It's another year of the Huawei vs. Apple battle, which can be described as a replay of the Mars-hits-Earth scenario in the consumer electronics market. Huawei's tri-fold and Apple's iPhone 16 series are the hottest new phones lately, with the internet buzzing with discussions about queuing, price hikes, and scalpers, repeating the spectacle of hard-to-find devices.

Yet beneath this seemingly annual spectacle of new product launches and mad rushes, many novel changes are unfolding. For instance, besides rushing to stores or e-commerce platforms, instant retail shopping has quietly emerged as a blue ocean in consumer electronics.

Instant Retail Emerges Quietly

If you've experienced the mad rush for phones on platforms in previous years, you'll have a profound understanding of the current changes in the retail industry: there are more and more platforms to buy electronics from, and delivery speeds are getting faster and faster.

For instance, people once knew only platforms like JD.com offered one-hour delivery, but now Meituan, Douyin, and Kuaishou also support this service. Users who miss out on phones on official websites or e-commerce platforms start looking for products on other platforms, while seasoned electronics consumers or shopping enthusiasts have already made these instant retail platforms their first choice for popular electronics. After all, these channels are not yet mainstream, so fewer users mean a higher chance of success, and faster delivery.

According to the "White Paper on Instant Retail Consumer Electronics Industry" released by iResearch, instant consumption habits have been formed, and the prospects for consumer electronics in the instant retail market are broad. Nowadays, young people place more emphasis on getting their hands on electronic products like phones quickly because only by having them first can they showcase their social status and demonstrate their pioneering spirit.

Besides the need for social sharing of new products, there are also demands for education, leisure and entertainment, business trips, seasonal purchases, and social gifting. Sometimes, to take advantage of promotions, people also choose instant retail platforms for shopping. As consumption habits gradually form, the range of products being shopped for has expanded from accessories and phones to computers, digital devices, and home appliances. Platform capabilities are also continuously enhanced, with improved logistics and services gradually meeting the instant consumption needs of large household appliances. The category expansion and growth of instant consumption platforms are accelerating rapidly.

For brands, the instant consumption channel has increasingly become a new "business field" that cannot be ignored. Since entering the instant retail market in 2020, Apple Authorized Resellers have continued to increase their investments. To date, nearly 7,000 Apple Authorized Resellers have joined Meituan Flash Buy, covering over 2,000 counties, districts, and cities nationwide, an increase of nearly 2,000 stores compared to last year.

Huawei Devices, on the other hand, started its collaboration with Meituan Flash Buy in September 2023, with the first batch of over 1,000 Huawei Authorized Experience Stores in 62 cities nationwide joining. One year later, more than 4,300 Huawei Authorized Experience Stores and Huawei Smart Life Galleries in 343 cities have joined Meituan Flash Buy.

Under the demonstrative effect of these two giants, domestic mobile phone and digital brands have basically completed their entry into instant retail platforms. The increasing number of major brands joining has brought more choices and faster services to consumers, driving a healthy growth trend in the entire industry.

Changes in Lifestyle Drive the Formation of Consumption Habits

Why is instant consumption increasingly becoming the mainstream choice for people? The logic behind this trend stems from changes in lifestyle. The white paper indicates that convenience and emotional appeal are key drivers of the instant economy. Firstly, users are busier at work and have faster-paced lives, resulting in higher demands for instant gratification. "I want it now" has become a common lifestyle choice among young people.

On the other hand, due to social anxiety, people prefer staying at home rather than going out. The 24/7 availability of instant consumption has evolved from the habit of ordering takeaways, essentially making "everything available for takeout."

This is undoubtedly an upgrade of the takeout economy, which is also closely related to the continuous improvement of instant retail platforms' operational capabilities. Another scenario is business trips. For instance, I once forgot to bring a memory card during a business trip and needed it the next day. Unable to find a store offline and with insufficient time for online shopping, I ordered it via takeout and had it within half an hour. Many people also choose to pack light and purchase essentials via instant retail during business trips, enabling truly hassle-free travel.

Currently, through continuous capability enhancements, instant retail platforms can support a significantly richer range of products for sale, evolving from ready-to-eat meals to supermarket beverages, daily necessities, and now extending to consumer electronics. Products span from fast-moving consumer goods to durable goods, from low to high unit prices, with increasingly longer product lifecycles and more functional products.

The gradual maturity of consumer electronics categories has propelled the instant retail sector into a phase of explosive growth, as these products cover a wider range of scenarios, including daily life, entertainment, household use, office work, social gifting, emergency response, and seasonal needs. This provides a more comprehensive e-commerce experience and matures this business model into a unique e-commerce approach. Consequently, it has garnered the attention and strong support of technology giants like Apple and Huawei, naturally attracting more young users eager to purchase these popular new products.

It is worth noting that instant retail consumers of consumer electronics are of high quality, not only younger in age but also better educated. They are more willing to try new things and prefer this fast shopping method. Their habit of sharing purchases further promotes the socialization of instant retail, playing a vital role in the development of this business model. These individuals are also the primary consumers of electronic and digital products, making them worthy of in-depth cultivation by brands in terms of both consumption ability and frequency. As offline stores and e-commerce competition intensifies, focusing on instant retail promotions undoubtedly resembles exploring a blue ocean.

Instant Retail Goes Beyond Speed

Many people believe that the greatest value of instant retail lies in its speed. Indeed, this is a crucial reason why users choose instant retail, but it is not the only one. In my view, instant retail also represents a reconfiguration of the retail "people-goods-place" paradigm. In this sales chain, the relationship between people and places is significantly strengthened, and trust is greatly enhanced. This is essentially equivalent to shopping in offline stores, except that delivery is facilitated by couriers. Therefore, this relationship between people and places differs fundamentally from that in e-commerce.

As a result, consumers can enjoy more abundant localized services and exclusive discounts. Moreover, in subsequent after-sales service and other links, they can also enjoy nearby convenience. If e-commerce moves goods online, instant retail essentially gives places wings, which is undoubtedly good news for boosting the industry. Especially in underdeveloped e-commerce regions, instant retail has become a more mainstream sales channel.

The manager of a mobile phone store in Beijing's Chaoyang District has observed that in recent years, the proportion of online sales in their store has been increasing, primarily sourced from instant retail channels like JD.com and Meituan. This may be because consumers perceive instant retail as offering both the credibility and service guarantees of offline stores and the diverse promotional activities found online, combining the advantages of both channels. For high-profile and popular products like Huawei and Apple phones, this undoubtedly represents a better purchasing channel.

Data shows that users who purchase mobile phones through instant retail channels not only replace their devices twice as frequently as those using other channels but also tend to buy high-end flagship models, with average prices significantly higher. Conversely, mid-to-low-end phones are still predominantly purchased through traditional e-commerce channels. This illustrates that the advantage of instant retail channels lies in higher consumer trust and stronger product demand.

Overall, instant retail can be considered the biggest growth point in retail channels and the consumer electronics sector today. While other channels are relatively sluggish, instant retail channels have maintained rapid growth. Based on the current growth rate, the white paper predicts that the instant retail consumer electronics market will exceed RMB 100 billion by 2026. For brand owners, this is undoubtedly an emerging market that cannot be ignored. Meanwhile, with the empowerment of instant retail capabilities, offline stores have also found new breakthroughs, undoubtedly providing a significant boost to the current consumer electronics industry.