Lower-Tier City Surge: The New Growth Engine
Meituan Flash Buy data reveals that lower-tier city orders grew 54% YoY in 2025, representing pure incremental consumption rather than market share shifts. Non-food orders now exceed 18 million per day, with flash warehouses growing from 30,000 to a target of 100,000+ by 2027, projected to create a RMB 200 billion market. China's instant retail market reached RMB 650 billion in 2023 (+28.9% YoY), with projections exceeding RMB 2 trillion by 2030.
Flash Warehouse Scale: Meituan's Core Infrastructure Play
Meituan's "繁星计划" (Star Program) provides flash warehouse merchants with precision site selection, operational guidance, ramp-up resources, and exclusive delivery solutions. Flash warehouses outperform traditional stores across rent cost, SKU capacity, operating hours, and profit margins. Meituan's service now covers ~3,000 county-level administrative divisions with 678 million ecosystem users, offering over 1 billion SKUs daily.
FMCG Brand Strategy: From Channel to Infrastructure
Instant retail is no longer optional for FMCG brands—it's a strategic imperative. Meituan frames instant retail as foundational infrastructure upgrade for the entire distribution system, digitalizing the supply chain from brand to distributor to retailer to consumer. Baiya Group (hygiene products) established instant retail as an independent first-tier department, completing flash warehouse deployment across Meituan, Taobao Flash Buy, and JD Daojia. Dairy, beverages, and snack categories see quarterly growth rates 2x higher than the overall market.
Category Diversification: Beyond Food to "Everything Delivered"
From 2013 food delivery origins, Meituan expanded to emergency categories (2018), then to consumer electronics, beauty, and general merchandise (2021). Apple's authorized stores grew to ~7,000 locations covering 2,000+ county-level areas. In 2024 Double 11, toys and instruments sales rose 117%, maternal and baby products +152%, pet products +88%. Night orders account for 26% of total volume, with 20-35 year old users comprising 65.5% of the user base.
Common Questions
Why are lower-tier cities driving instant retail growth?
Lower-tier consumers demand instant gratification with no prior purchase planning. Meituan's flash warehouse coverage expansion and improved delivery speed drove 54% YoY growth, representing pure incremental consumption.
How do flash warehouses outperform traditional stores?
Flash warehouses beat traditional stores across rent cost, SKU capacity, operating hours, sales per month, and profit margins, enabled by Meituan's full-chain operational support.
What should FMCG brands prioritize in instant retail?
Establish dedicated instant retail teams, deploy across flash warehouses on all major platforms, focus on high-frequency categories like dairy and beverages showing 2x overall market growth.
What is Meituan's long-term vision for instant retail?
Target 100,000+ flash warehouses by 2027, creating a RMB 200B market. Meituan frames instant retail as foundational infrastructure, not just a sales channel—digitalizing the entire distribution chain.
How is the competitive landscape evolving?
Double 11 instant retail hit RMB 236B, with top 3 = Meituan Flash Buy, JD Daojia, Ele.me. JD targeting 20M daily food delivery orders; Alibaba's Taobao Instant Commerce outperformed in 618. Three-way competition intensifying.
Sources
- Beijing Review — Instant retail is reshaping China's consumption landscape (May 19, 2025):http://www.bjreview.com/Business/202505/t20250507_800400741.html
- TechNode — Meituan expands instant retail, scales back community group-buying (Jun 25, 2025):https://technode.com/2025/06/25/meituan-expands-instant-retail-scales-back-community-group-buying-in-unprofitable-areas/
- TechNode — How Chinese giants are integrating resources to win on-demand battle (Jul 22, 2025):https://technode.com/2025/07/22/how-chinese-giants-are-integrating-resources-to-win-on-demand-battle/










