JD.com sees daily food deliveries surpass 20m, eyes physical F&B mall

JD.com (9618) has said the daily volume of its rebranded food delivery services exceeded 20 million on Wednesday, and that the company will open its first physical food mall in northern China.

This comes 75 days after the Chinese e-commerce platform reorganized its food delivery services and launched price wars targeting existing rivals Meituan (3690) and Ele.me under Alibaba (9988).

At an event on Thursday, JD Food Delivery said it will launch a food and beverage physical infrastructure brand. Its first physical store will be located in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, which will open on June 18.

The delivery unit said JD.com’s onboarding audit process is strict and all merchants need to go through layers of scrutiny to safeguard the quality of its platform. Up to now, the rate of approval for all merchants is less than 40 percent.

The statement seems to be a response to a regulatory meeting on May 13, when Chinese authorities summoned all three major delivery platforms and asked them to play fairly and truly protect the rights of consumers, riders, and merchants, citing laws for e-commerce, anti-unfair competition and food safety.

In addition, JD Food Delivery plans to set the 18th of every month as a gala day, offering coffee and bubble tea for as low as 1.68 yuan (HK$1.81).

Shares of JD declined 4.38 percent to HK$135.40 apiece in Hong Kong despite a 53 percent surge in its first-quarter net profit.

STAFF REPORTER