An analysis of customer emotions and competitive market dynamics from 2023 to 2025, focusing on Meituan, Ele.me, and JD.com.
China’s food delivery market is dominated by three major platforms:
Meituan,
Ele.me (Alibaba),
and JD.com.
Between 2023 and 2025, these platforms engaged in a sustained price war defined by aggressive subsidies, viral ultra-low-price meals, and constant promotional escalation.
For consumers, food delivery shifted from a convenience service to a daily price-optimization exercise.
While the short-term benefits were substantial, the long-term effects on user satisfaction and market stability were far more ambiguous.
Timeline of Competitive Escalation
Early–Mid 2023
Subsidy normalization
Meituan and Ele.me significantly expanded daily subsidies, free delivery thresholds, and first-order discounts.
What began as a competitive tactic quickly became an expected baseline, training users to associate food delivery with constant price reductions rather than convenience alone.
Early 2024
¥1 meal campaigns
Highly publicized ¥1 and ¥2 meal promotions spread rapidly across social media platforms.
These campaigns triggered sharp spikes in orders and emotional excitement, but also strained merchants and delivery systems during peak hours.
Mid–Late 2024
Promotion fatigue & JD.com entry push
As similar discounts repeated, consumers began showing signs of fatigue.
JD.com increased its food delivery investment, undercutting rivals on logistics fees, but without generating the same emotional novelty seen earlier in the price war.
2025
Regulatory intervention
Regulators issued guidance discouraging “irrational competition,” emphasizing labor protection and sustainable pricing.
Platforms reduced the intensity of subsidies, marking a transition from aggressive expansion toward consolidation and cost control.
Customer Emotional Trends Over Time
Average customer emotion (valence) during the price war
Customer sentiment rose sharply during the early expansion of subsidies, driven by excitement, perceived “wins,” and the social visibility of extreme discounts.
As promotions became repetitive, emotional gains diminished and sentiment plateaued.
Noticeable dips correspond with periods of reduced subsidy intensity and delivery delays during peak campaigns.
Overall, low prices generated positive emotions, but failed to produce steadily increasing satisfaction over time.
Implications for Platforms and Market Structure
Key Observations
Consumer loyalty weakened as users switched platforms opportunistically.
Emotional responses to discounts decayed faster with repeated exposure.
Operational stress increased during peak promotional periods.
Strategic Implications
The price war illustrates the limits of subsidy-driven growth.
As regulatory pressure rises and emotional returns diminish, platforms are likely to shift toward service reliability, merchant tools, and broader ecosystem integration rather than pure price competition.