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Ben Jiang

JD.com is making a renewed push into its online supermarket business with a subsidy programme worth more than 20 billion yuan (US$2.9 billion) over three years, a move aimed at defending its position in China’s e-commerce and on-demand grocery sectors.
In a statement on Thursday, JD.com said the subsidy would cover products on a dedicated channel called “Billion-Yuan Supermarket”, under its JD Supermarket service. The aim was to help vendors generate an additional 200 billion yuan in sales over the next three years.
The move underscored a “strong defensive” strategy from JD.com directed at rivals such as Meituan, Pinduoduo and Alibaba Group Holding as they expand into each other’s territory, according to Li Chengdong, founder and chief analyst at e-commerce consultancy Dolphin Think Tank.
Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
After Alibaba bolstered its efforts in the online food delivery market, JD.com expanded into the sector with a 10 billion yuan subsidy programme last year. Meanwhile, Meituan, which dominates the market, was making a bigger push into the country’s growing on-demand grocery market.

“JD.com’s push into online food delivery costs them some losses, so they might as well subsidise their grocery business,” Li said.
JD.com’s strategy over the past decade was to shift its focus from computers, communications and consumer electronics – products that got it started – to “fast-moving consumer goods” which require frequent replenishments, said Li.
The shift led the company to acquire on-demand delivery platform Dada Nexus as well as invest in bricks-and-mortar retail chains, including its own 7 Fresh, to double down on the on-demand sector. This was a booming arena in which Chinese “big tech” companies from Alibaba to Meituan were competing to secure a bigger slice of the pie, he added.
JD.com said on Thursday that the scale of the subsidy would make the Billion-Yuan Supermarket its largest subsidised product category, surpassing electronics.
JD Supermarket has experienced rapid growth, with the growth rate of users and orders exceeding 20 per cent in 2025, the company said, without revealing specific figures.
The company said last year that it aimed to boost the number of users of the service from 300 million to 500 million over the next three years.


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JD.com said the subsidy would cover products on its Billion-Yuan Supermarket channel. Photo: Handout

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Tech

Big Tech

JD.com says the subsidies will make the ‘Billion-Yuan Supermarket’ its largest subsidised product category, surpassing electronics


JD.com says the subsidies will make the ‘Billion-Yuan Supermarket’ its largest subsidised product category, surpassing electronics.


JD.com renews on-demand delivery fight with US$2.9 billion in grocery subsidies

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}JD.com says the subsidies will make the ‘Billion-Yuan Supermarket’ its largest subsidised product category, surpassing electronics

JD.com says the subsidies will make the ‘Billion-Yuan Supermarket’ its largest subsidised product category, surpassing electronics