure "fast delivery", instant retail services needed to bring merchants and sources of goods as close to consumers as possible, so the service scenarios were concentrated in first- and second-tier cities with dense stores and consumers. this year, major platforms are trying to expand to more cities, which often meansreshape the operating model on both the supply and demand sides.

it is understood that in meituan flash sales, the pre-sale of new products in previous years was mostly limited to stores in first- and second-tier cities nationwide. this year, the number of stores that support the first batch of pre-sales has doubled compared to last year, and most of them are concentrated in third- and fourth-tier cities and other sinking markets. as of now, there are nearly 7,000 apple authorized stores in meituan flash sales, an increase of nearly 2,000 compared to last year, covering more than 2,000 counties, districts and cities across the country.

finding new growth in instant retail is not only valued by brands, but also the consensus of more and more channel merchants.

channel merchants are downstream of brands and do not have advantages in terms of supply and price. after all brands have completed their own online channel layout and expanded nationwide with the help of e-commerce, the cake left for channel merchants is mainly the local market that values ​​shopping convenience.

in the past, such businesses relied mainly on offline store traffic;with the rise of instant retail, they have the opportunity to reach more customers.especially in some low-tier markets where e-commerce delivery is slow and brand-operated offline stores have weak coverage, local channel merchants are more enthusiastic and faster in embracing instant retail.

yang tao has been running an apple authorized store in jinghong, yunnan for nearly ten years. in this tourist city, the ratio of tourists to local customers in yang tao's store can reach 6:4. for offline stores that rely on acquaintances and word of mouth, it is not a good thing that highly mobile tourists account for more than half of the customers.

in 2020, yang tao tried instant retail for the first time through apple's mini program. after tasting the sweetness, his store entered meituan flash purchase in the second year and gradually increased its investment in this business. after the iphone 15 went on sale last year, all the new phones in yang tao's store were sold out. after the release of the new iphone this year, yang tao's stock is even more sufficient.

currently, more than 60% of yang tao's store's online sales come from instant retail. since the beginning of this year, his sales on meituan have doubled year-on-year. on september 20, more than 30 consumers received new iphones from meituan riders, and sales increased by about 30% compared with last year.

yang tao noted thatconsumers using instant retail services to purchase mobile phones are becoming more diverse.

some consumers buy iphones for emergencies, such as when their phones get wet during the songkran festival; but more people choose to buy iphones from platforms such as meituan flash purchase in order to enjoy the authenticity guarantee and platform discounts, and to seek help from physical stores when needed. some tourists also choose the model in the store and then "order takeout" online to enjoy the platform discounts.

in low-tier markets, more and more merchants like yang tao are gaining growth through instant retail. on the other hand, as a large number of channel merchants join instant retail,many consumers have learned to use new methods to get bargains.

hu zhenzhen works at an apple authorized store in beijing wangjing. she noticed that the many discounts provided by instant retail platforms are one of the key factors in attracting consumers. "for example, as long as the platform gives out coupons, the number of online orders from stores will increase significantly, with an average of 40-50 orders per day, and the most stores can get 70-80 orders per day."

hu zhenzhen believes that consumers have formed a mentality of instant retail discounts. one manifestation is that many people will come to the store to look at the goods, and after selecting them, they will open meituan to search for discounts and place orders in the store; after the rider enters the store to pick up the goods, they will take them directly from the rider.

this clever "high-end gameplay" is not exclusive to consumers in first-tier cities. at 10 a.m. on the day the iphone 16 was released, a consumer in ordos, inner mongolia, placed an order at a store and received an iphone 16 pro max from a delivery rider after only waiting for 10 minutes.

in addition to apple dealers, merchants focusing on other brands are also flocking to the instant retail platform.

according to data disclosed by the company, in addition to cooperating with 7,000 apple authorized stores, meituan flash purchase has also introduced more than 4,300 huawei authorized experience stores and smart life centers in 343 cities across the country. as early as 2022, ele.me has taken over more than 3,000 xiaomi stores across the country; suning.com, a comprehensive retailer focusing on home appliances and digital products with hundreds of stores, is also one of ele.me's partners.

as brands firmly hold the right to speak in traditional e-commerce channels, channel merchants put more energy and resources into instant retail, which can reach new users outside the in-store customer base at a relatively lower cost, and is expected to break through the bottleneck of offline store customer acquisition. correspondingly, consumers' "creative application" of instant retail has also provided merchants with more sales scenarios.

as both supply and demand continue to expand, the fast-growing instant retail industry is also undergoing significant changes.

one of the changes is thatthe use scenarios of instant retail are shifting from "temporary emergency" to "daily needs".many young people use it as an online supermarket.

according to the "white paper on the instant retail consumer electronics industry", "no need to go out" and "bad weather" are still the main reasons why consumers use instant retail; but in other non-urgent scenarios, such as home leisure, party gifts, 24-hour business, business trips, leisure and relaxation, more and more people are choosing the services of platforms such as meituan flash purchase.

behind this change is the fact that consumers, especially young people, are increasingly focusing on shopping experience, saving time and effort, enjoying discounts, and not having to wait more than a day to get the goods. instant retail happens to combine the two, solving the natural pain points of offline shopping and traditional e-commerce.

this also means that local merchants connected to the instant retail platform need to configure a richer range of product skus, rather than just providing emergency categories. in fact, comprehensive retailers such as large supermarkets, convenience store chains, and community supermarkets have long been loyal fans of instant retail and have made huge profits from it.

another change is thatinstant retail is evolving from the early delivery of flowers, vegetables, and medicine to the delivery of everything covering numerous categories.

in the early years, vertical e-commerce platforms in various fields relied on their own transportation capacity to provide fast door-to-door delivery services for special categories such as flowers and medicines, which became the prototype of instant retail. after 2020, the great success of "takeout delivery with mobile phones" made more brands and merchants realize the huge potential of instant retail, and the category expansion has since grown by leaps and bounds.

nowadays, when consumers open major instant retail platforms such as meituan flash purchase and ele.me, the products they can buy are almost the same as those of traditional e-commerce. the brands, merchants and products covered by instant retail have been greatly expanded, from the initial fresh fruits, flowers and vegetables to daily necessities, 3c digital products, sports and health, etc., completing the leap from "delivering urgent needs" to "delivering everything".

instant retail of "giving away everything" not only attracts brands and merchants from all fields, but alsoconsumers have formed the habit of joint consumption.

taking mobile phones as an example, many businesses have noticed that after purchasing an iphone, consumers will also choose peripherals such as mobile phone cases, data cables, headphones, or other products such as ipads and apple watches. compared with iphones, these products are in sufficient supply and usually do not need to be snapped up, but consumers who are used to "buying what they want" will also start from platforms such as meituan flash purchase.

in addition to the iterative upgrades on both the supply and demand sides, the instant retail industry is also undergoing structural changes.more new players are crossing over, hoping to get a piece of the pie.

at present, the domestic instant retail track includes long-established players such as meituan flash purchase, ele.me, and jd.com, as well as new players such as douyin and kuaishou, which are trying to enter the instant consumption from the content scene. in addition, offline chain brands such as yonghui, hema, and miniso are also testing the waters. even dongfang zhenxuan, which focuses on live streaming, has launched "hourly delivery".

with more and more players, the instant retail track is becoming crowded. among them, the main platforms have already passed the first threshold of "fast delivery"; how to create more value for consumers, brands and merchants will be the focus of the competition in instant retail 2.0.

some platforms are already exploring this. for example, meituan flash purchase has brought more merchants from lower-tier cities onto its platform, and by giving away “super memberships”, it has opened up access to meituan’s local life ecosystem; ele.me has found huabei to provide more diverse installment plans; and jd.com has moved the price guarantee gameplay of the e-commerce industry to the instant retail scenario.

after acquiring the basic capability of “fast delivery”, major instant retail platforms arecombining your own strengths, build new barriers around both supply and demandinstant retail with “delivery in x minutes” is moving beyond the single-dimensional competition of timeliness and evolving towards comprehensive competition of comprehensive capabilities.