In the past few years, the sales model of the liquor industry has been undergoing structural changes. On one hand, traditional distribution models, including offline liquor stores and mass distribution channels, are facing increasing pressure, with issues such as high inventory, opaque pricing, and low channel efficiency becoming apparent. On the other hand, although traditional e-commerce has created some incremental growth by compressing distribution links, it has struggled to fully unlock the growth potential of the liquor market due to the mismatch between logistics efficiency and consumers' immediate needs. Against this backdrop, instant retail has rapidly risen with its 'localized + high-timeliness' model, becoming a new strategic high ground that the liquor industry is competing to explore. Taking Meituan Flash Shopping as an example, its liquor category performed exceptionally well during this year's 618 shopping festival. Data shows that within 12 hours of the promotion, the overall transaction volume for baijiu exceeded 300 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of over 200 times. Over 230,000 people had made reservations for the 1499 yuan Feitian Moutai within half a day. Well-known liquors such as Moutai, Wuliangye, and Jiannanchun each achieved transaction volumes exceeding 10 million yuan. In addition, multiple local chain liquor brands also saw explosive order growth. For instance, Jiu Jia Jiu's single-day instant retail sales exceeded 11 million yuan, setting a new historical high. In the view of New Distribution, the 618 liquor performance of Meituan Flash Shopping is not just a phased sales breakthrough, but also reflects the deep structural reshaping that instant retail is bringing to the liquor industry. Instant retail is injecting new growth momentum into the liquor market through efficiency improvements and the extension of consumption scenarios, becoming an important direction for the industry's future development. Instant Retail Is Redefining Liquor Consumption Scenarios In traditional liquor consumption models, consumers often habitually stock up during festivals or promotions through e-commerce or offline channels to meet future needs. This consumption pattern relies on advance planning, where consumers decide to purchase based on discount levels and logistics delivery times. However, this 'planned stocking' model has obvious limitations in actual consumption. Especially in dining scenarios, consumers' immediate demand for alcohol is particularly prominent. When delivery time exceeds 20 minutes, some consumers tend to give up the purchase. This high-timeliness demand is difficult for traditional e-commerce and offline channels to fully satisfy. As consumption trends change, instant retail is rapidly changing this situation. By deeply combining minute-level delivery with scenario-based consumption, instant retail is shifting liquor consumption from centralized stocking to fragmented, immediate needs, with younger consumers particularly inclined to pursue the experience of 'instant tipsiness'. This shift has been fully validated in Meituan Flash Shopping's 618 performance: the baijiu category saw a year-on-year transaction volume increase of over 90 times within 20 hours. A distributor told New Distribution, 'The sales increment brought by Meituan Flash Shopping's 618 has already exceeded last year's Spring Festival, and baijiu has felt the power of 618 for the first time.' Consumers no longer need to plan ahead, wait for promotions, or endure long logistics delivery times. Instead, they can achieve 'buy and drink immediately' within 15-30 minutes through instant retail, quickly satisfying temporary consumption needs. Behind the data, it not only reflects the significant growth in consumers' demand for immediate purchases, but also indicates that the traditional stocking model is being gradually penetrated by the efficient fulfillment capabilities of instant retail. Moreover, changes in consumption trends are not only reflected in purchasing methods but also in the diversified extension of consumption scenarios. The core advantage of instant retail lies in its ability to meet fragmented and immediate consumption needs—whether it's a bottle of low-alcohol liquor while binge-watching a show, or an impromptu drink during nighttime gatherings or camping, instant retail can precisely solve consumers' purchasing pain points through minute-level delivery. From 'planned stocking' to 'instant tipsiness', this shift not only reshapes liquor consumption scenarios but also deeply taps into new growth potential for the industry. Young consumers are replacing traditional ritualistic stocking with 'instant gratification', and instant retail, by meeting the needs of these diverse scenarios, is becoming the core driver of growth in the liquor industry. 'Brand Direct Supply + Localized Fulfillment' Instant Retail Has Become a Strategic High Ground for Liquor Sales Liquor sales have long relied on the traditional long-chain distribution model, namely 'manufacturer → distributor → terminal → consumer'. Although this model was effective in the past market environment, its limitations are now becoming increasingly apparent. First, long-chain distribution brings problems of inventory backlog and slow turnover, especially in high-end categories like baijiu, where inventory cycles of several months not only increase capital occupation costs but also make it difficult for brands to respond quickly to market demand. Second, multi-level distribution links lead to price markups at each level, resulting in opaque pricing and weakening consumer trust in brands. Although traditional e-commerce has attempted to improve efficiency by compressing some distribution links, the limitations of logistics timeliness and the mismatch with consumers' immediate needs still fail to effectively solve the pain points of the liquor market. For example, the online penetration rate of baijiu is only about 10%, and most consumers still prefer to purchase directly through offline channels. In this context, the rise of instant retail has opened up new growth space for liquor sales. Centered on the short-chain model of 'brand direct supply + localized fulfillment', instant retail not only shortens the supply chain but also greatly improves terminal response speed. Through brand direct supply, intermediate links in the distribution process are reduced, which not only lowers distribution costs but also makes prices more transparent, thereby enhancing consumer trust in purchases. Localized fulfillment, through the layout of local warehousing and front warehouses, achieves the ability to respond quickly to market demand. Whether for high-end baijiu or fast-moving beer, consumers can receive products within 15-30 minutes through instant retail, and 'speed' has become an important part of the product experience. Taking Meituan Flash Shopping's 618 performance as an example, the advantages of the short-chain model have been fully validated. Many liquor merchants saw a surge in orders on Meituan Flash Shopping. For instance, Zhejiang Jiu Jia Jiu's first-day instant retail sales exceeded 11 million yuan, and Beijing Qianxi Famous Liquor Store's Haidian branch saw instant orders increase by about 86 times compared to the daily average. In addition to improved sales efficiency, instant retail also brings more flexible inventory management to liquor sales, alleviating the inventory pressure of traditional channels. Traditional channels mostly rely on distributors to stock up to achieve sales targets. Although this model can boost sales in the short term, in the long run it increases the risk of inventory backlog. Instant retail adopts a 'distributed supply' model, using local warehousing and front warehouse layouts to distribute inventory closest to consumers. This not only significantly optimizes inventory turnover efficiency but also allows brands to adjust supply strategies based on real-time data, achieving more precise market matching. For example, Meituan Flash Shopping's 'Lightning Warehouse' model, with its efficient network layout, helps liquor companies achieve dynamic inventory control. Round-the-clock supply capability is another core advantage of instant retail. Unlike traditional supermarkets' operating hours of 8:00-22:00, instant retail covers consumers' needs during non-regular hours through 24-hour delivery services, particularly shining in nighttime economy scenarios. Meituan Flash Shopping's 618 data shows that the proportion of nighttime orders for baijiu increased significantly, with scenarios such as nighttime gatherings, overtime drinks, and camping becoming new growth points. Consumers are no longer limited by supermarket operating hours but can purchase the liquor products they need anytime through instant retail platforms. From the overall data performance, in the first half of 2024, Meituan Flash Shopping's baijiu transaction scale grew 100% year-on-year, with multiple well-known brands achieving transaction volumes exceeding 1 billion yuan on Meituan Flash Shopping. For example, Carlsberg and Tsingtao Beer each achieved 1 billion yuan in transactions, while Budweiser reached 1.3 billion yuan. Undoubtedly, instant retail is comprehensively solving the core pain points of traditional channels and e-commerce through short-chain supply, efficient fulfillment, and round-the-clock service, becoming a strategic high ground for liquor sales. Final Thoughts In the view of New Distribution, from the data of Meituan's 618 liquor sales, we see that instant retail is profoundly changing the consumption logic and channel ecosystem of the liquor industry. From 'planned stocking' to 'instant tipsiness', consumer demand is shifting from centralized and ritualistic to fragmented and immediate. From 'offline long chains' to 'brand direct supply + localized fulfillment', the distribution of liquor products is also shifting from traditional models to highly digitalized and time-efficient short-chain models. Instant retail platforms represented by Meituan Flash Shopping, by meeting consumers' needs for 'buy anytime, enjoy anytime', have successfully broken the efficiency bottlenecks of traditional channels and e-commerce models. Judging from the 618 performance data, instant retail has demonstrated strong value-carrying capacity and has become an important pillar for sales growth and channel innovation for liquor brands. More importantly, the success of instant retail is not only reflected in sales growth but also injects new competitiveness into the industry by optimizing efficiency and enhancing experience. Instant retail, which integrates 'speed' into the product experience, not only provides consumers with great convenience but also redefines the relationship between brands and consumers, transforming liquor consumption from a simple commodity transaction into an emotional connection and scenario service of instant gratification. For liquor brands, instant retail is not just an expansion of sales channels but a complete reconstruction of business logic. Through instant retail, brands can reach consumers more efficiently, respond to market demand, and achieve precise marketing and inventory optimization through data-driven approaches. Instant retail is becoming a strategic high ground that the liquor industry cannot ignore, and those brands that can embrace this trend first will gain a first-mover advantage in the wave of industry evolution and hold the discourse power in the future market.