The delivery war isn't over, and Amap's street rankings arrive: is Alibaba going after Meituan?
Originally written in Chinese. Translated with AI, reviewed by Gary. Read the Chinese original →
Not long ago I wrote about the food delivery war: Meituan going into instant retail, JD jumping in. Then in the past few days, Alibaba suddenly played a big card: the launch of Amap's "street rankings" (Saojiebang).
What it means is straightforward. Alibaba doesn't just want to fight Meituan on food delivery and quick commerce. It's pulling out Amap, a super gateway, to go after Meituan's core: commission revenue plus online marketing revenue.
Signals from the numbers and the market
In Meituan's financials, delivery services make up roughly 29% of revenue.
Amap has 170 million daily active users and 890 million monthly active users. It's a natural gateway to local services.
The capital market has already caught the scent:
- Meituan's share price fell 22% over the past month
- Alibaba's share price rose 36% over the past month
It looks like investors think Alibaba is really serious this time.
Why did Alibaba suddenly "come alive"?
On the surface, it looks like a sudden burst.
But don't forget:
- Ele.me has been around for ages,
- Amap was acquired more than ten years ago,
- And Taobao is Alibaba's very foundation.
These businesses were always there. Why didn't they deliver before?
The key is Alibaba's organisational structure.
For the past few years, Alibaba had classic "big-company disease":
- Different business units each going their own way, fighting each other for resources;
- Each chasing its own KPIs, competing with each other, even draining each other.
- Like several hilltops inside one company, each wanting to be the boss.
After Jack Ma's return, one key thing was done: break up and restructure.
- Resources shared, no longer each going its own way;
- Teams connected, no longer scattered puzzle pieces.
The result: Ele.me + Amap + Taobao can finally throw a combination punch.
Founder Mode or Manager Mode?
The lesson behind this: which path should a company take?
- Founder Mode: willing to take risks, break the rules, and sprint with all resources pooled.
- Manager Mode: manage by KPI, each business unit keeps its own books, avoid risk, but rarely break through.
For the past few years Alibaba was mostly in Manager Mode: slow moves, poor results. After this restructuring it seems to be back in Founder Mode, finding the startup flavour again.
There's never a standard answer in running a business
When should you be in Founder Mode, and when in Manager Mode? There's no fixed answer, especially in times as uncertain as today.
The only thing that's certain is that big-company disease is truly dangerous.
Look at the recent reviews of the iPhone 17. I was a BlackBerry user back then, and almost overnight I switched to a new phone. BlackBerry was once number one, and within a few years it disappeared from users' sight.
Building a business means constantly moving forward, constantly trying and failing, constantly correcting. Stopping means being eliminated.
That's why Alibaba today feels like it's "come back from the dead". The market doesn't give any company a long grace period. Consumer choices, capital flows and competitors' innovation all force companies to keep moving.
After all, at the Battle of Red Cliffs, Cao Cao, the "corporate" of his day, ended up with his chained-together fleet in flames, thanks to a few makeshift startup teams.