BABA(US:BABA) Sou Hu Cai Jing·2025-09-01 23:40Core Insights - Alibaba has achieved initial success in the first phase of its food delivery battle, focusing on user scale and market presence, as stated by the CEO of Alibaba's China e-commerce division, Jiang Fan [1][2] - Despite a decline in adjusted EBITA and net profit due to increased investment in instant retail, the impact on Alibaba's overall performance is less severe compared to competitors like JD and Meituan [1][2] User and Order Growth - Since its launch four months ago, Taobao Flash has exceeded expectations in order volume, user base, merchant supply, and delivery capacity, leading the industry in home delivery order share [2] - In August, Taobao Flash reached a peak of 120 million daily orders, with an average of 80 million orders on Sundays; monthly active users grew to 300 million, a 200% increase since April [2] - The number of active delivery riders has surpassed 2 million, tripling since April, indicating significant growth in operational capacity [2] Impact on E-commerce - Taobao Flash has positively influenced the overall e-commerce business, with an increase in daily active users (DAU) for the Taobao app by 20% in August due to the higher frequency of purchases [2] - Increased user engagement is expected to lead to higher e-commerce revenue, driven by rising traffic and reduced marketing expenses [2][3] Long-term Strategy - Jiang Fan believes that the positive trends will continue to expand, enhancing e-commerce revenue in the long term; the investment logic for Taobao Flash considers comprehensive returns over different time frames [3] - The company anticipates that Flash and instant retail will generate an additional 1 trillion yuan in transactions over the next three years [7] Operational Efficiency - Alibaba is focusing on improving operational efficiency to reduce losses, including optimizing user structure, order structure, and delivery efficiency [10] - The company aims to halve its unit economics (UE) losses in the short term through enhancements in logistics and order optimization while maintaining current consumer incentives [10] Financial Position - Alibaba has a strong financial position with cash and cash equivalents totaling 585.7 billion yuan, allowing for significant investments in new service-oriented e-commerce markets [10] - The company is committed to investing 50 billion yuan over several years to tap into a market potential exceeding 10 trillion yuan [10] Competitive Landscape - As the food delivery battle continues, Alibaba is positioned to capture a larger share of the "food delivery + instant retail" market [11]