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Zhu Wenqian

More foreign companies have rolled out instant delivery services exclusively for China or upgraded to more comprehensive offerings in the country, as they vie to stand out in the highly digitalised market and cater to consumers’ strong demand for instant services.
Multinationals offering instant delivery now include Swedish furniture retailer Ikea, German tyre manufacturer Continental, US warehouse-style retailer Sam’s Club and German discount supermarket chain Aldi Nord.
“China leads the world in internet penetration and boasts a well-developed digital infrastructure,” said Fu Yifu, a special researcher at Su Merchants Bank based in Nanjing, in China’s eastern Jiangsu province. “In China’s highly competitive market, providing instant retail services can help foreign brands to drive sales growth more effectively.”
By combining their product strengths with local platforms to enhance the customer experience, foreign brands can “offset their limited local market insight” and better meet demand, Fu said.
Ikea launched instant delivery services on Chinese e-commerce platform JD.com on January 23, covering nine cities including Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, Hangzhou in eastern Zhejiang province and Chengdu in southwestern Sichuan province.
The service currently covers small, daily-use home goods, with the fastest delivery within one hour for orders placed on JD.com.
Ikea said online channels had gradually become a driver of new customer growth in China. A faster pace of life and advances in digital technology had driven a rapid shift in Chinese consumers’ behaviour, towards more fragmented, on-demand consumption, the company said, adding that it would continue to invest in both digitalisation and in-store experience.
The mainland is the only market where Ikea provides instant delivery services, while it offers regular deliveries and in-store pickup in Sweden, other European countries, the US, Japan and South Korea.

Ikea’s focus has shifted from scale expansion to targeted growth, driven by softening demand for its products at bricks-and-mortar stores amid China’s sluggish property market and consumer spending. Sunday is the final day of operation for seven mainland Ikea stores, which triggered a rare shopping frenzy amid discounts of up to 70 per cent in the days leading up to the closure.
Meanwhile, Continental buyers in China can get tyres faster than their counterparts around the world – with delivery in as little as 30 minutes – or can choose in-store installation with JD Auto.
Continental strengthened its cooperation with JD Auto to launch the instant delivery service last year. The company said Chinese drivers showed a strong instant demand for tyres and were willing to purchase them through e-commerce channels.
“A ‘buy now, get now’ spending habit has taken hold, particularly among younger demographics in China, making instant service a key initiative tailored to local market demand,” Fu said.
As instant retail further penetrated China’s local retail supply chain, consumer acceptance of the service had risen steadily, helping it evolve from a service for emergency needs to a daily lifestyle, according to the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing.
The country’s instant retail market would exceed 1 trillion yuan (US$143.9 billion) this year and 2 trillion yuan by 2030, the academy forecast.
Aldi Nord launched instant delivery in China shortly after entering the mainland market in 2019. It provides 30-minute delivery via cooperation with platforms including Meituan and Ele.me, and its official WeChat mini programme, with a 3 km delivery radius.
The supermarket chain only expanded beyond Shanghai last year to cities including Wuxi, Suzhou and Kunshan in eastern Jiangsu province, and it has continued to strengthen its localisation efforts, from products to the supply chain.
Aldi Nord also offers a standard delivery service in the United States.
Foreign brands’ lack of large-scale instant delivery in overseas markets was not merely due to low demand, Fu said.
“It’s because the features of these markets are better suited to conventional delivery and self-pickup models,” he said. “Most overseas countries have vast land and low population densities, making instant delivery costs high.”
He added that overseas consumers were more accustomed to offline shopping and the pace of conventional delivery, with existing models already meeting demand. This situation would persist for some time, with limited instant services being piloted in some densely populated cities, though they would not quickly replicate the Chinese model, he said.


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Ikea, Continental and Aldi Nord enlist local partners to launch faster, more comprehensive delivery services than they offer abroad


Ikea, Continental and Aldi Nord enlist local partners to launch faster, more comprehensive delivery services than they offer abroad.


Multinationals race into China’s US$143.9 billion instant retail market

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Ikea, Continental and Aldi Nord enlist local partners to launch faster, more comprehensive delivery services than they offer abroad

Ikea, Continental and Aldi Nord enlist local partners to launch faster, more comprehensive delivery services than they offer abroad