A 2026 industry report from the China Hotel Association and other industry bodies says China’s online catering market is shifting to a pattern of tier‑1 quality upgrades and lower‑tier volume expansion. Growth in first‑tier cities has stabilized, moving from scale‑driven to quality‑driven; second‑tier cities show steady growth with both scale expansion and efficiency gains. Third‑ and fourth‑tier cities and county markets are driving rapid volume growth: Taobao Flash Sale orders in tier‑4/5 and

A 2026 industry report from the China Hotel Association and other industry bodies says China’s online catering market is shifting to a pattern of tier‑1 quality upgrades and lower‑tier volume expansion. Growth in first‑tier cities has stabilized, moving from scale‑driven to quality‑driven; second‑tier cities show steady growth with both scale expansion and efficiency gains. Third‑ and fourth‑tier cities and county markets are driving rapid volume growth: Taobao Flash Sale orders in tier‑4/5 and below rose more than twice as fast as in tier‑1 over the past year, and county markets saw over 250,000 new small shops join the platform.