From tools to productivity: Youzan (06051) full-link AI commercialization acceleration and growth cycle switching

On August 13, Youzan (06051) revealed the results for the first half of 2026. During the reporting period, the company achieved total revenue of about 770 million yuan (unit: RMB, same below), an increase of about 8% over the previous year; adjusted EBITDA of about 72.74 million yuan, net operating cash inflow of about 47.15 million yuan, and financial fundamentals remained stable. More signalling, by the end of the reporting period, the number of merchants using Youzan AI products had exceeded 20,000, and AI services had officially entered the commercial monetization stage; the GMV of the store business increased by about 13% year-on-year to about 28.8 billion yuan, becoming the core driving force for market growth.

What this financial report reflects is far from a marginal improvement in short-term financial indicators, but rather the reshaping of the underlying business logic that a SaaS company is experiencing — that is, using AI native agents (Agents) as carriers to drive value delivery from “functional subscriptions” to “growth effects.” As AI digital employees are deeply embedded in the entire customer acquisition, conversion, repurchase and operation chain of merchants, the promising long-term value anchor is shifting from traditional software service provider logic to a new, more imaginative coordinate of AI-driven merchant operating efficiency infrastructure, and its valuation system is also facing systematic revaluation.

From “selling function” to “selling growth”: AI strategies are advancing at full speed, and long-term value anchors are becoming more and more solid

In the first half of 2026, Youzan completed a key leap from strategic investment to large-scale output, and AI has transformed from technical reserves to the core engine driving revenue growth. After the official introduction of commercial charging for AI products, the merchant penetration rate and core business indicators have increased significantly, confirming the effectiveness of the company's strategic path.

The performance on the revenue side confirmed this judgment. During the reporting period, Youzan's overall revenue was about 770 million yuan, an increase of 7.8% over the previous year. Among them, subscription solution revenue was about 40 billion yuan, an increase of 7.2% over the previous year. Benefiting from the steady contribution of existing paying merchants and continuous improvement in average revenue per user (ARPU), subscription package subscription fees and customized product fees achieved steady growth. AI commercialization initiatives also provided additional support for revenue growth. Merchant Solution's revenue was about 370 million yuan, up 8.7% year on year, leading the overall growth rate, thanks to the increase in order volume driven by the increased penetration rate of Youzan Logistics Solution and the steady volume of contract operation services as the business expanded. The two lines of parallel progress and balanced growth have jointly built a solid foundation for the acceleration of favorable revenue growth.

This achievement is due to the systematic construction of AI capabilities by Youzang. With AI native intelligence as the core, Youzan has built a full-link AI system covering the four major aspects of customer acquisition, conversion, repurchase, and operation, so that AI products have the ability to be deeply integrated into the main business processes of merchants — this is exactly a systemic advantage that most AI tools that stay at the “single point of efficiency improvement” do not have.

This moat is driving Youzan to complete the fundamental migration of value anchors. In the traditional SaaS era, merchants pay for “functional modules”; in the AI era, deliverables are upgraded from “software tools” to “management capabilities” — merchants buy business tasks that digital employees can complete and the actual growth brought about. The rapid volume of sales from paying merchants marks the high acceptance of this value proposition in the market. As AI products move from verification to scale, the positive growth center is expected to continue to move upward, and its long-term value anchor is shifting from software service providers to AI-driven business efficiency infrastructure.

From “single-point efficiency improvement” to “full-chain operation”: AI native agents break through in depth and forge full-link digital productivity

Accelerated revenue growth confirms the effectiveness of the AI strategy in the market, and the underlying ability to support this growth comes from the systematic leap of AI products from single-point functionality to full-chain operation. In the first half of 2026, Youzan completed this qualitative transformation — AI native intelligence has evolved from an auxiliary tool to digital productivity that runs through the entire chain of merchant operations, deeply integrated into the four core links of customer acquisition, transformation, repurchase, and operation, and has truly achieved a strategic upgrade from “single-point efficiency improvement” to “full-chain operation”.

Judging from the product layout, the three core AI native agents, Youzan Lobster, AI Customer Marketing, and My Recommendation Officer each correspond to the three major scenarios of store operation, sales conversion, and brand customer acquisition, forming a complete product matrix covering the entire chain of merchant operations. The commercial value of this matrix is that a single AI product solves the efficiency problem of a certain link, and the matrixed full-link layout enables AI capabilities to form a synergy effect between all aspects of a merchant's business — customer acquisition data can drive accurate marketing on the conversion side, transaction data on the conversion side can also feed back the operating strategy of the repurchase side, and decision optimization on the management side throughout. This closed-loop capability of “data+AI” is a systemic advantage that no single point AI tool can provide.

It is this systemic advantage that is substantially improving the quality of operations and willingness of merchants to pay. During the reporting period, the number of merchants using AI products exceeded 20,000, with an average sales of about 1 million yuan per merchant, an increase of 8% over the previous year. The improvement in the quality of merchant operations is directly reflected in retention and renewal — the high user retention rate of AI products and healthy renewal trends have verified the market acceptance of this value proposition. When AI changes from “optional plug-ins” to “operating standards,” the merchant's payment logic changes from “considering whether to buy” to “operating a must”. This is the core driving force for customer unit price increases and revenue growth.

The reason why this business model is difficult to replicate is that Youzan has built a trinity barrier of “scene+data+AI.” GM big model manufacturers lack industry know-how and deep understanding of merchant business scenarios. Traditional SaaS vendors lack underlying AI capabilities and data accumulation, and Youzan is at the intersection of the two — more than 10 years of SaaS infrastructure, actual business data from more than 50,000 merchants, and a self-developed AI native intelligence system, forming a moat that competitors cannot overcome in the short term.

Looking back at the growth space, the AI capability of full-chain management has opened up a greater ceiling of value for Youzan. AI tools that improve efficiency at a single point can only charge a limited functional fee, while AI digital employees that operate a full chain can participate in the entire business process, and their ability to create value has improved markedly, and the corresponding willingness to pay and customer unit prices are naturally higher. With the continuous improvement of the AI product matrix and the further increase in penetration rate, Youzan's AI cross-selling space is still broad among 51,633 existing paying merchants. Combining the incremental market of store business and local life, the AI capability of full-chain operation is becoming the core driving force for Youzan's long-term growth.

From “software subscription” to “performance payment”: Computing power package model innovation breaks the game and a new cycle of growth gains momentum

With the improvement of the AI product matrix and the increase in the depth of use by merchants, the traditional fee-per-function model can no longer carry more room for growth. Youzan needs a matching commercialization system to transform full-link digital productivity into sustainable revenue growth. It is in this context that the computing power package model came into being.

In the first half of 2026, Youzan officially launched the commercialization of AI products, using the unified computing power package model - merchants do not need to pay separately for individual AI functions, but instead purchase a unified computing power package. All AI products share the quota, and are billed according to actual consumption. The launch of this model marks Youzan's completion of the evolution of the business model from “software subscription” to “performance payment”.

The commercial value of this model is that it has achieved a win-win situation for all parties. For merchants, the computing power package lowers the threshold for experimenting with AI. There is no need to buy multiple functional modules at once, pay according to actual consumption, and the cost is clear and controllable. For Youzan, the computing power package has created more stable recurring revenue. As merchants use AI more deeply, computing power consumption continues to occur, and customer life cycle value increases accordingly. For investors, the revenue model has been upgraded from fixed subscriptions to flexible pay-as-you-go billing. Growth flexibility is directly related to merchant activity, and the business model is healthier and more sustainable.

The promising AI transformation path is already clear: strategically, from sales functions to sales growth; in terms of products, it evolves from a single point of efficiency improvement to full-chain operation; and commercially, from software subscription upgrades to performance payments. Three layers of logic advance to jointly push Youzan to complete the strategic transition from a SaaS tool provider to an AI digital employee service provider. With the continuous penetration of AI products and the large-scale expansion of the computing power package model, a new cycle of impressive growth is gaining momentum.

In summary, the full rollout of AI strategies, in-depth breakthroughs in product matrices, and system upgrades in business models — Youzan is transforming AI digital employees from a vision to an indispensable infrastructure for business operations at a clear pace. As the computing power package model continues to expand and the AI penetration rate accelerates, a new cycle of impressive growth has begun. Its strategic value as the core infrastructure for merchants to operate AI is being re-recognized and priced by the market.