According to the latest data from Taobao Flash Sale and Ele.me, on August 7—marking the Start of Autumn—over 300,000 small catering establishments surpassed their transaction peaks on the Taobao Flash Sale platform. The number of Ele.me delivery riders surged to 3.5 times the count from last year, with their average earnings also increasing to 1.4 times their previous year's levels, marking a double boost in both employment and income. The rapid rise of medium-sized and regional tea brands fueled a significant transaction uptick in lower-tier markets, as 18 out of the top 20 cities in terms of order growth rate hailed from the third and fourth tiers.