GOODBYE TO BLUE, HELLO TO ORANGE?

It appears that the blue colour of Alibaba’s Eleme meal delivery service may eventually disappear from the streets of China. In the past few months, Alibaba has outfitted Taobao Instant Commerce (TIC) couriers with new orange uniforms, helmets, and delivery boxes, featuring Taobao branding. According to Tech Planet, such new equipment, including new uniforms that resemble a racing suit design, has been distributed to 1 million active and stable couriers. Other couriers can replace theirs at a discount.

After persistent rumours about a potential sale of loss-making Eleme, Alibaba has realised Eleme’s value to its instant retail business. It has integrated Eleme into its domestic commerce divisions, and there are growing signs of a potential full rebranding. A recent update to the Eleme app now displays ‘Taobao Instant Commerce’, which has been operational in essence since August last year but was formally launched in April 2025, at the start of this year’s instant retail/food delivery war.

Last summer’s subsidy war between Meituan and Alibaba seems to have cooled down, but Alibaba has shown other plans for encroaching on Meituan’s turf. In late September, Taobao Instant Commerce users in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Jiaxing found a new group buying function (dao dian tuan gou) for catering businesses in the app.

Group-purchased items are available simultaneously on Taobao Instant Commerce (the Taobao main app has 482 million DAU), Alipay (200 million DAU), and the AutoNavi/Amap/Gaode app (200 million DAU). Merchants include national chain restaurant brands, as well as a large number of regional leading merchants and popular community stores.

Following the entry of Douyin and Xiaohongshu into the in-store group buying segment, Meituan will face a new fierce competitor that plans to expand to 50 cities nationwide.

-Ed