China's instant retail market to top 1 trln yuan by 2026: report

BEIJING, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- China's instant retail market has been growing at a fast clip in recent years, and is likely to exceed 1 trillion yuan (about 138 billion U.S. dollars) by 2026, a report estimated.

The emerging retail business, which features fast delivery, usually within an hour of online to offline orders, saw its market scale expand by about 81 percent in the past five years, according to the report released by the China Chain-Store &Franchise Association.

Many retail outlets such as convenience stores and supermarkets have rolled out store-to-doorstep online shopping and delivery services to cater to consumers living or working nearby.

E-commerce platforms have also jumped on the bandwagon by leveraging their big-data-driven consumer insight and extensive delivery network.

Chinese online food delivery giant Meituan introduced instant retail services in 2018 and saw their sales value account for 12 percent of its food delivery business in 2021. The average daily order volume for its instant retail services reached 4.3 million in the second quarter of 2022.

The report said that the instant retail market enjoys a rosy future, as its combination of digitalization and fast delivery will help traditional retailers expand the scale of their consumer community.