The retail ecosystem is undergoing a profound transformation. In today's increasingly fragmented channel landscape, retail enterprises face dual pressures: on one hand, the reconstruction of business paradigms brought by emerging channels like instant retail; on the other, the decline in total consumption due to weak consumer confidence and limited incremental markets. The old playbook of relying on a single channel, high-budget advertising, and big-hit product-driven growth is becoming increasingly ineffective. Facing this change, many brands have encountered unprecedented "Waterloo" moments. Even international companies with strong brand equity, such as P&G, Unilever, and Durex, have not emerged unscathed. In 2024 and early 2025, we saw several FMCG giants make obvious reactive moves: P&G announced budget cuts across multiple market departments and tightened brand promotions in some emerging markets; Unilever disclosed global layoff plans in its financial reports and restructured its product lines to cope with rising operating costs; Reckitt, Durex's parent company, also scaled back marketing channels in several countries and canceled a series of localized product R&D plans. Behind these actions lies the anxiety and defensive posture of established companies facing a rapidly changing market environment. More concerning is that many companies have not made systematic preparations for new channels like instant retail. Lagging warehousing and distribution systems, sluggish product strategies, and incomplete data response mechanisms prevent them from effectively meeting the "fast, accurate, small" fulfillment requirements. Many companies over-focus on short-term ROI, missing the window to build long-term capabilities, and some even experience "blindly burning cash for orders, then collapsing once traffic dries up." It can be said that in such a turbulent period, brand companies facing the new retail wave find it hard to remain calm. Some brands have swung to extremes—tightening budgets and cutting innovation projects, while others, in desperation, blindly increase subsidies. Our discussion today about the logic behind instant retail subsidies is set against this backdrop. Only by understanding the underlying logic of the platform war and clarifying the brand's position can we find direction amid chaos and build confidence amid anxiety. From the past hypermarket model (in-store shopping), to e-commerce (goods delivered to the community), to convenience store systems (nearby shopping), we have now evolved to the instant retail stage (goods delivered to the door). This is not a simple channel innovation but a complete business model reconstruction. Instant retail, with its "30-minute delivery" standard, has redefined consumer expectations for convenience, speed, and product accessibility. This is why we see major platforms like Alibaba, Meituan, JD.com, and Pinduoduo investing heavily to seize control of this new retail entry point. Instant retail is not just an additional track; it is reshaping the platform ecosystem and user structure. Against this backdrop, we need to understand the underlying logic of this war from a brand perspective: Why are we involved? What is the significance of this war? How should we plan for the future? Instant Retail Is Not Just a Track War It's a Battle for Traffic Entry Points Instant retail is not merely a supplementary track to e-commerce; it is becoming the infrastructure for the "traffic-driving core" of the next-generation e-commerce platforms. We can see this from platform data. During the 618 shopping festival in 2025:

  • Taobao's daily active users (DAU) increased 5.1% year-on-year to 45.7 million;
  • JD.com, due to its participation in the instant retail subsidy war, saw DAU rise 19.3% year-on-year to 23.18 million. This significant growth is the best illustration of how instant retail subsidies "bring traffic." JD.com, through lightning warehouses, community group buying, and all-category subsidies, delivers high-frequency items like bottled water, fresh produce, tea drinks, and maternal and baby products to consumers' doorsteps, thereby boosting the entire platform's user base. Meanwhile, the food delivery channel has also seen a "zero-yuan purchase" storm: platforms issue coupons like "0-yuan milk tea coupons" and "spend 18 get 18 off," allowing users to consume almost for free. This strategy is essentially about grabbing users and entry points, creating a platform mindset of "daily necessities + instant gratification." At the brand level, this also means upgrading from a "transaction mindset" to "mindset building" and "content-driven." Instant retail can learn from content e-commerce (like Douyin and Xiaohongshu) by designing products and marketing strategies around "scenario + content + transaction." For example, creating content like "1-hour delivery cold drink recommendations for scorching heat" or "immediate delivery of maternity hospital bag checklists" to enhance consumer value perception and escape pure price competition. The Essence of Brand Participation in the Subsidy War: A Battle for User Mindshare We often say, "Where users are, brands should be." In the current environment where platform subsidy wars cause drastic traffic fluctuations, brands are inevitably drawn into this "zero-yuan purchase" war. Take the condom category as an example: in the first half of 2025, O2O channels grew nearly 40% overall, with lightning warehouse channels growing nearly 50% month-over-month. Brands that don't participate risk missing out on new traffic dividends and may even be marginalized in channel rankings. As a result, brands like Durex, Sixth Sense, and Jissbon have launched 1-2 count small-pack SKUs to cater to the buy-now-use-now demand. Additionally, the core trading hours for these products are from midnight to 2 AM, and multiple brands are using "nighttime topic content marketing" and "secure delivery" services to strengthen user mindshare and occupy the high ground. However, the problem is that this "feverish" order growth is often a short-term bubble driven by platform subsidies. As Meituan's Wang Puzhong said: "This is a war we must fight, but the vast majority of orders are bubbles." Under subsidy pressure, users buy not because of brand strength but because prices are extremely low. This "price-over-brand" consumer behavior does not build lasting brand equity. Beyond Subsidies Brands Need to Pursue Long-Term Efficiency The opportunity in instant retail platforms lies not only in traffic exposure but also in the reconstruction of retail efficiency behind it. Taking FMCG as an example, we've seen breakthroughs in several categories:
  1. Bottled Water: Brands like Nongfu Spring, C'estbon, and Ganten frequently appeared in "flash sale zones" during 618. These brands not only offer case sales but also introduce smaller sizes like 350ml and 400ml to meet scenarios such as "outdoor water" and "quick hydration during sports." Premium brands like Evian and Perrier even dropped below 5 yuan per bottle, combined with "spend 18 get 18 off" and "zero-yuan purchase" activities, quickly boosting order volumes. At the same time, some brands strengthened collaboration with content platforms, such as posting content on Xiaohongshu like "1-hour out-the-door makeup bag/fitness gear essential checklist" to integrate scenarios and trigger purchases.
  2. Frozen Foods: Brands like Synear and Wanzai Maitou, representing frozen food, focus on "5-minute dinner solutions" in instant retail. By launching content scenarios like "late-night snack menus for overtime workers" and "hassle-free breakfast pairings for moms," and pairing them with "small combo packs" suitable for instant delivery, they significantly improve order conversion efficiency. Some brands also collaborate with platforms to offer "microwave-ready recommendations" and "office hot lists," precisely capturing consumer motivations.
  3. Household and Personal Care: Brands like Clear, Safeguard, and Blue Moon have partnered with JD Daojia and Meituan Shansong to launch "brand days," using flexible production lines to introduce "grab-and-go" series, such as portable wet wipes, small-bottle laundry detergent, and travel-size shampoo, catering to "unexpected" needs. For example, Blue Moon launched short video checklists like "8 essential items for moving/traveling" to drive immediate orders. Additionally, brands leverage content platforms like Xiaohongshu and Douyin to run "speed delivery life challenges," creating a closed loop of content-scenario-transaction. From these cases, subsidies are just the trigger; what truly benefits brands is the platform's high-frequency fulfillment capability, scenario coverage, and user repurchase ability. If brands fail to upgrade their system capabilities and category planning simultaneously, relying solely on low-price orders will eventually trap them in a vicious cycle of ineffective spending driven by "traffic inertia." Returning to Business Essence: Sustainable Paths for Brands in Instant Retail If platforms are fighting a traffic war, then the brand's battlefield is value anchoring and efficiency gaming. Future brands in instant retail need to build their competitive moats from three directions:
  4. Product Strategy Upgrade: Launch SKUs better suited for "impulse buying," "small packaging," and "high turnover," such as portable wet wipes, 2-bottle beverage packs, and 15ml lubricants. Combine these with high-frequency scenarios like fitness hydration, late-night snack companions, and emergency care to create "micro-scenario bestsellers."
  5. System Synergy Capability: Integrate with platform POS systems, inventory data, and warehouse scheduling to achieve "hour-level response," improve fulfillment efficiency, and develop operational tools like "smart replenishment" and "instant recommendations" to reduce inventory loss.
  6. Deepening Scenario Penetration: Through new scenarios like "medicine express delivery," "late-night snack instant delivery," "maternal and baby urgent needs," and "holiday urgent purchases," establish category tags and user mindshare in coordination with platforms, enhancing brand exposure and priority in consumers' instant decision-making. For brands, instant retail is not just a sales channel but a "real-world training ground" for market education and consumer mindshare anchoring. If a brand is absent from this battlefield, it means missing the ticket to the future mainstream of retail. The Brand's War Perspective In today's war, no platform can unilaterally "cease fire," and no brand can stay on the sidelines. As brand owners, what we need to do is not to call for a "stop" but to choose our position and tactics. Instant retail is becoming the frontline of future brand competition. It is not just the terminal for transactions but also the "battlefield" where brands reach users, build mindshare, and test system capabilities. This is not just a war about "price" but also about "efficiency" and "ecosystem." On August 20th in Shanghai, during the 7th China FMCG Conference, a special forum titled "Instant Retail Reconstructs the Offline Market" will be organized. I will attend and share "The Logic Behind the Instant Retail Subsidy War from a Brand Perspective." Additionally, the overall content of this forum will be shared more systematically and comprehensively from the following dimensions: First, from a business model perspective, deeply deconstructing instant retail models and trend paths, presented by [Qi Te], Chief Research Advisor of New Distribution Research Institute. Second, from the perspective of instant retail practitioners, looking at the logic and tactics behind instant online supermarkets and how to effectively organize supply chain growth. "New Distribution" has invited [Huang Jianchao], General Manager of Kuaikeda Holdings; [Shi Honghai], Co-founder of Letaoda Online Supermarket; and [Wang Xukun], Supply Chain Head of Jiangxiaotun, to give special speeches. Third, from the perspective of manufacturers and distributors, sharing their practices and thoughts on instant retail. [Liu Shaomin], General Manager of New Retail at Hengan Group; [Li Jia], Senior Director of Regional Customer Business at Kimberly-Clark; [Zhang Yu], former CEO of Wanshengtang Okamoto Division; and [Xu Fubin], the largest instant retail supplier of daily chemicals in East China, will discuss how to embrace the new opportunities of instant retail. If you are paying attention to instant retail, this forum is worth attending in person. It will definitely provide you with more diverse and three-dimensional insights and reflections on the instant retail industry. 🔺