JD.com Launches New Subsidy War! Investing Over 20 Billion Yuan in "Hundred Billion Supermarket" Over the Next 3 Years

JD.com Makes Big Moves Again!

On February 26, JD.com announced the official launch of the “Billion Dollar Supermarket” channel on its app, increasing investment in the billion-dollar subsidy program for supermarket categories. Within the “Billion Dollar Supermarket” channel, JD plans to invest over 20 billion yuan in product subsidies over the next three years, helping brands achieve an additional sales increase of 200 billion yuan.

Online supermarkets seem to have long become a battleground for internet giants. Besides JD.com, Meituan has launched Xiaoxiang Supermarket, Alibaba has Tmall Supermarket, and Pinduoduo has quietly introduced “Billion Dollar Supermarket” under its billion-dollar subsidy section. However, Pinduoduo’s “Billion Dollar Supermarket” is just a limited-time, limited-quantity coupon activity, and its supermarket format differs from JD, Meituan, and Alibaba.

Subsidy Strength Will Surpass Electrified Categories

According to reports, JD Supermarket, as a leading domestic supermarket chain, announced its user growth target for the next three years: from 300 million to 500 million users by 2025. In 2025, JD Supermarket will continue to lead the industry in annual growth rate, with market share steadily increasing, and growth in shopping users and order volume exceeding 20%.

The newly launched “Billion Dollar Supermarket” channel covers JD Supermarket’s existing daily necessities, fresh food, alcohol, beverages, grains, oils, and seasonings to meet consumers’ daily needs; household cleaning, personal care, maternity and baby products, pet supplies, flowers, toys, and musical instruments; as well as some JD JX self-operated products. Through official subsidies, double subsidies, and full-amount cashback on JD Supermarket cards, it offers consumers high-quality, affordable products.

Notably, JD will also increase direct subsidies through platform efforts, brand direct supply, and brand authorization, allowing users to purchase quality goods at affordable prices without group buying, price comparisons, or tricks, truly returning the initiative and savings to consumers. The subsidy strength of this “Billion Dollar Supermarket” will surpass electrified categories, making it the largest subsidized product category in JD Group’s billion-dollar channel.

The continuous development of JD’s “Billion Dollar Supermarket” channel will leverage JD’s super supply chain capabilities and long-term platform investments to connect more quality brands, carefully select daily consumables that meet public demand, guide the industry away from inferior, low-quality, and low-price competition, and return to a healthy, quality, and cost-effective development track.

Meanwhile, JD’s “Billion Dollar Supermarket” channel will also effectively reduce consumers’ decision-making costs through stable, affordable prices, reliable and efficient service, and genuine product guarantees, continuously activate daily consumption vitality, boost domestic demand, and help build a healthy, orderly, and sustainable retail ecosystem.

JD states that as a trusted shopping platform, it is committed to continuously building the most stable daily sales platform, the best brand-building platform, and the platform with the highest product lifecycle return rate in the country. It aims to create a long-term, trustworthy trading environment for brands and users, efficiently delivering high-quality products directly to consumers, achieving mutual benefits for users, brands, and the industry.

Supermarket Ecosystem Undergoing Profound Change

Currently, China’s retail industry is experiencing a profound adjustment, with fierce competition between online and offline supermarkets. On one hand, quality supermarkets like Sam’s Club and Pang Donglai are crowded with customers, while on the other hand, many offline supermarkets face strong competition from online and offline channels, making survival difficult.

Online, the market faces severe product homogenization and intensifying price wars. Many brands rely solely on continuous promotions to maintain sales, with profit margins shrinking. As consumers become more rational and demand more diverse, low prices alone are no longer enough to attract users sustainably.

However, the scale of supermarkets remains huge and is a key battleground for giants competing in instant retail. Against this backdrop, internet giants are actively expanding their online and offline supermarket formats.

For example, JD not only launched JD Supermarket online but also completed the acquisition of Hong Kong Jebao Food Supermarket in September 2025. Meituan has built Xiaoxiang Supermarket, and on December 19 last year, its first offline store opened. In February this year, Meituan announced plans to acquire 100% of Dingdong Maicai’s China operations for about $717 million.

Some offline supermarkets are also seeking “self-rescue.” Since 2024, Yonghui Supermarket (601933) has embarked on a transformation to benchmark Pang Donglai, but this path has been fraught with difficulties. In January, Yonghui announced an expected net loss attributable to shareholders of 2.14 billion yuan in 2025, with a non-recurring loss of 2.94 billion yuan.

Yonghui explained that the losses stem from a major strategic shift from “scale expansion” to “quality growth,” repositioning as “New Yonghui, New Quality.” During the reporting period, the company restructured 315 stores and closed 381 stores that no longer aligned with its future strategy. The restructuring involved asset write-offs, store closures, renovations, and startup costs totaling about 910 million yuan, with an estimated gross profit loss of around 300 million yuan from store closures. Additionally, asset write-offs, personnel layoffs, and lease-related penalties caused further losses.

More notably, the line between online and offline supermarkets is increasingly blurred. Some online supermarkets have opened offline stores, while some offline supermarkets have launched online businesses—both efforts aimed at capturing more customers, with many offline stores leveraging online channels to break through.

According to data from the China Chain Store & Franchise Association, by 2025, online sales growth among Chinese chain supermarkets will outperform overall sales, with 72% of supermarket companies experiencing year-over-year growth in online sales, and over 30% maintaining growth rates above 20%.