Amidst increasingly diverse and rapidly changing consumers, how can brands pinpoint their needs and win the market? NIQ China and ELE.ME recently released a joint report titled “Time-Space-Scenario: Methods and Application in O2O Retail OAIPL Growth Model“. By analyzing data insights from the industry and leading brands across multiple dimensions—people, products, and places, the report dissects growth drivers and proposes that instant retail effectively connects online and offline experiences. This aligns with consumer demand for immediate enjoyment and upgraded services, making it a key engine for growth in the retail industry.
The collaboration between NIQ and ELE.ME reveals the core reasons why the market focuses on instant retail: on one hand, the trend of smaller household sizes and rational consumption attitudes have led to growing consumer demand for quick, small-batch replenishments, with some planned categories increasingly being purchased through instant retail channels. On the other hand, instant retail has demonstrated immense potential in new scenarios such as remote, nighttime, and gifting consumption.
The report emphasizes that instant retail, through the synergy of scenario marketing and timely delivery, creates a “see it, enjoy it” consumer experience and opens up a new path for brands to balance product sales and brand impact. While exploring new scenarios and incorporating multiple dimensions such as time, space, and categories into scenario construction, instant retail allows brands to accurately target niche markets and innovative approaches and empowers them to unlock business potential and achieve more stable growth momentum.
ELE.ME has upgraded the full-link consumer asset operation model “OAIPL” to provide brands in the instant retail sector with strong digital support so that they can achieve more accurate and efficient digital user operations across various stages, including marketing promotion, supply coverage, new customer conversion, and existing user management.
“Faced with the high cost of customer acquisition, platforms and brands have recognized the importance of increasing user penetration and loyalty. Effectively attracting and retaining customers is one of the keys to brand growth,” said Cindy Yang, Vice President of E-commerce and Omni-channel Business, NielsenIQ China. The “OAIPL” methodology can accurately capture potential customers and convert them into groups that show interest in specific categories, bringing new growth opportunities for platforms and brands.
People: The Rise of Personalized Consumption and Changing Shopping Habits
The report suggests that profound changes are seen in the three core elements of the current Chinese retail industry—people, products, and places. New consumption patterns, models, and scenarios keep coming out. Instant retail has been one of the key engines for growth in the retail industry as it meets consumer demand for immediate enjoyment and upgraded service experiences.
Taking the trend of smaller household structures as an example, NIQ 2024 Shopper Trends shows that the proportion of consumers choosing “immediate replenishment without waiting for discounts” has reached 29%, an increase of 9% from last year. Small households are shifting from “bulk purchases and stockpiling” to “on-demand replenishment to avoid waste”, “purchase of smaller packages” and “immediate restocking”. The report indicates that the sales proportion of products like shelf-stable milk and multi-pack yogurt in instant retail channels is significantly higher than in offline modern channels.
In pursuit of comfort and happiness, consumers will spend more on convenience to increase personal or family happiness. Throughout the process of shopping—from ordering to product use and after-sales service—they prefer services or products that provide convenience to improve their quality of life. According to NIQ’s 2024 Mid-Year Consumer Outlook, 66% of Chinese consumers are more willing to increase spending on convenience, which is 4 percentage points higher than the Asia-Pacific average.
Younger consumers, particularly those from the post-90s and post-00s generations, are driving much of the instant retail. They seek convenience and immediate satisfaction and get used to buying it and getting it. NIQ’s Online Shopper Trends Report 2024 shows that 72% of instant retail users are under 35 years old. Their awareness of stockpiling is lower than that of their elders. In addition to spontaneous purchases, planned shopping is also frequently occurring in instant retail. Data from ELE.ME shows significant growth in categories such as maternity products, baby supplies, and 3C digital products in 2024, with users of refrigerated fresh milk being younger and more active. Among them, those born after 2000 account for over 20%, and 23% visit the platform more than 20 days a month. Younger consumers are more inclined to purchase planned products through convenient and quick instant retail channels.
Products: Rational and Self-Pleasing Consumption Drive Rapid Growth in Key Categories
Today consumers consume to feed their rational practical needs, please themselves, and live a quality life. In 2023, the sales growth of categories such as alcohol, beverages, dairy products, and personal care items in instant retail channels has significantly outpaced that in offline modern channels. Notably, instant retail has seen a year-on-year growth of 20% in alcohol sales against the downturn in offline channels.
Moreover, consumers’ pursuit of self-satisfaction and comfortable experiences is a key driving factor for the rapid development of these categories. In niche markets, products with stronger attributes of self-satisfaction and emotional fulfillment show vibrant growth, such as ready-to-drink tea, juice, and coffee in the beverage category; hair dye and skincare products in personal care; and brandy and pre-mixed cocktails in alcohol. These products not only meet basic functional needs but also provide consumers with a stronger sense of happiness on an emotional level.
In terms of packaging specifications, consumers exhibit an interesting dual tendency in their product choices. On one hand, they pursue cost-effectiveness and prefer multi-pack products for everyday stocking; on the other hand, as households become smaller, single-serve or mini-pack products suitable for two or one person are becoming increasingly popular, especially when consumers want to treat themselves.
Yang Ying noted that “consumers have been accustomed to a modern, convenient lifestyle and continue to pursue higher levels of convenience experience. This demand keeps merchants enthusiastic about unlocking the potential of instant retail. Merchants in categories like alcohol, beverages, dairy products, and personal care have successfully captured incremental business in instant retail, creating new opportunities for offline channels.”
Place: Fragmented FMCG Retail Structure Fuels Rise of O2O Retail
The report shows that in 2023, the influence of instant retail in modern channels has significantly increased, with its share continuing to rise. More and more online shoppers are starting to use and rely on instant retail platforms, with the penetration rate of third-party home delivery service platforms rising from 49% in 2023 to 59% in 2024. Notably, the frequency of visits to instant retail continues to grow as the average monthly visit to traditional offline retail is on a decline.
Moreover, the shopping conversion path on instant retail platforms has witnessed a smooth transition for users from awareness to trial, and then to loyalty.
According to NIQ’s Online Shopper Trends Report 2024, the conversion rate of users transitioning from awareness to purchase on third-party home delivery service platforms has increased from 59% to 63%. Additionally, more users are converting to loyal customers after trying, with a conversion rate increase of 30%—this demonstrates the strong appeal and efficient conversion of the instant retail model. The convenient experience of one-click ordering and rapid delivery accelerates the formation of shopping habits under this model.
Furthermore, consumers are more willing to pay for emotional value and please themselves. To build deep emotional connections with consumers, scenario marketing has become an important way for brands to effectively convey the emotional value of their products that can resonate with users. Instant retail platforms, with efficient delivery services that meet young consumers’ needs for immediate enjoyment, have been a new domain for brands to communicate emotional value.
Therefore, scenario marketing on instant retail platforms, together with on-time delivery services, enables a “see it, enjoy it” experience by significantly shortening the time and distance from “need stimulation” to “product in hand”. This creates new opportunities for many retailers and brands to develop from “product effectiveness to brand impact”.
With ever-improving delivery systems and service capabilities, instant retail not only provides consumers with a better shopping experience but also cultivates the habit of instant shopping among consumers. They are more accepting and dependent on instant retail which is no longer a solution in emergency scenarios but a regular high-frequency consumption model. This shift also brings considerable incremental benefits to brands and retailers, encouraging them to continually optimize product supply and enhance innovative marketing collaborations. The enthusiasm of consumers, combined with the proactive participation of brands and retailers, further drives the continuous evolution and iteration of platform capabilities. As a result, the platforms enhance user engagement and brands and retailers expand their marketing channels.
With multi-party collaboration and synergy, instant retail has evolved beyond a simple O2O platform into a multi-dimensional scenario woven from efficient delivery services, reconstructing a new commercial ecosystem featuring “people, product, place”.
While exploring new growth paths on instant retail platforms, brands and retailers face numerous challenges, such as how to expand user awareness of more categories in instant retail, how to more accurately identify and operate users, and how to improve efficiency and conversion in cross-channel marketing.
In response to these challenges, ELE.ME has upgraded the “AIPL” model to “OAIPL” model, aiming to help brands significantly expand their operable consumer asset, making consumer operations more data-driven and refined. This model illustrates the layer-by-layer relationship between consumers and brands, identifies the population size that brands can cover, and details the process from “opportunity → awareness → interest → purchase → loyalty”. In a word, it provides a detailed stratification from far to near.
Yanfeng Chen, Vice President and leads the Key Account Retailers and Brands division in ELE.ME, added that “we can help our brand partners better understand, portray, and operate nearby consumers with new ‘time-space’ scenario tags. In diverse scenarios, brands can deploy more precise marketing strategies based on time, location, and category to reach consumers at every key touchpoint. At the same time, we maintain an open attitude to create richer scenarios and more diverse approaches with brands.”
About the report
NIQ China and ELE.ME join hands to analyze the development trend of O2O retail, dissecting the driving forces of growth from multiple dimensions such as people, goods, and places. O2O retail, leveraging the synergy of scenario marketing and punctual delivery, creates an “instant gratification” experience, opening up a new path for brands that combines both quality and efficiency. At the same time, it explores new scenarios, integrating multi-dimensional elements to construct scenarios, promoting innovative development in the instant retail industry, ushering in a new era, and creating a brilliant future together. To download the report, visit: nielseniq.cn/globabl.zh/insights/report/2025/global/zh/insights/report/2025/oaipl即时零售新增长方法论及应用
About NIQ
NielsenIQ (NIQ) is the world’s leading consumer intelligence company, delivering the most complete understanding of consumer buying behavior and revealing new pathways to growth. NIQ combined with GfK in 2023, bringing together the two industry leaders with unparalleled global reach. Today NIQ has operations in more than 95 countries covering 97% of GDP. With a holistic retail read and the most comprehensive consumer insights—delivered with advanced analytics through state-of-the-art platforms—NIQ delivers the Full View™.
For more information, please visit www.niq.com
Media Contact
Hana Hu (hana.hu@nielseniq.com)
About ELE.ME
Founded in a university in Shanghai in 2008, Ele.me initially intended to provide richer and more convenient catering services for urban young people, and now it has developed and been an instant e-commerce platform of trading agreement performance of catering, fast moving customer goods, daily articles, medicines, etc. (all matters delivered to homes). It is committed to providing instant e-commerce services of “relaxed order placement and punctual delivery”. At present, services offered by Ele.me have covered over 300 prefecture cities and over 2700 districts and counties in China, with over 400 million active users registered in each year.
