On February 7, Alibaba’s Qianwen app extended the validity of its Spring Festival “free-order” (25-yuan) card from February 23 to February 28 after participation far exceeded expectations. The extension was announced publicly as a consumer-friendly move to give users more time to redeem the vouchers during the holiday peak.
The promotion’s scope is broader than the typical milk-tea coupon: Qianwen’s 25-yuan card can be used for breakfast, lunch and dinner, fresh produce such as eggs and vegetables, snacks, Tmall Supermarket items and even New Year goods at online and offline supermarkets. Alibaba has connected its nationwide Hema (Freshippo) stores to the Qianwen app to expand the range of eligible products, signalling a push to unite online coupons, offline retail and last‑mile fulfilment under a single consumer-facing brand.
The campaign’s popularity has exposed operational limits. On the same day as the extension, many users reported being unable to place orders because the “Qianwen treats” (千问请客) event attracted too many participants, causing merchants and flash‑delivery capacity to be strained. Journalists testing the app also found ordering blocked, highlighting a gap between marketing reach and logistics resilience at a peak moment.
This episode matters because it illustrates how major Chinese tech platforms are using aggressive, omnichannel promotions to drive engagement and convert users to new services — in this case, Qianwen, Alibaba’s branded offering — while relying on integrated retail assets such as Hema to deliver value. It also underscores a perennial challenge for the industry: promotions that stimulate demand can quickly reveal bottlenecks in merchant supply and local delivery capacity, with immediate consequences for consumer experience and brand trust.
For rivals such as Meituan and Ele.me, which dominate local food delivery, Alibaba’s move is a direct challenge to capture share of everyday consumption and to position Qianwen as a broader consumer platform rather than a narrow AI or shopping service. For Alibaba, the balancing act now is to convert the promotional buzz into sustained user engagement without allowing operational hiccups to erode the goodwill the company is trying to build during a high‑visibility holiday period.