Sou Hu Cai Jing·2025-09-04 06:11Core Insights - The competition between Meituan and Alibaba in the instant retail sector is intensifying, with both companies announcing that their "lightning warehouse" numbers have surpassed 50,000 [2][3] - Meituan achieved this milestone by rapidly expanding its lightning warehouses from 30,000 to over 50,000 in just eight months, indicating a monthly addition of nearly 2,500 warehouses [2][3] - Alibaba's lightning warehouse count also reached over 50,000, with a significant year-on-year order volume increase of 360%, showcasing its rapid growth strategy [2][3] Company Strategies - Meituan's strategy focuses on deep partnerships with major brands, leveraging traffic support, rebate incentives, and low commission rates to build a strong core supply chain [7][8] - Alibaba's approach involves quickly adopting Meituan's established brand and operational terminology, which lowers conversion costs and activates market memory [4][6] - Alibaba utilizes its 1688 supply chain ecosystem to shorten the cold start period for its lightning warehouses, allowing for rapid integration of existing e-commerce resources [5][11] Market Dynamics - Despite both companies reporting similar warehouse numbers, the underlying structures and partnerships differ significantly, with Meituan emphasizing deep collaboration and Alibaba focusing on broad access [8][9] - The competition is not just about quantity but also about the quality of partnerships and ecosystem control, which will be crucial for long-term success [10][16] - The shared supply chain dynamics suggest that competitors may become part of a common ecosystem, blurring the lines between rivals [14][15] Future Outlook - Alibaba plans to transition its Tmall supermarket to a near-field flash purchase model while integrating offline brand stores into its lightning warehouse system, aiming for a million offline brand stores to join [13][20] - The competition is expected to shift focus towards supply chain control, with the ability to manage product sourcing becoming a key determinant of success [19][20] - The current phase of competition is just the beginning, with the real battle anticipated to commence in September [20]