# platform subsidies

Alibaba’s Qianwen Turns Lunar New Year into a Milk‑Tea Blitz — And Strains Stores, Couriers and Systems

Alibaba’s Qianwen launched a 30 billion yuan promotional blitz offering free orders that generated roughly 10 million orders in nine hours, crashing ordering systems and overwhelming tea shops and couriers. The firm extended voucher expiry dates to ease pressure while markets cheered the traffic; analysts warn the stunt highlights logistic limits and the difficulty of turning subsidy‑driven users into loyal customers.