Core Insights - Alibaba's subsidiary, Gaode Map, launched the "Gaode Street Ranking" based on real user travel data, marking a significant step into the offline retail space [2][3] - The ranking system emphasizes user behavior and high-credit user evaluations, aiming to create a more authentic and reliable list compared to traditional rankings [4][5] Summary by Sections Launch of Gaode Street Ranking - Gaode Map introduced the "Gaode Street Ranking" on September 9, which integrates various recommendation dimensions such as food, attractions, and hotels [2] - The ranking is based on user navigation behavior and evaluations from high-credit users, distinguishing it from other market rankings that may rely on manipulated data [3] Unique Ranking Logic - The ranking features various categories like "Tire Wear Ranking" for long-distance visits and "Returning Customer Ranking" for frequent visitors, updated daily based on dynamic data [4] - The system aims to provide a trustworthy ranking by focusing on actual user behavior rather than likes or collections, ensuring that the rankings cannot be artificially inflated [4][5] Market Position and User Engagement - Gaode Map has over 800 million monthly active users and nearly 1 billion annual active users, positioning it as a potential super app for local services [6] - The app is increasingly used for navigation to businesses found on platforms like Meituan and Douyin, indicating its evolution from a navigation tool to a business lead generation platform [6][7] Competitive Landscape - Gaode's strategy is to create a new evaluation system that can compete with existing platforms like Dazhong Dianping and Xiaohongshu, which are popular among female users for decision-making [7] - The company aims to enhance user engagement by transforming from a tool used for quick navigation to a comprehensive daily life guide, potentially leading to a rebranding as "Gaode Life" [7][8] Strategic Importance for Alibaba - The launch of the ranking aligns with Alibaba's broader strategy to build a local service ecosystem, especially in the context of ongoing competition in the food delivery and local services market [8]

Core Viewpoint - The upcoming competition between Alibaba and Meituan in the local service market is expected to be the most intense in the past decade, with Alibaba's Gaode launching the "Street Scanning List" to enhance its offline service evaluation system and establish itself as a super entry point for lifestyle services [1][3]. Group 1: Market Dynamics - The competition in the food delivery sector is seen as part of a broader battle in instant retail, where the real strategic value lies in the rich consumption scenarios behind the high traffic and frequency of food delivery [2][3]. - The battle for local services, particularly in dining and travel, represents a critical phase where Alibaba is directly challenging Meituan's core business model [3][4]. Group 2: Potential Outcomes - If Alibaba wins, it could integrate various service sectors into a consumer-based evaluation and credit system, enhancing consumer convenience and driving growth in physical consumption [4]. - A victory for Meituan would solidify its dominance in local services and validate its business model, which is difficult to replicate, thus maintaining the economic scale benefits of its delivery model [4][5]. Group 3: Future Market Structure - The competition may not lead to a "kill or be killed" scenario like the previous "thousand group war," but rather a multi-strong market structure where multiple players, including Alibaba, Meituan, JD, and Tencent, can coexist [5].

Core Viewpoint - The launch of the "Gaode Street Ranking" marks a significant shift for Gaode Map, transitioning from a tool-based platform to a closed-loop ecosystem that integrates content, decision-making, and transactions, aiming to reshape the online and offline commercial landscape [2][4][21] Group 1: Gaode's Strategic Shift - Gaode Map is evolving from merely directing users to stores to facilitating actual transactions, allowing tool-based apps to monetize effectively [4][6] - The platform boasts a substantial user base with 186 million daily active users and 800 million monthly active users, indicating its critical role in users' travel and consumption decisions [4][5] - Gaode's integration of "location e-commerce" aligns with Alibaba's broader ecosystem, enhancing connectivity across various services like e-commerce, payment, and logistics [6][7] Group 2: The "Street Ranking" System - The "Street Ranking" is based on real user behavior rather than subjective reviews, utilizing a three-tier evaluation system of behavior data, Sesame Credit, and AI risk control to ensure authenticity [10][12] - This new ranking system aims to combat the issues of inflated reviews and malicious negative feedback, creating a healthier competitive environment for businesses [13][16] - Gaode's approach transforms user behavior into a valuable asset, where each genuine visit contributes to a merchant's credibility, thus promoting a more trustworthy marketplace [18][21] Group 3: Market Implications - The introduction of the "Street Ranking" signifies a shift from a focus on traffic to a focus on credit systems, potentially leading to a new era in local service industries [8][21] - Gaode's strategy is expected to lower customer acquisition costs for quality merchants while enhancing service quality across the industry [18][19] - The initiative is part of a broader trend towards digitalization in various sectors, leveraging AI and user data to create a comprehensive consumption platform [19][20]

Core Insights - The article discusses Alibaba's launch of the "Gao De Street Ranking," a behavior-based ranking system aimed at enhancing the local consumption market and competing with Meituan and Dianping [1][2][4] Group 1: Gao De Street Ranking - Gao De Street Ranking is the world's first ranking based on user behavior, utilizing real actions such as navigation, search, and visits to generate scores, addressing the issue of fake reviews [1][3] - The ranking aims to create a healthy ecosystem by promoting genuine user experiences and discouraging the practice of artificially inflating ratings [1][4] - The scoring system incorporates both behavioral data (navigation, search, visits) and credit data (via Sesame Credit) to enhance the credibility of evaluations [5][10] Group 2: Strategic Intent - Alibaba's choice of Gao De is strategic, leveraging its high-frequency usage to penetrate the local consumption market, which has been dominated by Meituan and Dianping for years [2][16] - The integration of Gao De with other Alibaba services aims to create a seamless ecosystem that connects travel, dining, and shopping, enhancing user engagement [17][18] - The initiative reflects Alibaba's broader strategy to revitalize its local life services and drive traffic to its e-commerce platforms, particularly in light of slowing growth in its core business [18][19] Group 3: Competitive Landscape - The launch of Gao De Street Ranking is seen as a direct challenge to Meituan's established position in the local services market, with Gao De's user base significantly larger than that of Dianping [16][15] - Meituan has responded by enhancing its own review systems, indicating a competitive race to improve service quality and user trust in the local consumption space [14][15] - The effectiveness of Gao De's strategy in disrupting Meituan's dominance remains uncertain, as user habits and established content ecosystems will take time to shift [15][19]

Core Insights - Alibaba is launching the "Gaode Street Ranking" project with over 1 billion yuan in subsidies to challenge Meituan's dominance in the local lifestyle market [2][9][32] - The project is led by Gaode's CEO and is considered a top-tier initiative within Alibaba, receiving significant internal support [4][5][9] - The competitive landscape is heating up, with both Alibaba and Meituan preparing for an intense battle over market share and consumer engagement [26][32] Group 1 - The "Gaode Street Ranking" aims to provide a more authentic ranking system based on user navigation behavior, contrasting with traditional platforms that have faced criticism for manipulated scores [11][14] - The initiative is expected to generate an additional 10 million customer visits daily to offline dining and service industries through targeted subsidies and promotions [9][19] - Alibaba's stock saw a significant increase, reflecting market optimism about the new project, with shares rising over 4% [2][3] Group 2 - Meituan responded to the challenge by revamping its "Quality Takeout" service and emphasizing the use of AI to ensure data authenticity in user reviews [16][19] - Meituan has a strong market presence, holding a 62% share in the dining sector, which provides a solid foundation for countering Alibaba's advances [21][20] - Both companies are expected to incur substantial costs in this competitive clash, leading to potential profit declines for both [31][32] Group 3 - The strategic importance of Gaode has increased, as it leverages Alibaba's resources to compete directly with Meituan, marking a significant shift in its role within the company [36] - The long-term vision of Alibaba's investment in Gaode, made 11 years ago for approximately 1.5 billion USD, is now seen as a critical asset in the ongoing competition [2][36] - The outcome of this rivalry remains uncertain, but the initial moves suggest a fierce battle for dominance in the local lifestyle market [26][32]

这两天的瓜都变味了。 阿里封楼成了新鲜事。有人说，是芯片项目的秘密基地，也有人猜，阿里在本地生活领域要放大招。消 息越传越玄乎，吊足了外界胃口。 直到今天，高德终于揭晓答案，推出「扫街榜」。 补贴撒出去，声势拉满，一旦补贴停下，用户心智立刻崩塌，业务跟着收场，这是阿里在本地生活的老 毛病。它喜欢靠「大声量」赢得开局，却很少能靠产品留住用户。 组织上，口碑、饿了么、飞猪、各自为战，内部消耗严重；对外打美团，对内却常常资源打架，再加上 KPI 导向，高层要数据，业务端只能拼命冲量，等补贴烧完，用户一哄而散，留下的只有一个个「试 过」的痕迹。 所以，这次回过头来再次押注高德，让老树发新牙，也是万不得已，主要在于，高德是阿里手里少有的 「稳定入口」。 QuestMobile 报告显示，在 2024 年国庆期间，高德日活峰值曾突破 2.8 亿，月活则超过 8 亿 ，它几乎成 了国民级应用，是用户每天都会打开的 App，打开频率甚至高过淘宝。 更关键的是，高德和「出行—消费」天然挂钩，用户出门前打开地图，导航到餐厅或商场，已经处在消 费决策的「临界点」。这一点，饿了么（偏到家场景）和口碑（偏点评入口）都不具备。 上线之后 ...

Core Viewpoint - A resignation letter from a former senior business specialist has exposed the internal issues of Gaode Map's cultural tourism division, leading to its rumored dissolution and highlighting significant operational failures and strategic misalignments within the company [2][4][8]. Group 1: Operational Failures - The cultural tourism division of Gaode Map was launched with high ambitions in early 2025, aiming to create a smart tourism infrastructure by collaborating with various provincial tourism departments and travel agencies [4][19]. - Despite initial successes, including a 35% penetration rate for joint tickets and a 120% increase in secondary consumption in a pilot project, the entire initiative was abruptly halted just before signing contracts, leaving the team to bear the consequences of government accountability and partner claims [4][20]. - The division's blind imitation of Meituan's advertising model led to a staggering 82% loss rate among merchants, with some travel agencies reporting zero transactions over five months [5][22]. Group 2: Strategic Misalignment - The strategic shift within Alibaba's "big consumption ecosystem" marginalized Gaode Map's cultural tourism efforts, relegating it to a "sacrificial pawn" in organizational adjustments [7][12]. - Significant disparities in resource allocation were noted, with substantial funding directed towards tunnel navigation projects while the budget for the cultural tourism data platform was drastically cut [7][22]. - The company’s decision to sell all effective advertising slots to Ctrip and impose high promotional fees on travel agencies further eroded its original mission of facilitating travel [7][22]. Group 3: Internal Conflicts - Gaode Map's official response to the resignation letter claimed the author was an outsourced sales personnel with poor performance, contradicting the author's assertion of being part of the direct team [8][12]. - The resignation process was marked by dramatic shifts in HR's stance, from attempts to retain the employee to a sudden insistence on termination regardless of performance metrics [8][12]. - The author highlighted that many employees in the cultural tourism division had been let go, despite the company's claims of not having terminated the business [8][12]. Group 4: Financial Performance - Gaode Map's revenue heavily relies on advertising, with total revenue exceeding 12 billion yuan in 2024, of which 7.8 billion yuan came from online advertising, accounting for 65% of total revenue [12][14]. - Despite achieving profitability for the first time, the underlying financial stability remains uncertain, as the local life group reported an adjusted EBITA loss of 596 million yuan for the last quarter of 2024 [12][14]. - The company faces challenges in monetizing its user base, as evidenced by the low average daily usage time of 12 minutes for 70% of its users, primarily focused on navigation [15][18].

Investment Rating - The report maintains a "Strong Buy" rating for Meituan-W (03690.HK) [1][3] Core Views - The Q2 performance of Meituan was impacted by increased competition, with revenue of 91.84 billion (+11.7%) and adjusted net profit of 1.49 billion (-89.0%) [1][6] - Despite the competitive pressures, the long-term outlook for the company's core domestic business remains positive due to its competitive advantages and growth potential, while overseas operations present new growth opportunities [1][6] Financial Data and Valuation - Revenue projections for the upcoming years are as follows: - 2023: 276.85 billion - 2024: 337.59 billion - 2025E: 370.60 billion - 2026E: 428.95 billion - 2027E: 493.90 billion - Adjusted net profit estimates show significant fluctuations, with a projected loss of 15.60 billion in 2025E, followed by a recovery in subsequent years [2][8] - The target price is set at 141.90 HKD, with the current stock price at 116.3 HKD, indicating potential upside [3][6] Business Segment Performance - Core local commerce revenue growth slowed to 7.7% in Q2, while new business revenue increased by 22.8% [6] - The food delivery segment experienced stable growth in order volume, but profitability was affected by increased competition and subsidies [6] - The in-store segment showed a GTV growth of over 20%, but revenue growth is expected to decline due to competitive pressures [6] Future Outlook - The report anticipates that Q3 will see continued competitive intensity, leading to increased losses in the food delivery segment [6] - Long-term growth potential remains strong, with expectations for core local business GMV to reach approximately 2.7 trillion in 2025E [6][7]

Core Insights - Meituan reported a revenue of 91.8 billion yuan for Q2 2025, marking an 11.7% year-on-year growth, indicating a stable development trend [1] - The monthly active users of Meituan's app surpassed 500 million, with transaction frequency reaching a historical high [1] - The local life service market continues to expand, with Meituan establishing itself as a foundational platform through extensive merchant coverage and intelligent scheduling [1] Group 1: Financial Performance - The core local commerce segment achieved a revenue of 65.3 billion yuan in Q2, reflecting a 7.7% year-on-year increase [1] - The new business segment generated 26.5 billion yuan in revenue, up 22.8% year-on-year, with losses narrowing to 1.9 billion yuan [2] Group 2: Market Position and Strategy - Meituan's instant delivery orders peaked at over 150 million in July, with an average delivery time of 34 minutes, reinforcing its market leadership [1] - The company is focusing on "retail + technology" strategies, exploring various business models such as Meituan Flash Purchase and Meituan Preferred [2][3] Group 3: Technological Advancements - R&D investment reached 6.3 billion yuan in Q2, a 17.2% increase year-on-year [3] - Meituan has launched 64 drone delivery routes across multiple cities, completing over 600,000 orders [3] Group 4: Merchant Support Initiatives - Meituan has implemented measures to support merchants, including cash subsidies and innovative business models, benefiting over 300,000 restaurant merchants [2] - Nearly half of the merchants reported significant increases in order volume, with 40% experiencing revenue growth [2]

Group 1: Core Insights - TikTok is expanding its local services in the U.S. by partnering with Booking.com, allowing users to book hotels directly through the app [2] - The collaboration includes dedicated hotel landing pages featuring prices, amenities, reviews, and related TikTok videos, indicating TikTok's exploration of local services [2] - TikTok Go, a new monetization plan for creators, allows influencers to earn commissions by promoting local businesses, primarily hotels and accommodations [2][4] Group 2: Market Trends - TikTok is enhancing its search functionality to improve local information accessibility, including user reviews and ratings for locations tagged in videos [5] - The global local services market is projected to grow from $3.7 trillion in 2024 to nearly $10 trillion by 2032, with a compound annual growth rate of 13.32% [9] - The competition in local services is intensifying, with major players like Douyin and Meituan aggressively expanding their offerings in China [6][7] Group 3: Challenges and Opportunities - TikTok's initial attempts to launch local services in Southeast Asia faced challenges due to supply chain and cultural differences, but the U.S. market may present a more favorable environment [8][9] - The integration of local services with existing platforms like Yelp and Uber Eats highlights the competitive landscape TikTok is entering [9] - TikTok's strategy to capture the local services market in the U.S. could provide a significant advantage, especially in the absence of strong competitors like Meituan [9]