Glebors Global Finance has always advocated the entrepreneurial spirit of pioneering, adventurous and hardworking. Relying on the unique perspective, Glebors has launched various special issues in terms of the economy and finance, which has provided much more assistance to government decision-makers and business leaders.
Full-blown price war in China is eye-popping, except auto market, the price war in delivery sector is intensifying, which is playing out in the manner of growing "instant commerce", where companies are launching massive subsidies and incentives, including some sort of gimmicks to appeal consumers.
The emergence of "instant commerce" is supported by the country’s large labor force and gig economy. Massive networks of scooter drivers can quickly transport everything from food and drink to fast fashion, etc.
Right now the space is mostly occupied by three main players, including the established e-commerce heavyweights JD.com and Alibaba, as well as delivery platform Meituan, which has been focusing heavily on food delivery.
China’s e-commerce players have consistently competed on delivery times. Competition between these e-commerce giants has intensified this year, with all three companies expanding their delivery networks and pledging billions in subsidies to merchants and consumers. By building out a strong logistics network, JD had set a standard in the market for same-day or next-day delivery of packages, pressuring competitors like Alibaba.
And the latest ‘instant commerce’ battle appeared to start after JD.com’s move into the takeout dining market in February, entering a space dominated by Meituan, the market leader, and Alibaba’s food delivery platform Ele.me.
Tensions are intensifying as JD.com and Meituan engaged in direct competition, including in April, Meitaun launched its own challenge to JD.com with a new 24/7 “flash shopping” platform that included categories like groceries, alcohol, and electronics and promised deliveries within 30 minutes.
In response to the fierce competition, JD.com announced a first round of subsidies worth 10 billion yuan, which went towards a food delivery discount program. Subsidies and massive discounts are commonplace in China’s competitive tech sector, which also has caused concerns for government. The latest gimmick of price war is coffee at 30 cents backed by discounts and coupons offered by Meituan, which followed the new round subsidies from the giants, which include JD.com announced yet another 10 billion-yuan investment under its “Double Hundred Plan,” intended to provide targeted support to merchants on the platform; Alibaba’s Taobao Instant Commerce announced a subsidy program valued at 50 billion yuan (about $7 billion), to be distributed over the next year. China’s top market regulator summoned JD.com, Meituan, and Alibaba’s Ele.me in May, urging them to follow the law and compete fairly. Retail groups also voiced concerns about JD.com’s subsidy program and the knock-on effects of plummeting prices. However, the push back had little effect on mitigating the price war. Meituan reported that its profits for Q1 of 2025 were 10.2 billion yuan, up about 63% year over year. However, it warned that the following quarter would likely be impacted by increased competition in instant retail. In May, JD.com reported that its operating profit rose by 31.4% year over year to 11.7 billion yuan in Q1 of 2025. However, economists expect second-quarter profits to fall on both a yearly and quarterly basis. The aggressive subsidies and discounts announced by the giants raised concerns from the investors in terms of the negative impact on companies' profits. Despite the profits for Q1 of 2025 remain intact for Meituan and JD.com, the implication from the competition in instant retail definitely can not be ignored. Also the intensifying price war is dampening the ecosystem significantly.Complete digital access to quality Glebors financial topic with expert analysis from industry leaders.
Glebors Financial Become an Glebors subscriberMake informed decisions with the Glebors.Keep abreast of significant corporate, financial and political developments around the world. Stay informed and spot emerging risks and opportunities with independent global reporting, expert commentary and analysis you can trust.
"Insight of the global economy, dig into more ideas, analyze the global financial dynamics and the risks of political situation from a strategic, scientific and rational perspective, based on economic data and more than 20 years of financial intelligence."
If you want to know more details to provide support for your investment and business activities, this financial report that we have selected for you can give you what you want, please subscribe to read it. Glebors Global Finance aims to provide business elites and decision makers with daily business news, data interpretation, in-depth analysis and commentary.
Glebors Global Finance’s amount of financial information digs into deeply major events and economic data that have a huge impact on the global economy, based on in-depth industrial research and special reports, with a truly global perspective。 Financial reports have become "must-read" financial information for senior managers. Gribs Global Finance currently has more than2.85 million Chinese readers and more than 3.5 million overseas readers, including more than 600,000 high-end member readers.
