Food delivery battle escalates between JD and Meituan

ECNS) -- Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com on Monday accused a rival platform of blocking food delivery riders from working across multiple services, in a public letter widely seen as a swipe at industry heavyweight Meituan — though it did not name the company directly.

JD.com, which began onboarding restaurants in February, announced on Monday that the takeout order would be free if the delivery time exceeds 20 minutes.

It introduced emergency support measures to allow couriers the freedom to attract orders and safeguard their income.

These measures include increasing the hiring quota for full-time riders from 50,000 to 100,000 over the next three months; ensuring sufficient order volume for riders blocked by other platforms due to exclusivity demands, so their income remains unaffected; never enforcing exclusivity on part-time riders, and prioritizing job placements for their partners, such as full-time courier or cleaning positions.

It also indirectly criticized Meituan in its announcement, citing practices like "failing to pay social insurance or housing funds for any rider in over a decade" and "forcing millions of grassroots riders into exclusivity to maintain monopoly power and commercial interests."

Previously, Meituan said it had never restricted couriers from working with other delivery services, and instead suggested that JD.com alone has curbed its couriers from accessing other channels.

China's food delivery market has long been dominated by Meituan and Ele.me, with Meituan alone holding a nearly 70% market share. After JD.com entered the food delivery business this year, it adopted a series of differentiated strategies and has repeatedly clashed with Meituan, marking the beginning of a new round of competition in China's food delivery industry.

JD.com's latest measures have drawn widespread praise from netizens, who believe that while they may increase costs in the short term, they would benefit the company's brand image and market share in the long run. However, some argue it is smearing competitors and engaging in moral coercion, calling it "not a normal competitive tactic."

Previously, an internal speech from last year by JD.com founder Liu Qiangdong was made public, in which he criticized food delivery platforms for taking excessively high commissions. He stated that JD.com's food delivery business must not exceed a 5% profit margin, bringing the issue of industry profitability into the spotlight.

(By Zhang Dongfang)