A recent national meeting on platform algorithm and labor rule coordination was held in Shanghai, where research teams visited companies including Ele.me to examine labor rights protection for new employment forms, platform algorithm applications, and transparent labor rule initiatives. The research group acknowledged the platforms' achievements in strengthening rider protections, creating millions of new jobs, and promoting income growth.

Over recent months, multi-platform participation in food delivery market competition has significantly promoted employment. Platform data reveals that Taobao Shansou's daily active riders have exceeded 2 million, representing a threefold increase from April. This indicates that Taobao Shansou has created over one million new job opportunities.

Employment growth and income improvements for workers are premised on market expansion and sustainable industry development.

The food delivery market's rapid recent growth is evident, with daily orders doubling to over 200 million compared to May levels. Previously, Zhang Chenggang, Director of China's New Employment Forms Research Center and Associate Professor at Capital University of Economics and Business, calculated that when major food delivery platforms surpassed 100 million daily orders, active rider numbers were expected to double, potentially driving approximately 1.5 million riders across the entire food delivery market.

Research data from QuestMobile shows that food delivery worker numbers increased 74.8% year-over-year in July.

This further demonstrates the enormous potential of service consumption in absorbing employment.

Data also shows that since Taobao Shansou's launch through July, Ele.me rider monthly active users increased 181% overall, with crowdsourced riders growing 236%. Meanwhile, the number of riders earning over 10,000 yuan in July reached 2.8 times last year's level. Riders on platforms like Meituan and JD.com also experienced significant income growth, with Meituan riders seeing daily income increases exceeding 100% during July weekend peak periods.

Additionally, market prosperity has brought indirect employment growth and increased revenue for small and medium businesses. Restaurant industry hiring and employment demand have grown notably, with hundreds of thousands more restaurant industry workers on DingTalk. In July, 1.4 million small and medium merchants on Taobao Shansou experienced significant growth in both daily orders and actual revenue. On August 7th, over 300,000 couple-owned stores on the Taobao Shansou platform achieved breakthrough peak transaction volumes.

The value created by orderly market competition has begun extending beyond food delivery to broader consumption areas, generating multiplier effects.

A recent report from Peking University's Guanghua School of Management indicates that Taobao Shansou coupon consumption demonstrates significant spillover effects, with every 1 yuan of effective Shansou subsidies driving 6.76 yuan in additional consumer spending through Alibaba's payment platform, including 3.11 yuan in online e-commerce physical goods consumption.

Research found positive correlation between Shansou penetration rates and regional restaurant merchants' average offline weekly revenue, with no statistical evidence of cannibalizing dine-in business. Shansou coupons positively impact participating merchants' online and offline revenues, with the strongest effects on the smallest 25% of merchants by revenue scale.

This summer's hot food delivery market also boosted non-restaurant businesses, with nearly 160,000 non-food small and medium merchants reaching business peaks in July.

Platform competition has shifted from pure scale competition toward service quality competition and technological and business model innovation, with instant delivery extending from food delivery to broader service industry markets.

The "warehouse-store" model has rapidly matured amid intense market competition. Both Taobao Shansou and Meituan's "Lightning Warehouse" networks have reached approximately 50,000 locations each. This infrastructure improvement better meets consumers' emergency and instant delivery needs, further unlocking consumption potential in this new instant retail scenario.

Market competition is also driving platforms to more actively fulfill corporate social responsibilities, with unprecedented attention and improvement in rider rights protection across the industry.

All platforms are actively upgrading riders' social insurance, medical benefits, and incentive and welfare levels. Taobao Shansou and Ele.me recently upgraded food delivery riders to "City Knights," comprehensively upgrading pension and medical insurance with up to 100% subsidies, while implementing the "Orange Care Plan" to help struggling riders and specifically support their educational advancement. Ele.me recently collected and responded to nearly 10,000 suggestions regarding labor compensation, rest periods, labor protection, and welfare guarantees, signing the nation's first platform algorithm and labor rules agreement.

Currently, platform enterprise competition has entered a development stage centered on user experience, ecosystem synergy, employment generation, and social security. Platforms focusing on instant retail each have distinct strengths: some concentrate on local lifestyle services, others integrate e-commerce with food delivery and transportation ecosystems, while some focus on quality services.

Healthy industry development requires an orderly, rational competitive environment. Competition drives market vitality, and beneficial competition not only promotes platform development but also benefits consumers, merchants, and riders, achieving multi-party wins.