From Tools to Productivity: YOUZAN's Acceleration of Full-Link AI Commercialization and Transition of Growth Cycles

On August 13, YOUZAN (06051) disclosed its performance for the first half of 2026. During the reporting period, the company achieved total revenue of approximately 770 million yuan (RMB, the same below), a year-on-year increase of about 8%; adjusted EBITDA was approximately 72.74 million yuan, and net operating cash inflow was about 47.15 million yuan, with financial fundamentals remaining robust. More significantly, as of the end of the reporting period, the number of merchants using YOUZAN's AI products has exceeded 20,000, marking the official entry of AI services into the commercialization phase; the GMV of store business grew by approximately 13% year-on-year to about 28.8 billion yuan, becoming the core driving force behind overall growth.

The financial report reflects not just marginal improvements in short-term financial metrics, but rather the underlying business logic transformation that YOUZAN, as a SaaS enterprise, is undergoing—specifically, the evolution of value delivery from "function subscription" to "growth effect" driven by AI-native intelligent agents. As AI digital employees are deeply embedded in the entire chain of customer acquisition, conversion, repurchase, and operations for merchants, YOUZAN's long-term value anchor is shifting from the traditional software service provider logic to a new coordinate of AI-driven merchant operational efficiency infrastructure, which also faces systematic re-evaluation of its valuation system.

From "Selling Functions" to "Selling Growth": AI Strategy Accelerates, Long-term Value Anchor Becomes More Solid

In the first half of 2026, YOUZAN completed a critical leap from strategic investment to scaled output, with AI transforming from a technological reserve into the core engine driving revenue growth. After the official commercialization of AI products, both merchant penetration and core operational metrics saw significant improvements, confirming the effectiveness of the company's strategic path.

The performance on the revenue side validates this judgment. During the reporting period, YOUZAN's overall revenue was approximately 770 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.8%. Among them, subscription solution revenue was about 400 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 7.2%, benefiting from the steady contribution of existing paying merchants and continuous improvement in average revenue per user (ARPU), with subscription fees and custom product fees achieving steady growth; the commercialization initiatives of AI also provided new support for revenue increments. Merchant solution revenue was approximately 370 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.7%, leading overall growth, driven by increased order volume from improved penetration of YOUZAN's logistics solutions and steady expansion of contract operation services alongside business growth. The dual-line progress and balanced growth together built a solid foundation for YOUZAN's accelerating revenue upward.

This achievement is attributed to YOUZAN's systematic construction of AI capabilities. Centered on AI-native intelligent agents, YOUZAN has built a full-link AI system covering four major aspects: customer acquisition, conversion, repurchase, and operations, enabling AI products to deeply integrate into the core business processes of merchants—this is precisely the systemic advantage that most AI tools, which remain at the "single-point efficiency improvement" level, do not possess This moat is driving YOUZAN to complete a fundamental shift in its value anchor. In the traditional SaaS era, merchants paid for "functional modules"; in the AI era, the deliverables have upgraded from "software tools" to "operational capabilities"—merchants are purchasing the operational tasks that digital employees can accomplish and the actual growth they bring. The rapid increase in paying merchants marks a high recognition of this value proposition in the market. As AI products transition from validation to scaling, YOUZAN's growth center is expected to continue to rise, with its long-term value anchor shifting from software service provider to AI-driven merchant operational efficiency infrastructure.

From "Single Point Efficiency" to "Full Chain Operations": AI Native Intelligent Agents Deeply Breakthrough, Forging Full-Link Digital Productivity

The accelerated growth on the revenue side confirms the market effectiveness of YOUZAN's AI strategy, while the underlying capabilities supporting this growth come from the systematic leap of AI products from single-point functions to full-chain operations. In the first half of 2026, YOUZAN achieved this qualitative change—AI native intelligent agents have evolved from auxiliary tools to digital productivity that spans the entire operational chain of merchants, deeply integrating into the four core links of customer acquisition, conversion, repurchase, and operations, truly realizing a strategic upgrade from "single point efficiency" to "full chain operations."

From the product layout perspective, YOUZAN's core AI native intelligent agents—Lobster, AI Customer Sales, and Add Me Recommendation Officer—correspond to three major scenarios: store operations, sales conversion, and brand customer acquisition, forming a complete product matrix that covers the entire operational chain of merchants. The commercial value of this matrix lies in the fact that a single AI product addresses the efficiency issue of a specific link, while the matrixed full-chain layout enables AI capabilities to create synergistic effects across various operational links—data from the customer acquisition end can drive precise marketing at the conversion end, and transaction data from the conversion end can feed back into the operational strategies at the repurchase end, with decision optimization at the operational end running throughout. This "data + AI" closed-loop capability is a systemic advantage that no single-point AI tool can provide.

It is this systemic advantage that is substantially enhancing the operational quality and willingness to pay of merchants. During the reporting period, the number of merchants using AI products has exceeded 20,000, with an average sales volume of about 1 million yuan per merchant, a year-on-year increase of 8%. The improvement in merchant operational quality is directly reflected in retention and renewal rates—high user retention rates and healthy renewal trends for AI products validate the market acceptance of this value proposition. When AI transitions from an "optional plugin" to a "standard operational requirement," the payment logic for merchants shifts from "considering whether to buy" to "must have for operations," which is the core driving force behind the increase in average transaction value and revenue growth.

The reason this business model is difficult to replicate lies in YOUZAN's construction of a "scenario + data + AI" integrated barrier. General large model vendors lack industry know-how and deep understanding of merchant operational scenarios, while traditional SaaS vendors lack underlying AI capabilities and data accumulation. YOUZAN, on the other hand, is precisely at the intersection of both—over a decade of SaaS infrastructure, real operational data from over 50,000 merchants, combined with its self-developed AI native intelligent agent system, has created a moat that competitors cannot surpass in the short term Looking at the growth space, the AI capabilities of full-chain operations have opened up a larger value ceiling for YOUZAN. Single-point efficiency-enhancing AI tools can only charge limited functional fees, while AI digital employees in full-chain operations can participate in the entire process of merchant operations, significantly enhancing value creation capabilities, which naturally leads to higher willingness to pay and average transaction value. With the continuous improvement of the AI product matrix and further increase in penetration rates, there is still ample cross-selling space for AI among the existing 51,633 paying merchants, combined with the incremental market of store businesses and local life, the AI capabilities of full-chain operations are becoming the core driving force for YOUZAN's long-term growth.

From "Software Subscription" to "Performance-Based Payment": The Innovation of Computing Power Package Model Breaks the Deadlock and Fuels a New Growth Cycle

With the improvement of the AI product matrix and the deepening of merchant usage, the traditional functional charging model can no longer support greater growth space. YOUZAN needs a commercial system that matches this, transforming full-link digital productivity into sustainable revenue growth. The computing power package model has emerged in this context.

In the first half of 2026, YOUZAN officially launched the commercialization of AI products, adopting a unified computing power package model—merchants do not need to pay separately for individual AI functions but purchase a unified computing power package, sharing quotas across all AI products and being billed based on actual consumption. The launch of this model marks YOUZAN's evolution from a "software subscription" to a "performance-based payment" business model.

The commercial value of this model lies in achieving a three-way win. For merchants, the computing power package lowers the threshold for trying AI, eliminating the need to purchase multiple functional modules at once, and allowing payment based on actual consumption, with clear and controllable costs. For YOUZAN, the computing power package creates more stable recurring revenue; the deeper merchants use AI, the continuous consumption of computing power generates ongoing revenue, thereby enhancing customer lifetime value. For investors, the revenue model has upgraded from fixed subscriptions to flexible pay-per-use billing, with growth elasticity positively correlated with merchant operational activity, making the business model healthier and more sustainable.

YOUZAN's AI transformation path is already clear: strategically, shifting from selling functions to selling growth; product-wise, evolving from single-point efficiency to full-chain operations; commercially, upgrading from software subscriptions to performance-based payments. These three layers of logic progress together, driving YOUZAN to complete its strategic leap from a SaaS tool provider to an AI digital employee service provider. With the continuous penetration of AI products and the scaling of the computing power package model, YOUZAN's new growth cycle is gearing up for takeoff.

In summary, the comprehensive rollout of the AI strategy, the in-depth breakthrough of the product matrix, and the systematic upgrade of the business model—YOUZAN is rhythmically transforming AI digital employees from a vision into an indispensable infrastructure in merchant operations. With the continued scaling of the computing power package model and the accelerated increase in AI penetration rates, YOUZAN's new growth cycle has already begun, and its strategic value as the core infrastructure for merchant AI operations is being re-recognized and re-priced by the market