E-commerce Battle Expands Into Online Travel (AI Translation)
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文｜财新周刊 包云红
By Baobao Yunhong, Caixin Weekly
传统电商的年中“618”大促，持续数年都在沉闷的防守型阵地战中度过，但2025年战火延烧、氛围格外激烈。除了年初以来持续加码的即时零售补贴战之外，各大电商平台又开辟了在线旅游（OTA）新战场，交叉竞争之势加剧。
The traditional mid-year "618" shopping festival, long regarded as a defensive, subdued affair among established e-commerce players, has taken on an unusually intense tone in 2025 as competitive fires rage. In addition to the ongoing subsidy war in instant retail that has escalated since the beginning of the year, major e-commerce platforms have also opened a new front in the online travel agency (OTA) sector, further heightening cross-industry competition.
5月，中国第一大外卖和即时零售平台美团（03690.HK）首次入战传统电商大促；6月，“618”大促发起者京东（NASDAQ：JD/09618.HK）宣布进军OTA；7月，传统电商本应进入大促后的休整期，电商龙头阿里巴巴（NYSE：BABA/09988.HK）却祭出500亿元补贴强推即时零售，调动包括淘宝、饿了么、支付宝、飞猪等多条业务线参战，由刚刚跻身阿里最高决策层——合伙人委员会的阿里电商事业群CEO蒋凡挂帅出征。
In May, Meituan (03690.HK), China’s largest food delivery and on-demand retail platform, entered the traditional e-commerce promotional campaign circuit for the first time. In June, JD.com (NASDAQ: JD/09618.HK)—the originator of the “618” shopping festival—announced its foray into the online travel agency (OTA) sector. By July, a period when traditional e-commerce platforms typically wind down after the flurry of major promotions, industry giant Alibaba (NYSE: BABA/09988.HK) launched an aggressive push into instant retail with a 50 billion yuan (approximately $6.9 billion) subsidy campaign. The initiative spanned multiple business lines, including Taobao, Ele.me, Alipay, and Fliggy, and was spearheaded by Jiang Fan, the CEO of Alibaba’s e-commerce division, who had just ascended to the company’s top decision-making body—the Partnership Committee.
此轮电商混战始自2025年2月，京东创始人刘强东以个人流量撬动舆论战，高调补贴外卖，在商户、骑手和消费者三端连续发力，强势切入外卖市场（参见本刊2025年第17期《京东战美团：30分钟配送挑战赛》）。6月1日，在其主场的“618”大促期间，京东宣布外卖日订单量突破2500万。
This round of fierce competition in the e-commerce sector began in February 2025, when JD.com founder Liu Qiangdong leveraged his personal influence to ignite a public opinion battle. He announced high-profile subsidies for food delivery, launching aggressive campaigns simultaneously targeting merchants, couriers, and consumers, and forcefully entered the food delivery market (see Caixin Weekly Issue 17, 2025: "JD.com Takes On Meituan: The 30-Minute Delivery Challenge"). On June 1, during its signature "618" shopping festival, JD.com announced that its daily food delivery orders had surpassed 25 million.
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- In 2025, China's major e-commerce platforms (JD.com, Meituan, Alibaba) fiercely competed with massive subsidies, especially in instant retail and online travel (OTA), pushing daily instant retail orders above 220 million, more than doubling from early 2025.
- Subsidy wars significantly boosted user activity but hurt profits; Goldman Sachs estimates combined losses for Alibaba and JD.com’s food delivery units could reach ¥410B and ¥260B, respectively, in the next year.
- Meituan leads both food delivery (71% market share) and instant non-food retail, while OTA remains dominated by Ctrip Group with over 60% market share, making JD.com’s hotel-travel push challenging.
The Chinese e-commerce industry’s annual “618” mid-year shopping festival in 2025 unfolded against an intense competitive backdrop, marking a departure from the previous years’ defensive stance. Notably, major platforms expanded their focus to include online travel agency (OTA) services, significantly heightening cross-competition.[para. 1] In May, Meituan participated in a traditional e-commerce promotion for the first time; in June, JD.com announced its entry into OTA; and in July, Alibaba launched a massive 50-billion-yuan subsidy drive for instant retail across various business lines under CEO Jiang Fan's leadership.[para. 2][para. 3]
The current e-commerce “war” ignited in February 2025, when JD.com’s founder Liu Qiangdong initiated a high-profile subsidy campaign targeting food delivery, rapidly boosting JD.com’s presence in the market. During the “618” event, JD.com reached a record of 25 million daily takeout orders, intensifying the competitive response from Meituan and Alibaba. Instant retail, a previously limited segment, became a new battleground, requiring massive investments in logistics, warehousing, and fulfillment infrastructure.[para. 4]
Meituan countered JD.com’s foray by joining “618” with its Meituan Flash Sale platform, offering additional subsidies for key categories like digital goods. On the first day, Meituan’s overall transaction volume doubled, with computer and digital goods sales up 6-fold and liquor sales surging 70-fold year-on-year. Retail giants like RT-Mart and Walmart (previously tied to Alibaba and JD.com) also joined, experiencing double or higher transaction growth.[para. 5][para. 6]
Consultants noted that instant retail undermined traditional e-commerce’s speed advantage in high-frequency, low-margin categories but not in high-value items such as electronics and cosmetics. Food and emergency medicines saw significant market share diversion to Meituan, directly impacting Tmall Supermarket and JD Supermarket.[para. 7] By July, competition had shifted further: JD.com launched into the OTA sector, granting prime site access and heavy subsidies, though the OTA space remains dominated by Ctrip and Qunar while Meituan and Fliggy trail behind.[para. 8]
Responding, Alibaba ramped up its subsidies and integrated its businesses (Taobao Flash Sale, Ele.me, Fliggy) under one leadership, aiming to promote flash sale events and foster new shopping festivals. Order peaks reached unprecedented levels: Meituan surpassed 120 million, JD.com hit 25 million on a single peak day, and the total daily instant retail order volume in China exceeded 220 million compared to roughly 100 million at the start of 2025.[para. 9][para. 10][para. 11]
However, Goldman Sachs estimated that the aggressive subsidies, totaling 25 billion yuan in Q2 2025 alone, would significantly erode the main platforms’ profits, with Alibaba and JD.com’s food delivery businesses predicted to lose 41 and 26 billion yuan respectively from July 2025 to June 2026, while Meituan’s EBIT would fall by 25 billion yuan.[para. 12] User numbers and activity did surge—JD.com’s app saw a 14% YoY growth in active users in June, Taobao hit 979 million—but as consumers chase subsidies, loyalty across platforms remains weak.[para. 13][para. 14]
Suppliers, especially small businesses such as independent coffee shops, experienced mixed outcomes: participation in subsidies boosted order volume but often squeezed margins, whereas large chains benefitted more. Additionally, major investments in warehousing and logistics by all platforms signal a long-term focus on expanding the instant retail model to compete with Meituan’s deep reach.[para. 15][para. 16][para. 17]
The OTA space still presents steep barriers, with established players like Ctrip holding exclusive supplier agreements and entrenched data and service networks. JD.com’s push here leverages its membership and supply chain strengths but faces challenges in scale and service compared to Ctrip and Meituan. Analysts remain cautious about JD.com’s immediate impact on OTA, seeing more potential in long-term synergistic strategies between e-commerce and travel services.[para. 18][para. 19][para. 20][para. 21][para. 22][para. 23][para. 24]
Ultimately, as e-commerce, instant retail, and travel increasingly converge, platforms are vying to expand boundaries, cross-sell between high-frequency and high-margin categories, and discover new consumption growth spots in a saturated market.[para. 25][para. 26][para. 27][para. 28]
- Meituan
美团 - Meituan, China's leading takeaway and instant retail platform, joined the "618" e-commerce promotion for the first time in May 2025. Facing intense competition from other e-commerce giants like JD.com and Alibaba, Meituan heavily subsidized its instant retail services, especially in categories like 3C electronics and liquor. Meituan is also expanding its "Meituan Instashopping" platform, aiming to increase its flash warehouses from 30,000 to 100,000 by 2027.
- JD.com
京东 - JD.com, a major e-commerce platform, is expanding its services beyond traditional online retail. In 2025, JD.com launched a high-profile foray into the food delivery market, generating over 25 million daily orders during its "618" sale. Following this, JD.com announced its entry into the online travel agency (OTA) sector. These aggressive moves are part of a broader strategy to challenge competitors like Meituan and Alibaba in the instant retail and travel markets.
- Alibaba
阿里巴巴 - Alibaba is a major e-commerce player that has expanded into instant retail and online travel. The company announced a 50 billion yuan subsidy plan to boost its instant retail operations. Alibaba's ecosystem includes Taobao, Ele.me, Alipay, and Fliggy, all of which are involved in this competitive landscape.
- RT-Mart
大润发 - RT-Mart, a hypermarket chain that was formerly part of Alibaba, participated in Meituan's instant retail promotion. During this event, RT-Mart achieved a 200% year-on-year growth in transaction volume.
- Walmart
沃尔玛 - Walmart, identified as a former shareholder of JD.com, participated in Meituan's instant retail promotion. Alongside RT-Mart, Walmart achieved a 200% year-on-year increase in transaction volume during this event, demonstrating its involvement and success in the competitive e-commerce landscape.
- Watsons
屈臣氏 - Watsons participated in Meituan's instant retail promotion, achieving a doubling in transaction volume. This indicates Watsons' engagement in the intensified e-commerce competition, leveraging instant retail platforms to boost sales.
- Haiziwang
孩子王 - Haiziwang, or 孩子王, is a Chinese retail brand specializing in products for babies and children. In May 2025, Haiziwang participated in Meituan's "618" instant retail sales event, achieving a doubling of its transaction volume. It was highlighted as one of the successful brands during the promotional period.
- LingShiYouMing
零食有鸣 - LingShiYouMing, a snack retailer, saw a five-fold increase in transaction volume by participating in Meituan's 618 Grand Promotion. This indicates the effectiveness of instant retail platforms in boosting sales for specific product categories.
- Ctrip
携程 - Ctrip is a major player in the OTA (Online Travel Agency) market, holding over 60% of the market share combined with its wholly-owned subsidiary Qunar and Tongcheng Travel (in which it holds a 24.07% stake). Ctrip boasts a high gross profit margin of 80.32% and a net profit margin of 31.15% in Q1 2025. It has built strong industry barriers over the years.
- Qunar
去哪儿 - Qunar is a prominent online travel agency (OTA) in China, holding over 60% of the market share alongside Ctrip and Tongcheng Travel. Despite other platforms like Meituan and Alibaba's Fliggy entering the OTA domain, Qunar and Ctrip remain dominant.
- Tuniu
途牛旅游网 - Tuniu (途牛旅游网) received a significant investment of US$500 million from JD.com in 2015, making JD.com its largest shareholder. However, JD.com later divested all its shares in Tuniu for 458 million yuan in 2020, resulting in a nearly 80% loss on its initial investment over five years.
- Tongcheng Travel
同程旅行 - Tongcheng Travel (00780.HK) holds over 24.07% of the shares in the OTA market. Together with Ctrip and Qunar, it accounts for over 60% of the market share. Its adjusted net profit margin was 18% in Q1 2025.
- Huatai Securities
华泰证券 - Huatai Securities is a financial institution that published a research report. The report suggests that the integration of travel services and retail goods could offer cross-selling opportunities, potentially bringing user traffic to e-commerce platforms like Taobao by facilitating sales of travel-related items.
- Marriott International
万豪国际 - Marriott International and Meituan announced a strategic partnership on May 28, 2025. This collaboration offers joint memberships, providing Marriott Bonvoy members with equivalent benefits when booking hotels through Meituan and Dianping apps.
- Goodme
古茗 - Goodme (古茗) is a tea beverage brand mentioned in relation to the "618" traditional e-commerce promotion. A Goodme franchisee in Henan reported increased order volumes and profitability due to subsidies during the e-commerce battle, with daily orders surging from 50-150 to 250-300 on a peak day. However, the surge also led to challenges like overwhelmed staff and rider shortages.
- Chabaidao
霸王茶姬 - The article mentions "霸王茶姬" (Chabaidao) as a tea brand with franchisees. One franchisee in Shandong stated that participating in platform subsidy wars reduced their profit per cup, preferring dine-in orders for better profitability.
- Sinopec
中石化 - Sinopec (Chinese: 中石化) is mentioned in the article as having its "Easy Retail" brand join Meituan Instashopping, with nearly 28,000 stores nationwide. This indicates a strategic partnership to expand its presence in the instant retail market through Meituan's platform.
- Luckin Coffee
瑞幸 - Luckin Coffee is mentioned in the article in the context of China's coffee market. The Chongqing Coffee Industry Association accused platforms like JD.com of favoring major chains such as Luckin, leading to reduced market share and declining transaction values for local independent coffee brands.
- Cotti Coffee
库迪 - Cotti Coffee wasn't directly mentioned in the article. However, within the context of the intense e-commerce and delivery platform competition, an open letter from the Chongqing Coffee Industry Association criticised platforms for favouring chains like Luckin and Cotti. This suggests that Cotti Coffee is a prominent national coffee chain.
- 2012：
- Meituan deployed a “high-frequency drives low-frequency” strategy moving from group buying into hotel and travel sector.
- 2014-2016：
- Previous round of reshuffling in the food delivery sector took place, leading to a relatively stable competitive landscape afterwards.
- 2015：
- Ele.me was incorporated into the “Alibaba system”.
- 2015：
- JD.com invested $500 million in Tuniu, becoming its largest shareholder.
- By 2020：
- JD.com sold all its Tuniu shares to HNA-owned Caissa Group for 458 million yuan, incurring a loss of nearly 80% over five years.
- 2022–2024：
- JD.com’s GMV per unit of sales and marketing expense showed persistent decline.
- 2023：
- JD Retail’s revenue growth slowed from 7.34% (previous year) to 1.66%.
- Early 2024：
- Rumors began circulating that Ele.me would be spun off and sold; in February 2024, Alibaba denied these reports in an earnings call.
- March 2024：
- Wu Zeming, newly appointed chairman of Ele.me, addressed executives at the annual “Hundred-Person Group” management meeting.
- March 2024：
- QuestMobile data: Taobao, Pinduoduo, and JD.com had 928M, 677M, and 507M monthly active users respectively.
- 2024：
- Xiaohongshu entered a strategic partnership with Alibaba, allowing proprietary content to lead users to Taobao pages for purchases.
- 2024：
- Meituan's market share in food delivery reached 71%, Ele.me 28%; in instant retail, Meituan 50%, Taobao Hourly Delivery + Ele.me 26%, JD Daojia Seckill 13%. (Goldman Sachs report)
- 2024：
- JD Retail’s annual revenue growth rebounded to 7.5% thanks to government subsidies promoting trade-in of old goods for new ones.
- 2024：
- Taobao advanced interoperability with WeChat, linking up to tap into WeChat users not already on Taobao or Alipay.
- 2024：
- Taotian Group (Alibaba’s domestic e-commerce division) saw its revenue growth change from –1% (FY2023) to 5% in 2024.
- May 2024：
- JD.com launched "JD Miao Song" (JD Instant Delivery) on the JD App, consolidating its instant retail brands JD Daojia and JD Xiaoshida.
- May 2024：
- Alibaba launched food delivery campaigns in the tea beverage category, including "Free Milk Tea" and "Flash Sales: Enjoy a Free Milk Tea Every Day."
- February 2025：
- JD.com founder Liu Qiangdong ignited a public opinion battle and launched aggressive food delivery subsidy campaigns.
- February 2025：
- Earnings call: Alibaba denied Ele.me spin-off rumors and called it a core local services asset.
- From February 2025：
- JD.com and Meituan went head-to-head in food delivery and instant retail competition.
- First quarter of 2025：
- Trip.com Group reported a gross profit margin of 80.32% and a net profit margin of 31.15%; Tongcheng Travel: gross profit 68.82%, adjusted net profit 18%.
- Fiscal year ending Q1 2025：
- Alibaba local lifestyle group (housing Ele.me) reported narrower EBITA loss: 3.689B yuan, down from 9.812B and 13.148B yuan previous years.
- Early April 2025：
- National coffee chains' share of takeout coffee market in Chongqing was nearly 80%.
- May 2, 2025：
- Taobao Flash Sale was officially launched, with Ele.me’s inventory made fully available to Taobao Flash Sale.
- From May 13, 2025 through June 18, 2025：
- Record engagement and order volume for both Taobao Flash Sale and JD.com during 2025’s '618' Shopping Festival.
- May 13, 2025–June 18, 2025：
- The full cycle of the '618' Shopping Festival took place; Tmall’s GMV (after deductions) rose 10% YoY; JD.com’s users placing orders more than doubled YoY.
- May 15, 2025：
- Jiang Fan stated during a conference call that Taobao Flash Sale could attract new users and increase engagement long-term.
- May 26, 2025：
- Meituan announced its food delivery and instant retail platform "Meituan Flash Buy" would participate in the 618 shopping festival.
- May 28, 2025：
- Meituan announced a strategic partnership with Marriott International and a joint membership program.
- May 2025：
- Meituan (03690.HK) entered the traditional e-commerce promotional campaign circuit for the first time.
- May 2025：
- Chongqing Coffee Industry Association published an open letter to JD Daojia regarding coffee subsidy bias.
- By May 2025：
- The number of overlapping users among JD.com, Meituan, and Ele.me apps reached 77.61 million, +32.4% YoY.
- By May 2025：
- JD.com "Jingdong Instant Delivery" module recorded 165 million MAU (26.6% of JD.com app traffic); JD.com app's monthly usage per user reached 47.9 sessions, +51.1% YoY.
- Late May 2025：
- National coffee chains' share of takeout coffee market in Chongqing exceeded 90%.
- After May 2025 subsidies paused：
- Repurchase rate in June 2025 rose by 1–2 percentage points compared to pre-subsidy period for some tea brands.
- May & June 2025：
- Month-on-month growth slows for all platforms’ MAUs; e.g., Taobao’s MAU growth: 2.68% (May), 0.12% (June).
- June 1, 2025：
- JD.com announced daily food delivery orders surpassed 25 million during its ‘618’ shopping festival.
- June 5, 2025：
- Chongqing Coffee Industry Association published an open letter about JD Daojia subsidies.
- Q2 2025：
- Goldman Sachs estimated combined subsidy spending of major platforms would reach 25 billion yuan.
- June 18, 2025：
- On the final day of the shopping festival, JD.com announced entry into alcohol and travel sectors with 'up to three years of zero commission'.
- June 18, 2025：
- Number of daily active users on the Taobao app reached 457 million, +5.1% YoY.
- June 23, 2025：
- Taobao Flash Sale and Ele.me moved toward deeper integration into Alibaba's China E-commerce Business Group.
- June 23, 2025：
- Meituan announced plans to expand instant retail business, targeting a network of 100,000 Shandian Cang warehouses by 2027.
- June 2025：
- JD Logistics launched “second-delivery warehouse” service, similar to Meituan’s rapid delivery warehouse.
- June 2025：
- Subsidy campaigns by major platforms directly impacted profit margins; combined Q2 2025 spending forecast at 25 billion yuan.
- As of June 2025：
- MAU for Taobao and Ele.me apps reached 979M and 100M (+4.77% and +8.87% YoY, respectively), JD.com 637M (+14.08% YoY), Meituan 511M (+9.85%).
- By July 2025：
- Alibaba launched an instant retail '50 billion yuan subsidy campaign,' led by Jiang Fan upon joining the Partnership Committee.
- July 2, 2025：
- Taobao Flash Sale announced a three-month, 50-billion-yuan subsidy plan starting July 2025 and running for 12 months.
- July 3, 2025：
- Goldman Sachs published 'The Battle for "Everyday Application" in E-Commerce' report, analyzing the potential market size of instant retail.
- July 5, 2025：
- Taobao Flash Sale announced order volumes surpassed 80 million; Meituan recorded over 120 million instant retail orders.
- July 5, 2025：
- Meituan launched a 'zero yuan coupon' campaign causing certain stores' daily delivery orders to surge to 250–300.
- July 8, 2025：
- JD.com officially launched the 'Double Hundred Initiative,' pledging to invest over 10 billion yuan directly in brands.
- By July 2025：
- Meituan’s Shandian Cang warehouse network reached 30,000, with a target of 100,000 by 2027.
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