Do not attribute CPI to takeout; real-time retail competition has already elevated to a higher level.

Recently, a commentary opposing the “cutthroat competition” in the food delivery wars has gone viral. The piece advances a line of argument: blame the prolonged sluggishness of CPI on the food delivery wars.

This view appears to be an “answer” for the industry, but it doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. It points to a deeper proposition: in today’s competitive landscape of the instant retail industry, is the trend truly “cutting-throat competition,” or is it “leveling up”?

CPI-attribution logical pitfalls

The core argument of the “anti-cutthroat competition” commentary is this: the food delivery subsidy war suppresses prices, which in turn drags down CPI. This causal chain shows a clear logical distortion.

The essence of why CPI is in a weak range is that the national economy has entered a deep adjustment cycle: economic growth has slipped from its high point, business strategies have shifted toward caution, and consumers’ income expectations have weakened. By contrast, price competition in the food delivery industry reflects the resilience of China’s economy—platform companies remain firmly confident in consumption upgrading, and even willing to surrender corporate profits to rebuild users’ consumption habits. In fact, the so-called subsidy outlays at the trillion-yuan scale by platform companies in the food delivery wars, compared with the 50 trillion in total social retail sales in 2025, is—at most—a drop in the bucket. Therefore, attributing macroeconomic problems to competition in a single industry is like trying to climb a tree to get fish.

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