BUSINESS

In Depth: JD.com Wants to Unseat China’s Takeout King

By Bao Yunhong, Sun Yanran, Qu Yunxu and Elise Mak

Published: May. 9, 2025 1:34 p.m. GMT+8

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When a young Beijinger opened his door to grab his takeout meal in April, he was shocked to see a billionaire on his doorstep.

Richard Liu, founder of e-commerce giant JD.com Inc., had just scooted through the Chinese capital’s streets to personally deliver the meal as well as a clear message to the country’s dominant takeout platforms — JD.com is going to shake things up.

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JD.com aggressively entered China's $82 billion food delivery market, challenging Meituan’s 65% share with subsidies and worker benefits, quickly surpassing 10 million daily orders within months.
Competition has intensified, with both firms pledging 10 billion yuan subsidies and expanded benefits, while Meituan and JD.com broaden instant retail offerings with 30-minute deliveries.
The food delivery market's growth is slowing; JD.com aims for increased app engagement and cross-platform traffic rather than immediate profitability.

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Who’s Who

JD.com: JD.com is a major Chinese e-commerce company that recently launched its own food delivery service, JD Takeaway, to challenge market leader Meituan. Facing slowing growth and increased competition in e-commerce, JD.com is seeking new business opportunities. Its food delivery platform offers subsidies, better rider benefits, and zero commissions to attract users and merchants. The company hopes this high-frequency service will drive user engagement and complement its core e-commerce business.

Meituan: Meituan is China’s dominant food delivery platform, handling about 60–65% of the market with around 60 million daily orders. In response to JD.com’s entry, it matched benefits for delivery riders and pledged 10 billion yuan in restaurant subsidies. Meituan is expanding into non-food instant retail with “Instashopping,” aiming for 18 million non-food orders daily and building 100,000 flash warehouses by 2027 to support rapid, 30-minute deliveries.

Ele.me: According to the article, Ele.me is Alibaba’s food delivery platform, holding 33% of China’s food delivery market share in 2024, second only to Meituan. An Ele.me executive noted that JD.com’s food delivery efforts currently focus on chain restaurants and face challenges expanding to smaller eateries. The executive also said JD.com’s increased app engagement could justify its investment in food delivery, even if direct profitability is limited.

Alibaba: According to the article, Alibaba’s Ele.me is Meituan’s main rival in China’s food delivery market, holding a 33% market share as of 2024. Alibaba’s other e-commerce platforms, Taobao and Tmall Group, lead the domestic e-commerce market by gross merchandise value, ahead of JD.com. The article notes that JD.com has fallen behind Alibaba’s platforms, as well as Pinduoduo and Douyin, in the Chinese e-commerce sector.

Taobao: According to the article, Taobao (along with Tmall Group, both owned by Alibaba) leads the domestic e-commerce market in China by gross merchandise value, ranking ahead of JD.com. JD.com has fallen to fourth place behind Taobao, Tmall, Pinduoduo, and Douyin. Taobao’s e-commerce platform is cited as having more product variety than JD.com can match.

Tmall Group: According to the article, Tmall Group is part of Alibaba and, along with Taobao, ranks ahead of JD.com in China’s domestic e-commerce market in terms of gross merchandise value. This indicates Tmall's significant presence and competitiveness within China’s online retail sector.

Pinduoduo: According to the article, Pinduoduo is mentioned as a discount platform that has surpassed JD.com in China’s domestic e-commerce market. JD.com now ranks fourth, behind Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall Group, Pinduoduo, and ByteDance’s Douyin in terms of gross merchandise value. No further details about Pinduoduo’s operations or strategy are provided in the article.

ByteDance: According to the article, ByteDance’s Douyin is mentioned as one of the major players in China’s domestic e-commerce market. JD.com has fallen behind Douyin, as well as Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall Group, and Pinduoduo, in terms of gross merchandise value. No additional information about ByteDance is provided in the article.

Douyin: According to the article, Douyin, owned by ByteDance, is one of the main competitors in China’s domestic e-commerce market. JD.com’s main business has dropped to fourth place in terms of gross merchandise value, behind Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall Group, Pinduoduo, and Douyin. The article does not provide further details about Douyin’s activities related to food delivery or instant retail.

TF Securities Co. Ltd.: According to the article, TF Securities Co. Ltd. analysts noted that Meituan’s “flash warehouses” model cuts costs by choosing cheaper store locations and only stocking the best-selling items. This approach is part of Meituan’s strategy to drive growth in its supply and order volume for its instant retail business.

Bocom International: According to the article, Bocom International provided 2024 data showing Meituan holds a 65% market share in China’s food delivery sector, while Alibaba’s Ele.me holds 33%, and all other platforms combined account for just 2%.

SDIC Securities Co. Ltd.: According to the article, SDIC Securities Co. Ltd. reported in April that expansion in China's food delivery market has notably slowed, with food delivery consistently accounting for around 25% of total restaurant sales over the past three years, indicating market penetration has largely plateaued and there is limited room for further user growth.

QuestMobile: According to the article, QuestMobile is a data provider that tracked user engagement on JD.com’s app following the launch of its food delivery service. Their data showed that JD.com’s daily active users rose from 115 million to 151 million between February 11 and April 26, peaking at 160 million on April 22. They also reported modest increases in average daily usage time and app opens per user during this period.

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