As the “Three Kingdoms battle” in the food delivery market intensifies, both new and established players have entered a stalemate stage of “direct confrontation”. In the face of huge market subsidies, users can be said to be “grabbing the benefits to the fullest” – during the first weekend of July that just passed, summer high-frequency foods such as milk tea were even available for “zero yuan purchase” on some platforms.

On social media platforms, many netizens have lamented, “In the battle of food delivery, not getting one means losing,” and “Each generation has its own eggs to fight for.”

Screenshots of the “booming orders” at a milk tea shop on social media

The booming of the takeout market is a realistic confirmation of China’s huge consumption potential.

However, it should not be overlooked either that the Chinese consumer market requires not only quantity but also quality.

From the perspective of the market situation, a large amount of subsidies has achieved a “win-win-win” situation in the short term: consumers get benefits, merchants increase their business, riders earn more income, and platforms aim for a higher scale. It seems that each party has obtained what they wanted. However, history has proved countless times that behind the “wool feast”, there are often hidden crises.

To put it bluntly, this win-win-win situation is only temporary – good business is neither “burned” nor “competitive”.

Perhaps it’s time for the Chinese food delivery market to cool down.