The restaurant industry’s "breakthrough and rebirth" in a multi-platform ecosystem: Taobao Flash Sale achieves "double growth" in restaurant merchant orders and revenue.

How Multi-Platform Competition Empowers Restaurant Businesses to Regain Operational Autonomy

[Global Network Technology Comprehensive Report] Recently, data from the Taobao Flash Purchase platform shows that thanks to platform subsidies and traffic policies, by mid-2025, the operational efficiency of restaurant businesses has significantly improved: the average number of orders per store has increased by 90% year-on-year, and the average actual revenue has grown by over 50%. Since the beginning of 2026, the average order value for merchants has risen by about 10%.

Numerous well-known restaurant brands such as Grandma’s Home, Jinbaiwan, Hu Da, Xiao Diao Li Tang, Sister Xiaogu, New Discovery, and Heytea, along with small and medium-sized businesses in various cities, indicate that healthy competition across multiple platforms not only grants merchants long-lost operational autonomy but also opens up a development path of “increasing orders and profits” through traffic expansion and cost restructuring.

From “Passive Adaptation” to “Active Choice”: Merchants Regain Voice

For a long time, the takeout market had been trapped in a flow dilemma dominated by a single platform. High traffic costs and opaque rules often left merchants in a passive position, forced into an endless cycle of price wars, with the reality for many merchants being, “If we don’t do it, we’ll die; if we do it, we’ll lose money.”

However, with the entry of new platforms, the market balance has begun to tilt towards merchants. “In the past, platforms set the rules, and merchants could only adapt, but now the sufficient competition among multiple platforms has finally given us the initiative to choose,” said Fang Zheng, marketing director of New Discovery Restaurant Group. This shift means that merchants are no longer passive rule enforcers but can flexibly formulate cross-platform marketing strategies based on their brand tone and operational rhythm.

The enhancement of voice directly translates into the optimization of brand expansion models. Yan Liangpeng, head of the takeout business at Grandma’s Home, stated that the site selection and product selection capabilities and exclusive support policies offered by new platforms have helped the brand achieve low-cost, refined expansion in the form of “satellite stores.” This model breaks the physical boundaries of traditional dining, allowing brands to reach a wider consumer area with lighter assets.

Zhang Shengtiao, deputy general manager of Hu Da Restaurant, also mentioned that multi-platform layouts not only accommodate the overflow demand during peak dining hours but also address the dining pain points of out-of-town tourists and those who do not want to wait in line, thereby infinitely extending the brand’s service radius.

While breaking monopolies, the most direct benefit of multi-platform competition is reflected in the explosive expansion of traffic pools. For Jinbaiwan, this traffic dividend translates into tangible performance growth. General Manager Wang Yuanzheng revealed that by embracing new platforms, daily order volume increased from 1,800 orders to 3,500 orders, with overall gross profit significantly improving.

For brands targeting younger customers, this long-term benefit is particularly valuable. Xiao Diao Li Tang saw a year-on-year increase of 18% in takeout revenue within three months of its launch, with 20% to 30% of customers being young individuals seeking “solo dining,” which is precisely the incremental market the brand needs to expand. Similarly, Sister Xiaogu’s spicy hotpot orders on Taobao Flash Purchase surged from 20,000 daily orders to 44,000, peaking over 60,000 orders, with a very high proportion of new customers, successfully achieving brand rejuvenation.

Moreover, multi-platform competition has stimulated deep operational innovation and category breakthroughs among merchants. Ha Ling Noodle House had long refused takeout due to concerns about delivery affecting quality, but after connecting with Taobao Flash Purchase, the brand boldly tried using “rice noodles” instead of regular noodles to maintain taste and separated online and offline traffic flows, increasing the proportion of new customers by 20%. Ju Wei Qu Ji utilized platform data insights to launch hotpot sets suitable for autumn and winter during the off-season for crayfish, not only filling the seasonal revenue gap but also increasing weekend revenue by 40% week-on-week.

The “Turnaround” of Small Business Owners and the Sense of Gain in Real Money

In multi-platform competition, the biggest beneficiaries are not just the large chain giants traditionally recognized but also the small and medium-sized businesses that were once on the fringes of traffic. The healthy competition among multiple platforms is building a more equitable inclusive mechanism, breaking the previous flow dilemma dominated by a single platform, allowing merchants of different sizes and positions to enjoy the growth dividends of the digital economy.

This inclusive mechanism is first reflected in the strong empowerment of community-focused small shops, giving them the opportunity to become “invisible champions” in their niche fields.

Wuhan Bald Head Braised (Houhu Store) has risen to the top of the national order volume in its category with its precise 24-hour late-night positioning and support from platform traffic, achieving a year-on-year order volume growth of 40%, with over 70% of this growth coming directly from the new platform, truly becoming the king of the regional “night economy.” Similarly, Guangzhou Zai Chao Shan Zai, a non-chain large dining hall, saw its daily order volume soar from over 400 orders to more than 1,200, successfully topping the national non-chain store annual order ranking, stabilizing its position as the “canteen” for surrounding white-collar workers, and attracting a large number of out-of-town tourists to visit.

A research report from Peking University Guanghua School of Management indicates that the investment of 50 billion yuan in consumer vouchers by Taobao Flash Purchase has effectively boosted the online revenue of participating merchants and has a sustained and significant stimulating effect on consumption in the medium to long term: this stimulating effect is not only strong within the Flash Purchase platform but also robust across multiple scenarios and categories of consumption, with pronounced ongoing stimulation of service-related consumption, particularly evident in the growth of food and local life services.

For takeout users, this long-awaited industry competition brings not only lower prices but also a revival of consumer confidence. The extreme cost-performance ratio makes “freedom to drink milk tea” and “freedom to order food” easily accessible, and this tangible sense of profit gain is also genuinely activating the consumer market.

For time-honored brands and local specialty restaurants, the ample competition among multiple platforms also presents a rare opportunity for “renewal,” helping them bridge generational gaps and reconnect with younger consumer groups. The Quanzhou Meixin Restaurant, with a 30-year history, saw a nearly 20% increase in orders during the Double 11 shopping festival, with new customers accounting for as high as 43.7%. Founder A Qing said that the platform has made the time-honored brand “younger.” Tianjin Huibin Restaurant has accompanied Tianjin residents through more than 60 Spring Festivals, and now its monthly peak for takeout can reach 18,000 orders, with transactions doubling; Beijing Guolin Home Cooking’s daily performance has surged to 140,000 yuan. These cases prove that time-honored brands are revitalizing traditional flavors in the digital age by walking on “two legs” online and offline.

More critically, the current multi-platform competition is fundamentally reshaping the industry’s profit model, completely changing the predicament of merchants “losing money while making noise” under a single platform. According to data from Taobao Flash Purchase, since 2026, the average order value for merchants has increased by about 10%, an improvement in this key metric that not only reduces cost pressure but also increases profit margins.

Under the healthy competition mechanism, platforms bear most of the subsidy costs. For instance, Kou Miaobin, co-founder of Sister Xiaogu, has calculated that in each order discount of 10.5 yuan, the platform bears 10 yuan, and merchants only need to bear 0.5 yuan. This mechanism of “platform bearing the bulk” ensures the profit margin for brands and also helps merchants generate new increments. Saiwen Pizza’s monthly orders surged from 300 to over 2,300, significantly increasing the brand’s visibility and product click-through rates.

This dividend also benefits quality merchants with high average order values, proving that survival in a multi-platform ecosystem is not solely dependent on low prices. Buzi Ke Seafood has entered the top 20 in national order volume for 2025 with an average order value exceeding 100 yuan; Kaojiang’s grilled fish set, priced over 100 yuan, became a star item with online orders rising by 50% on weekends; Ma Liu Ji even turned last November’s off-season into a peak season, with takeout volume increasing by 240% year-on-year. These data strongly indicate that as long as the quality is solid, high-average-order brands can also take advantage of the momentum and achieve value return.

Industry analysts point out that this clearly visible increase in revenue not only improves the financial situation of restaurant brands but also greatly boosts industry confidence, leading more and more owners to invest more resources online. From the doubling of orders for time-honored brands to the flourishing of small and medium-sized shops across the country, multi-platform competition is enabling the survival and growth of small businesses by lowering entry barriers, providing precise support, and reconstructing cost structures, allowing branded merchants to achieve double increases in volume and profits. This new ecosystem of inclusive coexistence is the most solid foundation for the high-quality development of the current restaurant industry.

The Stimulation of Economic Vitality and the Formation of a Positive Economic Cycle

From passive adaptation to active layout, from short-term traffic to long-term growth, from small micro-benefits to increased efficiency for delivery personnel, the transformation paths of brands like Grandma’s Home and Jinbaiwan collectively outline a picture of the resilience of China’s instant retail economy. This is not only a victory of business models but also a vivid portrayal of macroeconomic vitality being deeply stimulated.

Reports indicate that by mid-2025, non-restaurant orders on Taobao Flash Purchase have surged by 143% compared to the initial launch, with over 240,000 new registered merchants, most of whom are small and medium-sized businesses. In cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, community supermarkets, convenience stores, fruit shops, and even warehouse stores have leveraged the order-driven model of takeout platforms to achieve dual growth in revenue and users. Instant delivery services have extended from dining to the entire service industry, effectively driving the recovery of offline retail formats.

The explosive growth in order volume directly boosts merchants’ revenue, especially giving a precious survival and development space to numerous small and micro catering enterprises. Behind the growth in order volume, real job opportunities have also emerged. Data shows that multi-platform competition has prompted many small and medium-sized stores to increase staffing, while wages for existing employees have also risen. This not only stabilizes existing employment but also creates new job opportunities. At the same time, the rights of the delivery personnel have improved in the competitive environment.

The platforms’ genuine subsidies have also provided consumers with tangible benefits. Zhou Zhou, a 90s user interviewed by Entrepreneurship Frontline, mentioned that since May 2025, he has been researching which platform offers better deals daily with his family, rediscovering the joy of “grabbing discounts everywhere.”

For takeout users, this long-overdue industry competition brings not only lower prices but also a revival of consumer confidence. The extreme cost-performance ratio makes “freedom to drink milk tea” and “freedom to order food” easily accessible, and this tangible sense of profit gain is also genuinely activating the consumer market.

Zhou Jinxing, secretary-general of the Hubei Food Safety Association, believes that for the catering industry, “the atmosphere of dining” and “popularity” are crucial. Platforms like Taobao Flash Purchase encourage consumers to increase their dining frequency through direct subsidies, which has a significant effect on enhancing market vitality.

Hong Yong from the Ministry of Commerce Research Institute believes that multi-platform competition not only breaks the traffic monopoly but also injects new vitality into the industry by restructuring cost structures, broadening consumption scenarios, and optimizing labor efficiency. In this healthy market ecology, consumers enjoy benefits and convenience, merchants gain growth and dignity, and delivery personnel achieve increased income and efficiency. This positive cycle of “consumption stimulation—industry growth—employment expansion—income increase—consumption stimulation” is becoming an important engine driving the domestic economic cycle. (Bo Chan)