Following a period of intense "subsidy wars," three major food delivery platforms made significant announcements on August 1st. Meituan, Taobao Flash Delivery in partnership with Ele.me, and JD jointly committed to regulating promotional practices and resisting unfair competition. This coordinated move signals the end of the tumultuous delivery platform battle and marks the industry's return to rational competition.
The food delivery industry has become an indispensable part of daily life, providing convenience to consumers while opening new sales channels for merchants. However, recent "zero-cost purchasing" campaigns and other intensive subsidy behaviors among delivery platforms have not only harmed merchant interests but also negatively impacted consumer experience, rider welfare, and the industry's long-term development.
From a short-term perspective, large-scale platform subsidies can indeed stimulate consumption and drive online order growth for merchants. However, the drawbacks of "extreme subsidies" have gradually become apparent. On one hand, merchants participating in subsidy activities to gain traffic must compress their profit margins, often finding themselves in situations where they "lose money to gain attention." When online orders surge, employee workloads increase dramatically without additional compensation. Some merchants even reduce food quality standards to control costs, directly harming consumer interests. These issues not only affect the survival and development of restaurant businesses but also disrupt the entire industry ecosystem.
On the other hand, excessive subsidy competition disturbs normal market order and may intensify unfair competition, creating potential risks where bad practices drive out good ones. Faced with this situation, regulatory authorities acted swiftly. On July 18th, the State Administration for Market Regulation summoned representatives from Ele.me, Meituan, and JD delivery platforms, requiring these platform companies to strictly comply with laws and regulations, fulfill their primary responsibilities, further regulate promotional behaviors, and participate in competition rationally. This measure served as effective medicine to "cool down" the overheated delivery market.
Now, the collective commitment from these three major platforms to resist malicious competition brings positive signals for industry development. Meituan stated it would strictly follow relevant laws and regulations and eliminate unfair competitive practices. Taobao Flash Delivery and Ele.me issued a joint statement clearly opposing malicious competition, ensuring merchant revenue and profit margins, and avoiding large-scale "zero-cost purchasing" and other irrational promotional activities. JD emphasized its determination to eliminate unfair competition, resist "zero-cost purchasing" and other malicious subsidies, and establish simple, transparent subsidy mechanisms that allow merchants to operate independently and participate in promotional activities autonomously.
These commitments reflect the platforms' reflection on industry problems and demonstrate their determination to return to rational competition. However, commitments are merely the starting point; how to effectively transform them into action is the core concern for all parties. This requires platforms to fundamentally transform their competitive logic, abandon over-dependence on subsidies, and return to rational competition tracks by focusing on technological innovation and service quality optimization.
For example, platforms can improve efficiency and reduce delivery times by optimizing delivery algorithms while improving rider welfare protection mechanisms. They can strengthen food safety supervision throughout the entire chain to ensure consumer peace of mind, and provide merchants with more marketing tools, data analysis services, and other support to help improve operational capabilities and profitability.
From a macro perspective, the food delivery industry serves as an important bridge connecting merchants and consumers, and its healthy development is significant for stimulating consumption and promoting employment. With delivery platforms collectively resisting malicious competition, the industry is expected to welcome new development opportunities. Only an industry ecosystem built on fair competition and mutual benefit can stimulate market vitality, drive continuous industry innovation, and create more value for consumers, merchants, and riders, achieving win-win outcomes for all parties.