China Internet Sector — Local services monthly: UE margin expansion over volume growth

This monthly tracker, based on third-party channel checks, reviews China's local services and quick commerce landscape. In food delivery, average daily order volume across Meituan, Taobao and JD continued to decline YoY, but Meituan's unit economics improved more than expected, with sequential gains in September and outperformance versus peers, driven by more efficient subsidies, higher AOV, lower subsidy sensitivity among core users and stronger merchant ad monetization; the report expects further UE improvement in coming quarters, with non-food losses also narrowing sequentially and Double 11 in 4Q a key window for competitive intensity. In in-store, Meituan's GTV growth remained solid while Douyin's momentum moderated through 3Q, with DAU trends reversing after DouShengSheng's rapid ramp and the gap to Dianping widening again;