Taobao and Ele.me race into China’s instant retail battlefield

['Technode Feed', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Vertical-Align Middle .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar Is .Alignleft .Alignright'] TechNode 2025-05-01 00:00:00

Alibaba is rebranding and upgrading its instant delivery service Taobao Hourly Delivery to Taobao Flash Buy (淘宝闪购), according to a report from Chinese outlet LatePost on Tuesday. In parallel, Alibaba’s food delivery arm Ele.me announced enhanced platform subsidies this morning to support the broader push. Supply-side integration: Ele.me’s full inventory — including food delivery — will now serve Taobao Flash Sale. Organizational consolidation: All real-time retail operations under Alibaba’s e-commerce arm will now be unified under Taobao Flash Sale, with Ele.me providing backend support. The original Taobao Hourly Delivery feature launched widely on the homepage in July 2024, followed by the integration of over 3,000 Apple-authorized retail stores.