Interesting development - Heytea has actually launched across all its stores on Taobao Flash Purchase!

Why do I say "actually"? You might not know, but Heytea has always been an "outsider" in the tea drink industry, stubbornly sticking to its own mini-program and MEITUAN-W for years. They've talked to other platforms before, but nothing substantial ever materialized!

As for what happened behind the scenes, remember that incident in April this year? Chat records leaked showing that JD.com internally required a ban on cooperation with Heytea, and employees weren't allowed to bring Heytea drinks into work areas... Coincidentally, shortly after this news broke, Heytea's two stores in JD.com's headquarters Building 1 and Building 2 suddenly displayed "temporarily closed"...

Then various rumors started circulating: some said these two stores were "kicked out" by JD.com because MEITUAN-W had invested in Heytea and signed an exclusivity agreement, preventing other delivery platforms from partnering with them except MEITUAN-W. Others claimed that JD.com's founder had personally approached Heytea with full sincerity and respect, but negotiations failed... so they decided not to cooperate at all, and the campus stores had to close too...

All three parties directly or indirectly responded to these rumors: JD.com clarified first, saying it was all fake news, that Heytea stores in the campus were operating normally, and everyone was welcome to visit and experience them. When media asked Heytea staff, employees said: "Due to electrical maintenance, we closed for one day, then reopened normally the next day." MEITUAN-W kept protesting its innocence - who could they turn to for justice? It was clearly Heytea that didn't want to get too close to delivery platforms, wanting to keep data firmly within its own mini-program. MEITUAN-W had sent people to negotiate several times without success, and finally had no choice but to invest money to become a shareholder. Heytea should show some consideration for relationships, right? That's how they got on the platform, though they still don't participate in various activities...

Honestly, while the three parties' responses seem logically coherent, this story isn't fully resolved - there are still many "gaps"... Take the simplest question: among so many coffee and tea shops in the campus, why was it only Heytea that temporarily closed? What happened to other brands that day? Moreover, electrical maintenance is usually scheduled at night to avoid affecting merchants' normal operations - who does maintenance on two buildings simultaneously during broad daylight? And most crucially, following Heytea's logic of wanting to retain data and not getting too close to delivery platforms, why did they suddenly launch all 4,000+ stores on Taobao Flash Purchase without any trial or transition phase?

Such a dramatic turnaround - what really happened behind the scenes?

Actually, thinking carefully, this isn't too surprising. From an industry perspective, it might be easier to understand: before Taobao Flash Purchase and JD.com entered the game, the delivery market was dominated by MEITUAN-W and Ele.me in roughly a 7:3 or even 8:2 ratio. But after the delivery wars in the first half of this year, especially with Taobao Flash Purchase using real money to forcefully change market share in the tea drink category to 50:50, and Taobao Flash Purchase's daily order volume even exceeded MEITUAN-W's at one point.

Given such subsidy intensity... honestly, anyone in the tea drink industry would likely experience some psychological changes, right? Brands are also watching - Taobao Flash Purchase's entry has genuinely brought new incremental growth to the market. And for industry leaders, what's the hardest thing? Finding incremental growth is the hardest! As long as growth is fast enough, it can cover up many problems, but without incremental growth, teams start internal fighting and creating chaos.

Facing this level of incremental growth, could Heytea really refuse? Both sides were previously testing each other psychologically - Heytea was observing Taobao Flash Purchase's determination, while Taobao Flash Purchase was also sizing up Heytea, wondering how long Heytea could hold out.

Next week is Chinese Valentine's Day, and finally at this moment, Heytea couldn't hold on anymore, launching all 4,000+ stores nationwide on Taobao Flash Purchase. After three months, Heytea should have figured it out - Taobao Flash Purchase isn't here to play around, and they can't afford to wait anymore. While the weather hasn't turned cold yet, they can't wait until they're completely passive before making their move, right? More importantly, Heytea hasn't gone public yet...

Let's put it this way - if you were an investor, would you invest in a company that can't capture incremental growth?

So Heytea's major pivot is just the beginning for the industry. Behind Heytea's move isn't just one brand opening another channel, but the entire instant retail landscape has begun to shift.

As for those brands still wavering, they only need to consider one question: if you're only on one platform, then whatever the platform says goes. If you're on multiple platforms, then you have the initiative to choose.

When market incremental growth combines with choice initiative, who can really refuse?