AIGC-Driven Growth in the Restaurant Industry

On March 24-26, the 2026 China Restaurant Industry Festival and the 35th HCC Global Restaurant Industry Expo were held in Hangzhou. During the event, Xiaoli Hua, founder of Zhixing He Yi and former Vice President of Alibaba Group, was interviewed by the “Red People Face to Face” program. Here are the highlights of the interview:

The Role of AIGC for Restaurant Owners

Xiaoli Hua: Many restaurant owners believe that cooking well is enough to succeed, but they soon find that attracting customers is the real challenge. The core pain point is how to acquire customers quickly and cost-effectively through AI.

Traditional methods, such as asking customers to leave reviews, often fail because customers are reluctant. We now use AI to help businesses attract customers across all channels, including social media and private domains. Public domain customer acquisition is expensive, so businesses need to shift to private domains, utilizing live streaming, short videos, and various content types.

Last year, China saw 199 billion express delivery packages, averaging over 100 packages per person, with each household receiving about 400 packages. Consumers make decisions based on live streams, short videos, and reviews rather than seeing the actual product first. However, customers are often unwilling to leave reviews, so we leverage AIGC to help businesses generate content quickly and at low cost.

Digital Transformation in the Restaurant Industry

Xiaoli Hua: The turning point for consumer digitization occurred in 2012 with the widespread adoption of 3G and 4G networks, leading to a structural change in the industry. Today, the average person spends over four hours a day on their phone, with younger generations spending up to seven or eight hours. However, many restaurants still lack digitalization in their products, services, and customer communication.

While traditional POS systems are necessary, digital tools like Alipay offer a one-stop solution for payment and customer acquisition. The industry needs to transition from isolated “siloed” systems to interconnected “digital highways” to reach and connect with users more efficiently.

Location remains important, but generating high-quality content through AI and establishing a comprehensive online and offline channel matrix is crucial for brand exposure and customer acquisition. Ultimately, user connection is fundamental to business success.

△ Xiaoli Hua, founder of Zhixing He Yi and former Vice President of Alibaba Group

Integrating Internet User Thinking into Restaurant Services

Xiaoli Hua: Our technical team comprises members from major companies like Alibaba, Huawei, and Tencent. When serving restaurant clients, we focus on integrating internet user thinking into restaurant scenarios. One notable example is Haidilao. During the pandemic in 2020, while dine-in services were halted, Haidilao’s market value soared from over 100 billion to 400 billion. This success was due to our early assistance in building their business platform and launching their official app, which had over 80 million members at the time and has now surpassed 100 million.

During the pandemic, these members engaged with online performances by Haidilao staff while ordering hot pot ingredients through the app, significantly boosting their takeaway business. The market realized that Haidilao is essentially a tech company disguised as a hot pot restaurant, leading to a shift in valuation logic.

This illustrates that relying solely on offline models is no longer sustainable, and customer acquisition costs remain high. A deep integration of online and offline strategies, leveraging AI tools for efficient customer acquisition across all channels, is essential for reaching consumers on any platform.

Collaboration Between Brands and Tech Service Providers

Xiaoli Hua: In the competitive landscape, collaboration outweighs competition. The overall health of the restaurant industry benefits all participants; a downturn affects everyone negatively. AI is not new; it has been around since the first AI conference in 1956 but only became mainstream after 2022. Today, AI is ubiquitous, with 99.9% of customer service in e-commerce handled by AI.

Tech service providers need to deeply understand the industry, while industry practitioners should embrace AI without needing to understand the technical details. Our tools aim for full automation, functioning like smart robots that handle customer acquisition and growth for businesses.

We maintain a symbiotic relationship with our clients, charging only a small service fee and sharing in the revenue growth we help generate. For instance, if a client had 10 billion in revenue last year and we help them achieve an additional 1 to 3 billion, we share in that incremental revenue. Our mission is to empower businesses with AI, fostering long-term success together.

To embrace the vast digital economy, businesses must take action. The best way to predict the future is to create it themselves.