Industry Turbulence Instant Retail Becomes a Must-Do for Baijiu Brands**** In this cycle, the baijiu industry is experiencing unprecedented upheaval. The dual pressures of high production capacity and slowing demand have made supply-demand imbalance and mismatch increasingly acute, rendering the traditional growth model of "inventory pressure + price hikes" completely ineffective. Across the baijiu industry, the entire pricing system, channel structure, and consumption habits are undergoing dramatic changes. Baijiu consumers' attention is fragmented, and the younger generation's awareness, understanding, purchasing, and consumption of baijiu are vastly different from the previous generation of baijiu drinkers. Younger consumers are internet-savvy, being digital natives; they seek simplicity, purity, and efficiency, and deeply dislike any opaque or complex tactics; they admire brands but have high trust requirements. Trust is like crystal—it is extremely precious yet very fragile. The inefficiency and opacity of traditional multi-tier distribution models and retail terminals have made "trust" the scarcest resource in today's baijiu industry, whether between manufacturers and distributors, retailers and suppliers, or brands and consumers. The difficulty in distinguishing genuine from fake famous liquors, the multiple layers of channel transfers, and the fragmented consumer experience have long plagued the baijiu market. Consumers' desire for "authenticity guarantees" is stronger than ever; they are willing to pay for trust but often cannot find a sufficiently certain purchasing path. During this turbulent period for the baijiu industry, the rise of instant retail offers a new answer for baijiu brands to navigate the cycle. Today's baijiu consumption scenarios have seen many new changes: high bottle-opening rates, strong immediacy, and social-driven occasions often require "buy now, drink now." Instant retail, with its ultimate experience of "authentic products delivered in 30 minutes," naturally aligns with baijiu's consumption logic. This means that for baijiu brands, instant retail has shifted from an "option" to a "must-do." In a period of industry downturn, only by seizing the opportunity of instant retail can brands reconnect with consumers and find certain incremental growth. As a major event in the baijiu industry, the deep cooperation between Meituan Flash Purchase and ten famous baijiu brands is a concentrated manifestation of this trend.

Jointly with Famous Liquor Brands Meituan Flash Purchase Optimizes the Instant Retail Ecosystem with Authenticity Guarantees**** In September 2025, Meituan Flash Purchase, together with leading baijiu brands such as Moutai Sauce-Flavored Liquor, Fenjiu, Yanghe, Gujing Gongjiu, Jiannanchun, Xifeng, Jinshiyuan, Langjiu, and Shuijingfang, launched the industry's first "full-chain authenticity guarantee system" in instant retail. This move is considered a key milestone in the maturation of the baijiu instant retail ecosystem. The so-called "full-chain" is not just a slogan conveyed to consumers but a system design covering pre-sale, delivery, and after-sales stages:

  • Pre-sale stage: Meituan Famous Liquor Store launched a "photo before delivery" service. For high-value baijiu, merchants provide physical photos and unique codes before shipment, reminding users to verify upon receipt, effectively preventing product swapping. This innovative measure addresses consumers' concerns about authenticity upfront.
  • Delivery stage: High-quality merchants like Meituan Waima Songjiu introduced the industry's highest standard "authentic delivery" service. When high-priced liquor leaves the warehouse, it is placed in a professional container called an "assurance bag" and locked with a one-time code called an "assurance buckle," ensuring the last mile is not tampered with.
  • After-sales stage: Full-chain qualification verification, authenticity deposit, and a "pay ten times if fake" service commitment were launched simultaneously. For baijiu marked with "pay ten times if fake," consumers can apply for after-sales based on verification results to protect their rights.
  • Appraisal stage: A "baijiu appraisal" service was piloted in some cities, partnering with authoritative institutions to provide users with 72-hour authenticity verification, with test results seamlessly linked to the compensation system, further eliminating doubts. Behind these measures is a concentrated effort to address long-standing industry pain points such as counterfeits, cross-regional sales, product swapping, and unresolved after-sales issues. When consumers' "unease" is dispelled and trust is established, the large-scale explosion of instant retail becomes inevitable. More importantly, the official entry of leading brands has built a new model of "brand direct operation + authenticity guarantee + 30-minute delivery." Official authorized stores of Moutai Sauce-Flavored Liquor, Fenjiu, Yanghe, Gujing Gongjiu, and other brands have successively launched on Meituan Flash Purchase, setting a demonstration effect for the industry. The cooperation between brands and platforms not only provides a stable supply of authentic products but also pushes instant retail toward mainstream adoption.

Consumer Shift Is the Fundamental Reason for the Rise of Instant Retail**** The baijiu consumption ecosystem is undergoing a qualitative change. In the past, consumers mainly bought liquor from offline tobacco and liquor stores or through acquaintance channels. It was difficult to distinguish genuine from fake, the experience was fragmented, and even "overpaying" or "buying fakes" was common. When it came to mid-to-high-end famous liquors, consumers faced higher psychological costs and decision-making difficulty. Now, with the establishment of the authenticity ecosystem and the popularization of instant retail experiences, this is being overturned. More and more consumers are choosing to buy liquor on Meituan Flash Purchase for three reasons:

  • Peace of mind: The authenticity guarantee system allows consumers to dare to buy high-value famous liquors.
  • Convenience: 30-minute delivery meets the immediate needs of impromptu gatherings and business scenarios.
  • Brand endorsement: Official stores add credibility, eliminating uncertainty in intermediate links. Data also proves this shift: During the 618 shopping festival in 2024, Meituan Flash Purchase's baijiu transaction volume grew over 10 times year-on-year, and several liquor chain brands saw their transaction volumes multiply several times. Consumption habits are migrating, and "flash-purchasing famous liquor" is becoming the new mainstream. This means that at a time when the traditional main battlefield of baijiu consumption—offline tobacco and liquor stores—faces major challenges, the industry's main incremental growth is indisputably flowing to online instant retail. As more baijiu consumers become accustomed to Meituan Flash Purchase's best solution of "buy with confidence, delivered instantly," consumers' trust anchor is also shifting—previously it was the store owner, now it is the combination of "platform + brand."

Flash Purchase + Famous Liquor Reconstructing Baijiu with "Authenticity + Efficiency"** The significance of the authenticity guarantee goes beyond a sense of security. It is actually the starting point of an efficiency revolution in the baijiu industry. The baijiu industry has long had complex channel levels and lengthy chains, leading to high costs and low efficiency. The deep cooperation between Meituan Flash Purchase and many famous Chinese liquors is driving industry reconstruction from three aspects:

  • Optimizing the supply chain: Shortening transaction chains, reducing intermediate links, and lowering distribution costs.
  • Improving fulfillment efficiency: 30-minute delivery becomes the new standard, forcing upgrades in industry logistics and warehousing systems.
  • Expanding market scale: Authenticity guarantees attract more consumers to try instant retail, and high-frequency repurchases drive overall market expansion. During the industry's turbulent period, this model not only brings incremental markets but also repairs the industry's trust foundation. For the baijiu industry, this is a structural reconstruction. As Chen Zongqiang, General Manager of Moutai Sauce-Flavored Liquor Company, said, instant retail is highly aligned with Moutai's philosophy of "staying close to consumers," helping brands expand into younger customer groups and integrate into more life scenarios. In other words, instant retail is not just a channel revolution but also a booster for brand strategy upgrades.

Conclusion: Don't Be a Bystander in the Instant Retail Wave**** The baijiu consumption ecosystem is bound to undergo revolutionary reconstruction, with authenticity guarantees and instant retail being the two pillars of this transformation. Consumers gain trust and convenience, brands gain incremental growth and momentum, and the industry gains new growth logic and certainty. The logic behind Wahaha's elimination of small distributors lies in an efficiency revolution, and the authenticity guarantee in baijiu instant retail is essentially an efficiency revolution unfolding in another industry. History has proven that every efficiency revolution brings about industry restructuring and the birth of a new order. For manufacturers and distributors in the baijiu industry, instant retail is no longer the future but an extremely clear reality. The most critical thing is that in this great wave of instant retail, you can do anything, do it any way, but you cannot be a quiet bystander. Whoever can seize the opportunity in either the "authenticity ecosystem" or the "efficiency revolution" may win in this new elimination game.