Analysis of Non-Food Order Structure and Unit Economic Model for Full Category Expansion of Taobao Flash Buy

Based on the latest information, I have conducted a systematic analysis of the non-food order structure of Taobao Flash Buy and the unit economic model for its full category expansion.

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Since Taobao Flash Buy was upgraded from “Hourly Delivery” in April 2025, it has achieved leaping development. It only took 6 days after its launch for orders to exceed 10 million; by the end of May, daily orders exceeded 40 million, in June over 60 million, and the peak daily order volume reached 120 million in August, with the average daily order volume on weekdays stabilizing at 80 million [1]. This growth rate is unprecedented in the instant retail sector.

More importantly, the order structure has been continuously optimized. The latest data shows that

[1][2], marking a fundamental change from the early order structure dominated by catering. This structural transformation has far-reaching economic implications:

Order Type	Early Proportion	Current Proportion	Impact on Unit Economics
Catering/Tea Beverages	~80%	~25%	Low average order value, high frequency, limited profit margin
Non-Food Categories	~20%	~75%	High average order value, strong profitability

In terms of average order value,

[3], which has directly improved the per-order revenue level.

Taobao Flash Buy is not merely a food delivery platform, but a “near-field touchpoint” within Alibaba’s large consumer ecosystem. Its full category expansion relies on three strategic pillars:

• Access to
  400,000 brand stores
  to achieve online-offline integration
• For leading brands such as Huawei, vivo, and Xtep, weekly transactions have increased by over 19 times month-on-month through the “authorized flagship store genuine products + 30-minute delivery” model [3]
• Heytea was first accessed in September 2025, breaking its previous exclusive cooperation with a specific platform [1]

• Hema’s daily order volume has exceeded 2 million, with
  a year-on-year growth of over 70%
  [3]
• Tmall Supermarket has upgraded from the B2C long-distance model to “near-field flash buy + three deliveries a day”, with 5,000 key products available for delivery in as fast as 4 hours [3]
• Cainiao Supply Chain has joined to provide “hourly delivery” services, covering multiple categories such as 3C digital products
• The effect of capacity reuse is significant: the peak of the Ele.me rider network is concentrated during the “lunch and dinner peaks” for catering, and during off-peak hours, it can undertake orders for fresh produce, daily necessities, and even Xianyu same-city delivery from Flash Buy [2]

• Taobao Flash Buy has driven a
  20% year-on-year growth
  in the daily active users of the Taobao App, increasing from 375 million in April to 437 million in September [4]
• During Double 11, the number of e-commerce orders on the main site from new users brought by Flash Buy exceeded
  100 million
  [1]
• Flash Buy has become a high-frequency traffic entry point, increasing users’ average daily usage duration and opening frequency within the Taobao App

According to Alibaba’s latest disclosure,

, with a loss of approximately RMB 20 billion in the fourth quarter, which is within the market expectation range [3][4]. This improvement stems from the simultaneous leverage of three efficiency drivers:

• Increased proportion of high average order value orders → Higher per-order revenue
• 75% proportion of non-food orders → Gross margin level is better than that of catering orders

• Increased order density has led to a
  significant reduction in logistics costs
• Capacity reuse reduces per-order fulfillment costs
• Since October last year, the
  per-order loss of Flash Buy has been halved compared to July and August
  [4]

• Flash Buy brings high-frequency traffic to the Taobao main site, reducing the customer acquisition cost of the main site
• Improved user activity, new user acquisition, and churn recall efficiency enable Alibaba
  to reduce marketing expense investment
  [2]
• The average daily orders of Tmall brands’ instant retail business
  surged 198% month-on-month compared to September
  , with nearly 600 brands achieving transactions exceeding RMB 100 million [2]

From the perspective of the unit economic model,

:

Dimension	Catering Orders	Non-Food Orders	UE Impact
Average Order Value	RMB 30-50	RMB 80-200+	+60%-300%
Product Profit Margin	15-20%	25-40%	+10-20 pct
Delivery Complexity	Standardized	Highly Variable	Slightly higher initial cost
User Repurchase Frequency	High	Medium	Decrease in marginal customer acquisition cost

The core logic of full category expansion improving UE lies in:

1. High average order value directly increases per-order gross profit
   : Non-food products (digital, apparel, alcohol, beauty, etc.) inherently have higher average order values and gross profit margins
2. Order density dilutes fulfillment costs
   : Category expansion drives growth in total orders, improves delivery network efficiency, and reduces per-order fulfillment costs
3. Improvement in the entire lifecycle of user value
   : High-frequency catering orders serve as traffic entry points, while low-frequency, high-average-order-value non-food orders act as profit engines, forming a healthy business portfolio
4. Cross-selling generates synergistic benefits
   : The purchase conversion rate of Flash Buy users on the Taobao main site increases, leading to growth in advertising revenue and customer management revenue (CMR) [2]

Alibaba’s management has clearly stated that

[3][4]. From the perspective of financial forecasts:

• Xu Hong, Chief Financial Officer of Alibaba, stated that
  the third quarter of last year was the peak of investment in the Flash Buy business
  ; as the scale stabilizes and efficiency continues to optimize, overall investment is expected to shrink significantly in the next quarter [4]
• Jiang Fan stated that the economic benefit optimization in the second phase is in line with expectations, which lays a foundation for the long-term sustainable development of the food delivery business [2]

• Erosion of Alibaba’s overall profit due to continuous high investment (the adjusted EBITA profit of the China e-commerce group fell by 76% in Q2)
• Changes in regulatory policies (In December 2025, the Ministry of Commerce issued the Guidelines for the Standardization of the Instant Retail Industry, prohibiting vicious subsidies below cost price)
• Counterattack strategies of competitors and evolution of the market structure

The structural change of Taobao Flash Buy with 75% of non-food orders

. Full category expansion drives continuous optimization of UE through four paths: increasing average order value, expanding gross profit margins, diluting fulfillment costs, and creating cross-selling value. The latest data, including faster-than-expected loss narrowing, continuous improvement of order structure, and gradual release of scale effects, all confirm the feasibility of this logic.

In the short term, Taobao Flash Buy is still in the strategic stage of “trading investment for market share”; however, in the medium to long term, relying on the synergistic effects of Alibaba’s ecosystem and its full category supply capacity, the improvement trend of its unit economic model has strong sustainability.

[1] China Business News - 2025 Restructured Food Delivery Landscape: An Orange Storm Sparked by Taobao Flash Buy (https://m.sohu.com/a/972982963_114986)
[2] Wumian Caijing - Ele.me “Goes Orange”, Opening a New Chapter in Service E-Commerce (https://wumiancaijing.com/NewsDetail/6460192.html)
[3] 21st Century Business Herald - Alibaba Performance Preview: Taobao Flash Buy to Maintain Heavy Investment in 2026 (https://finance.sina.com.cn/roll/2026-01-08/doc-inhfqtyt1311878.shtml)
[4] Southern Metropolis Daily - Taobao Flash Buy’s Primary Goal is Market Share Growth, Firmly Increasing Investment to Seize Absolute Market Leadership (https://finance.eastmoney.com/a/202601083612889687.html)
[5] Leidi - Alibaba’s Clear Goal: Taobao Flash Buy’s Primary Target is Market Share Growth, Increasing Investment to Strive for Absolute Leadership (https://m.sohu.com/a/973991623_430392)