Can Jingdong enter the takeout market shake Meituan Hungry’s leading position?

Wen| Express Observer

A new round of bloodshed has begun among the giants. Jingdong takeout has been quietly launched recently. It is reported that Jingdong takeout claims to only take a 5% commission, and Meituan is preparing to reduce the commission in response.

Jingdong’s layout this time is not a whim. Last year, Jingdong APP launched a new instant delivery channel, set up a takeout function entrance, and coffee, milk tea, brand chain restaurants, etc. were launched one after another.

It is worth noting that Jingdong is not the only takeout disrupter. Internet platforms such as Douyin have also launched corresponding services. Even traditional beverage giant Wahaha has announced the launch of Wahaha’s Home Plan and officially entered the takeout industry. It is still unclear whether the new round of actions by the giants will shake Meituan’s leading position.

Relieve traffic anxiety

Yibao. com found that the entrance to Jingdong takeout is located under the Jingdong APP. Click to enter takeout, and restaurants hundreds of meters to 5 kilometers around the location address will appear.

It can be seen from the page display that the vast majority of merchants ‘takeout delivery services are handled by Dada Second-Delivery, and only a small number of merchants show that the merchants deliver them themselves. On the eve of the Spring Festival, the news that Jingdong planned to acquire Dada at a premium of 42% triggered speculation about its next move, and sure enough, it quickly entered the takeout field. Previously, Dada Group integrated the original Jingdong Hour Delivery and Jingdong Home to make a new brand image of Jingdong Second-Delivery.

In January 2025, Jingdong APP was revised and upgraded again. At that time, the first-level entrance on the front page was set to the three main entrances for delivering new products in seconds on the front page. Second-time delivery was instant retail, which shows that Jingdong attaches great importance to this business.

In terms of take-out prices, Jingdong take-out and Meituan platform are not much different. At the same noodle restaurant, the price of the pea mixed noodles + snack set meal at Meituan is 35.9 yuan, while the same model from Jingdong is 33.9 yuan. Even in the early stages of promotion, Jingdong takeout did not take large-scale subsidies.

At present, Meituan and Enmao have occupied the main takeout market. Why does Jingdong still want to join the market? The essence of this action is to add weight to the strategic position of instant retail. Statistics show that as of December 2024, the number of Internet users in my country has reached 1.108 billion, the number of online payment users has reached 1.029 billion, and the number of online shopping users has reached 974 million. When user data approaches the ceiling, it means that e-commerce traffic growth is peaking.

In order to alleviate traffic anxiety, giants have gone deep into every aspect of user needs. Instant retail with local life services as its core has become a new track for major manufacturers to compete for. Jingdong relies on its own Dada distribution team to launch the slogan of delivery in 9 minutes at the fastest time, becoming an important jigsaw puzzle for Jingdong’s future strategy.

“Today’s consumers no longer tolerate delayed gratification. Location is no longer a constraint on consumption. Consumers do not need to plan and use it whenever they buy to avoid burdens.& rdquo; Relying on its own logistics advantages, JD. com has front-end warehouses all over the city, with 1.30 million yuan added to it, and is expected to share the cake of instant retail in the next competition.

Build a real-time retail moat

“The news that only 5% commission is drawn and riders are given social security has made Jingdong takeout attract enough attention, and many young brothers have also expressed concern. However, Jingdong has not publicly responded to these sensitive issues.

According to a person familiar with the matter, JD’s commission level is slightly lower or the same as Meituan’s takeout business. Meituan also said that the online data on the high commission rate of 30% for Meituan takeout is false, and the actual commission rate for Meituan takeout merchants is 6% to 8%.

For the take-out industry, the level of commissions will affect the merchants ‘decisions to some extent. However, for users, having one more spoiler enters the market will break the original competitive landscape and enjoy relatively low takeout prices.

Will the entry of Jingdong takeout shake the industry pattern? At present, Jingdong has adopted a relatively low-key and cautious strategy in the early stage of development. The catering merchants that have settled in are mainly brand chains and have not yet connected to small and medium-sized businesses on a large scale. And from the price point of view, it does not have an absolute advantage. The threshold for takeout may not seem high, but in fact it involves multiple factors such as infrastructure, performance capabilities, and market competition. Many platforms have suffered setbacks.

In the early years, Baidu takeout burned billions and still failed to gain a foothold, and eventually sold the business to Hunger Moe; Douyin takeout was officially laid out in 2022. After a series of changes, the original group buying and distribution business moved to the Suixin Group business. An adjustment is seen as Douyin’s gradual withdrawal from the takeout market.

Yibao. com believes that Meituan’s largest moat is backed by huge merchants and riders, and Jingdong also intends to build a moat for instant retail. Jingdong takeout obviously does not start from scratch, but is an infrastructure accumulated over a long period of time in technology, traffic, and logistics. It can be said that it has the advantage of naturally occurring.

For JD. com, takeout is not only an entrance to high-frequency traffic, but also a lever to leverage instant retail across all categories. Regardless of the effectiveness of takeout testing, e-commerce giants ‘continuous deepening involvement in local life services is an unstoppable trend.

As Meituan founder Wang Xing said, when it comes to business and competition, don’t expect one company to dominate, nor do you expect the war to end. Everyone must accept that competition and competition is the new normal, and there is no real end.