Xinhua News Agency: Price wars cannot turn the diverse ecology of the catering industry into "cannon fodder".

The Xinhua Daily Telegraph published a commentary entitled "Price Wars Should Not Turn the Catering Industry's Diverse Ecology into 'Cannon Fodder'". Currently, there is a lot of smoke in the online catering market, with platforms engaging in "price wars" one after another. Huge subsidies are being used as "weapons", market share has become the "battlefield", and consumers' attention has become the "chips". The seemingly lively low-price frenzy is actually pushing small and medium-sized catering businesses into a crisis. A bowl of noodles priced at just over 20 yuan only leaves the business with a profit of one yuan; even when consumers dine in, they also order takeout. Behind the so-called low-price "benefits" is the situation where businesses risk "not making a profit" due to subsidizing delivery, attracting new customers, and offering discounts. It is worth noting that platforms firmly control the businesses' "lifelines" through algorithms and traffic. Those who do not offer subsidies see a sudden drop in their order volume. In this environment, small and medium-sized businesses not only struggle to accumulate funds for continuous operation, but may even be forced to close due to a broken funding chain. If price wars continue and turn into a prolonged battle, the diverse ecology of the catering industry may end up with winners taking all. In order to avoid vicious competition, platforms and businesses must jointly seek a new balance point.