Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) has officially retired its longtime food-delivery brand Ele.me as it folds the service deeper into its instant-retail strategy to better compete in China’s intensifying delivery market.
Alibaba officially retired its 16-year-old food delivery brand Ele.me on Friday, fully folding the platform into its instant retail operations.
Users who update the Ele.me app will see it rebranded as “Taobao Shangou,” integrating food delivery into Alibaba’s wider instant-retail strategy under the Taobao marketplace.
Also Read: Alibaba Launches Free ‘Qwen’ AI Assistant, Aiming To Be The ‘Everything App’ For Work And Life
The company will also remove all references to the Ele.me brand across user interfaces over the coming weeks, Caixin Global reported Friday.
Earlier in 2025, Alibaba folded its food delivery platform Ele.me and online travel agency Fliggy into its core e-commerce operations amid fierce domestic competition.
Rivals Meituan (OTC:MPNGY) and JD.com Inc. (NASDAQ:JD) are expanding their food-delivery services, prompting Alibaba to strengthen its logistics network and introduce faster delivery features on Taobao.
Alibaba is tightening its strategy to stay competitive by unifying its major businesses and refocusing on delivery, perks, and ecosystem loyalty as it takes on Meituan in China’s fast-growing instant-commerce market.
The company is coordinating Taobao, Tmall, Alipay, Ele.me, Freshippo, Fliggy, and Alibaba Cloud for the first time in years, creating a single force of delivery workers.
It is also rolling out a consolidated membership program that links shopping, food delivery, and travel to keep customers inside its ecosystem.
Strategic Centralization Under CEO Jiang Fan
Alibaba is rebuilding after dropping its plan to break into separate units, choosing instead to centralize under CEO Jiang Fan as it faces intense competition and regulatory pressure.
The company has pledged to avoid destructive price wars, alongside Meituan and JD.com, but competition remains fierce after months of deep discounts reshaped the market.
Growth Drivers and Analyst Concerns
Despite the challenges, Alibaba is leaning on aggressive promotions, stronger e-commerce momentum, and rising demand for its AI models to drive a turnaround, even as analysts warn of heavy future losses at Ele.me.
The $376 billion Chinese tech juggernaut gained 86% in stock value year-to-date, powered by its cloud unit and artificial intelligence models.
BABA Price Action: Alibaba Gr Hldgs shares were up 0.99% at $159.00 during premarket trading on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Read Next:
Photo by Tada Images via Shutterstock
