The two firms are expanding into rival territory, escalating a high-stakes fight over speed, reach, and market share.
By He Qitong and Wu Yufei
China’s leading e-commerce and delivery giants are stepping deeper into each other’s territory, escalating a turf war over the country’s billion-dollar instant retail market.
Over the past week, food delivery giant Meituan has pushed further into e-commerce with its Flash Sale platform, while leading online retailer JD.com ramped up its food delivery ambitions — each trying to outpace the other in speed, scale, and service.
It began Tuesday, when Meituan officially launched its new instant retail platform Flash Sale, touting 30-minute delivery and 24/7 service across thousands of Chinese cities and counties. The move was announced with a thinly veiled jab, featuring a cartoon resembling Jingdong.com’s white dog mascot and a play on the brand’s name, with the line: “Your delivery is still on the way.”
Meituan said the revamped platform, first announced in 2018, will partner with retailers, brands, and small businesses to expand beyond food into categories like groceries, alcohol, and electronics. The company claims Flash Sale orders have already surpassed 18 million, driven by faster-than-expected growth in non-food goods.
Just hours later, JD.com fired back. The e-commerce giant said its food delivery orders had surpassed 5 million that same day and announced plans to hire 50,000 full-time riders this quarter — all of whom will receive full social insurance coverage.
On Wednesday noon, many users reportedly experienced difficulties accessing JD.com’s food delivery page. The company later claimed the outage was caused by a surge in traffic driven by heavy promotional offers.
JD entered the takeout dining market in February, pledging to work only with “quality merchants” and offering zero commission for new partners who join before May 1. Last Friday, JD also announced over 10 billion yuan ($1.4 billion) in subsidies aimed at strengthening its position in the instant delivery space, where Meituan and Alibaba’s food delivery platform Ele.me have long dominated.
The rivalry spilled onto social media, where the topic “Meituan Flash Sale seemingly mocks JD.com” garnered over 10 million views on microblogging platform Weibo, sparking divided discussion. While some supported JD.com’s focus on rider welfare and low prices, others lauded Meituan for its delivery speed and product range.
Beneath the online chatter is a deeper shift in consumer behavior. Young shoppers in China are increasingly willing to pay for speed and convenience, with same-day delivery fast becoming the norm. A 2017 Accenture report found that over half of China’s post-1995 generation expected same-day delivery — and were willing to pay more for it.
The instant retail market has surged in response. In 2023 alone, it grew 29% to reach 650 billion yuan. By 2030, analysts expect it to more than triple to over 2 trillion yuan — a sign that the scramble between Meituan and JD.com may be just the beginning.
Editor: Apurva.
(Header image: VCG)