Zhixing Hexie Yi Xiao Li Hua: The answer to restaurant growth lies in the collaboration of the sky network, ground network, and human network.

Ask AI · How can Xiao Lihua’s internet experience empower transformation in the restaurant industry?

On March 25, the 2026 China Catering Industry Festival and the 35th HCC Global Catering Industry Expo were held at the Hangzhou Convention and Exhibition Center, jointly hosted by the World Chinese Cuisine Federation and Hongcan Network. Among them, at the “2026 China Catering AI Development Forum,” Xiao Lihua, the founder of Zhixing Heyi and the former vice president of Alibaba Group, shared his views on the restaurant industry.

△ Xiao Lihua, founder of Zhixing Heyi and former vice president of Alibaba Group

Xiao Lihua said plainly that in the past two years, the lifecycle of restaurant stores has been further shortened, offline customer traffic pressure has not eased significantly, and both rent and labor costs remain high. At the same time, online platforms are also highly competitive. Under this pressure on both ends, it is no longer enough to rely solely on having good products, good flavors, and good service.

He believes that in the future, competition in the restaurant industry will no longer be a contest of individual capabilities, but a systematic and coordinated capability built around content, channels, and relationships with users.

Consumers’ purchase decisions increasingly depend on live streaming, short videos, reviews, and image-and-text content. Content has become the core variable that affects both store performance and conversions. Restaurant brands need to build simultaneously the ground network (offline stores), the sky network (online content matrix), and the people network (private-domain user relationships). The three are connected through content: use the public domain for precise customer acquisition, operate in the private domain with refined management, and form a complete closed loop.

Based on this framework, Zhixing Heyi has launched a matrix of AIGC omnichannel growth tools, covering the entire journey from customer acquisition to retention.

“Zhi Pengbao” mainly addresses the problems of store customer acquisition and reputation accumulation. Customers connect offline user behavior with online dissemination through touchpoint interactions and other methods, enabling an integrated operation in which review generation, short-video distribution, and private-domain accumulation are combined—so that during the on-site visit process, consumers convert directly into content and traffic entry points.

“Video Bao” covers content insights, batch production, matrix distribution, and data analytics. It can quickly generate short videos from materials and distribute them to each platform with one click. At the same time, it tracks exposure and conversions to help enterprises optimize content placement and operating strategies.

On top of this, “Zhubo Bao” further fills the gap in the live-streaming segment. Xiao Lihua introduced that, given the current situation where many companies find that live streaming is “unprofitable and can’t keep going,” Zhubo Bao uses intelligent live streaming combined with AI-powered intelligent replies to lower the threshold for live-streaming operations. This allows companies to continue driving conversions in the private domain. Once content is pushed into the private domain, it is not constrained by platform throttling, which significantly reduces live-streaming operating costs.

“Zhong Goubao” then connects the mall and transaction stages. It supports coupon distribution, building group-buying pages, and distribution virality. This way, customers can save money by buying for themselves and also earn by sharing—turning users into brand promoters. Finally, it enables multi-platform data to flow back and be managed in a unified way through “Matrix Bao,” forming a complete journey from customer acquisition, to conversion, to repeat purchases.

At the end, Xiao Lihua emphasized that online and offline are still two parallel worlds. Most restaurant companies’ digital capabilities are still limited to using single-point tools. Whoever can connect the sky network, ground network, and people network truly and earlier, and establish a complete content closed loop between the public domain and the private domain, will have the initiative in the competition that follows.

Author: Hongcan Editorial Department