With the robust growth of the digital economy, the food delivery industry has become a new battleground for competing forces.
On September 25th, reporters from Beijing News' Shell Finance noticed new changes in JD's Miao Song service.
In the recently updated JD app, Miao Song is positioned on the first screen of the homepage with two key entry points. The delivery categories include fresh produce, medicine, snacks, coffee, and milk tea, among others. In addition, fast-food representatives such as Burger King and Yonghe King have also been launched.
In 2023, news of Douyin (TikTok) and WeChat entering the food delivery market surfaced successively. In June of last year, JD was also reported to be entering the food delivery market. Xin Lijun, then CEO of JD Retail, stated in a media interview that JD was exploring the possibility of entering the food delivery sector.
An insider at JD revealed that the company's food delivery business has been strategically planned within JD for a long time, "When Xin Lijun was the CEO of JD Retail, he had already laid out new catering delivery services such as light meals and coffee."
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JD's increased investment in the food delivery business also signals the arrival of new players in the market. This change clearly conveys that JD's Miao Song is no longer satisfied with a single beverage delivery service but has begun to extend its reach into a broader range of food delivery services.
"E-commerce delivers food, and food delivery platforms engage in e-commerce." In recent years, top internet companies like JD and Douyin have frequently been reported to be entering the food delivery business, while veteran food delivery platforms like Meituan have been continuously expanding their local life internet services. Each platform is trying to expand into new business formats to create new sources of revenue, enhance overall platform competitiveness, and the business boundaries between giants are continuously blurring.
The strategic status of Miao Song has been upgraded, and the food delivery layout has been focused on light dining.
On September 25th, Beijing News' Shell Finance reporters checked the JD app, which showed that Miao Song is positioned on the first screen of the homepage with two key entry points. The delivery categories include fresh produce, medicine, snacks, coffee, and milk tea, among others. In addition, fast-food representatives such as Burger King and Yonghe King have also been launched.
The horizontal screen Miao Song section prominently displays categories such as fresh produce markets, urgent digital products, supermarket convenience, coffee and milk tea, and medicine delivery, with random floating displays of "free delivery," "reduce 5 yuan for orders over 49 yuan," and "free order draw" subsidies and benefits above them. The newly launched fast food such as Burger King and Yonghe King are temporarily set within the coffee and milk tea section. The brands that have joined include common brands such as Luckin, Kudi, and Mixue Bingcheng.JD's second delivery zone displays the fastest delivery within 9 minutes, with delivery time for stores around the reporter's location being approximately 30 minutes.
Screenshot of the consumer page for JD's second delivery zone.
This year, on the eve of the 618 shopping festival, JD announced a comprehensive upgrade of its instant retail business, launching the new brand image of "second delivery." JD merged the two major services of "JD Hourly Reach" and "JD Home" into "JD Second Delivery," claiming that it can achieve delivery within 9 minutes at the fastest.
JD has been laying out the instant retail market for many years. From JD Home to JD Convenience Store, and now the newly launched "second delivery" service, JD's instant retail business integrates online and offline resources and once again focuses on instant retail.
At the beginning of this year, JD Retail set three must-win battles for 2024, which are content ecosystem, open ecosystem, and instant retail. The launch of the new brand image of "second delivery" not only integrates JD's instant retail-related resources to work together, but also directly upgrades from the "hour era" to the "second era," trying to occupy the consumer's mind.
With the launch of multiple categories such as takeout, e-commerce giants seize the development trend of instant retail while accelerating competition. Not only do they further speed up delivery, but they also cover more and more categories to meet the diverse needs of consumers.
This is not the first time JD has tried takeout.
In 2023, news of Douyin and WeChat entering the takeout market emerged one after another. In June 2022, JD was also reported to enter the takeout market. When JD Retail CEO Xin Lijun was interviewed by the media, he said that JD was studying the possibility of entering the takeout field. "As for when to start doing it, this will depend on our capabilities and when we can build a talent team."
At that time, reporters from The Beijing News Shell Finance learned from JD insiders that JD was only in the trial stage of the business, and whether to enter the takeout market and how to proceed still needed to be decided at the business analysis meeting, and the project was not fully finalized.
Subsequently, JD takeout did not officially go online. Although JD had previously built an instant delivery team for the takeout business, reporters from The Beijing News Shell Finance learned that due to strategic adjustments, JD chose to focus on its main business and reduce costs and increase efficiency. Many previously exposed new businesses were suspended within JD, including the community group buying business led by Liu Qiangdong, which shrank due to policy adjustments, and the takeout business has not been seen online for a long time.Since the beginning of this year, with the recovery of the consumer industry and the improvement of profits, JD.com has gradually regained its strength, and new businesses have been gradually restarted in recent years.
"Xin Lijyun, as the CEO of JD Retail, had already laid out light catering delivery, such as light meals, coffee, etc." A source inside JD.com told the Beijing News Beiqing Finance reporter that JD's takeout business has been planned within JD for a long time, trying to use light catering such as coffee and simple meals as a starting point.
Instant retail capital layout and business moves continue, experts suggest that the industry is in its infancy and needs to be correctly guided.
At present, it seems that JD has not launched a single takeout business, and the food and beverage category is more a part of instant retail.
JD's entry into instant retail can be traced back to 2015.
In 2015, JD launched the "JD Home" service, relying on Dada Express, to provide consumers with 1-hour delivery of supermarket convenience, fresh fruits and vegetables, and medical health products. This is JD's preliminary attempt in the field of instant retail, aiming to provide a more convenient shopping experience through the integration of online and offline resources.
In 2021, JD and Dada jointly released "JD Hour Purchase", fully integrating the resources of JD Retail and JD Home. Users who purchase products with the "Hour Purchase" logo on the JD APP will be shipped from the cooperating stores within 3 to 5 kilometers around, and will be delivered within an hour.
In February 2022, JD Group announced an increase in its stake in the instant retail and delivery platform Dada Group, increasing its stake to 52%, becoming the controlling shareholder of Dada Group.
In May of this year, JD fully upgraded its instant retail business to "JD Second Delivery", which can be delivered in as fast as 9 minutes. Not long ago, on September 17, Dada Group announced that JD completed the purchase of the shares of Dada Group held by Walmart's subsidiary, and Dada's stock price soared by 21.7%. On the same day, JD's US stock price also rose by 13.91%. So far, JD has acquired all the shares of Dada held by Walmart, and its stake has increased to 63.2%.
Capital moves show that JD is adjusting its strategy to consolidate and expand its market share, and Dada Group has undoubtedly become a key part of JD's layout in the instant retail track.In recent years, the instant retail market has once again become a new battleground for e-commerce giants to compete in, with its rapid development momentum and huge market potential. Top e-commerce platforms such as JD.com, Taobao, and Meituan have increased their investments, trying to find new growth in this area.
So far, the home page of the Taobao app has been updated to add a new first-level traffic entry for "Hourly Reach". JD.com's instant retail business has been fully upgraded, launching "Second Delivery", Meituan's flash purchase business has become a strategic growth point, and at the same time, JD.com and Meituan have once again ignited competition after online medical insurance drug purchases on July 1st. TikTok e-commerce merchants have developed "Dou Store · Home" to settle in.
As an emerging business model, instant retail relies on local retail supply to meet consumers' immediate needs through online orders and offline fulfillment. At a time when the growth of traditional e-commerce models is capped, instant retail is taking the pace of "everything to home" and trying to become a new solution for the e-commerce industry.
However, in recent years, consumers' emphasis on cost-effectiveness has increased, which will also increase the difficulty of instant retail business development. JD.com, TikTok, SF Express, and other top e-commerce companies have tried the takeout market based on market demand, user base, market competition, strategic layout, technology-driven, and innovation capabilities. Through takeout services, these platforms can not only expand new sources of income but also improve user experience and overall platform competitiveness, further consolidating their market position in the e-commerce field.
Hong Yong, a researcher at the E-commerce Research Institute of the Ministry of Commerce Research Institute, said that the era of everything to home is accelerating, and instant retail will become a new channel for enterprise transformation and upgrading. Now, offline retailers obtain consumer data and transmit it to the manufacturer field, further enhancing the economic momentum. Hong Yong also said that intelligent logistics and instant retail have entered a new stage of collaborative development. "Now we have entered the era of aging. With the development of instant delivery, the requirements for delivery personnel are getting higher and higher. In the future, we can innovate the delivery model through drones, unmanned vehicles, and other means."
Regarding how the government should guide the development of instant retail, Hong Yong believes that the government should lead planning. There is currently no corresponding plan for the instant retail industry, and the industry is in its infancy, requiring correct guidance. In addition, it is necessary to improve the level of standardization and establish standards that meet the development of instant retail. At the same time, it is necessary to increase the protection of elements, including the construction of logistics infrastructure such as pre-positioned warehouses and support for talent training.
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