The battle among the three giants has reached discount supermarkets

Author | Wang Xiaojuan

Editor | Huang Yu

In the fierce competition of food delivery, several key players have found a new battleground.

On August 5th, JD.com announced the simultaneous opening of five JD Discount Supermarkets in Suqian, Jiangsu, and Zhuozhou, Hebei—among them, the first store in Zhuozhou will open on August 16th. This time, JD.com plans to pack over 5,000 "market price-busting" daily necessities into a 5,000-square-meter store, targeting the lower-tier market.

In fact, JD.com's discount supermarket is not a hasty initiative. As early as June and December 2024, JD.com, in collaboration with Beijing Huaguan, tested two discount supermarkets in Fangshan, experimenting with a dual-channel model of "offline pickup + online instant delivery." After a year of piloting, JD.com is now expanding into broader territories.

Interestingly, the discount supermarket that JD.com is focusing on has also attracted the attention of Meituan and Alibaba. Recently, in a construction site in the Gongshu District of Hangzhou, the renovation of Meituan's "Happy Monkey" hard discount supermarket is nearing completion, with an expected opening by the end of August.

In recent days, news has been swirling about Hema closing its membership stores and doubling down on Hema NB, which is also one of Hema's most important strategies. Currently, the number of Hema NB stores, which are positioned as community discount stores, is approaching 300, with Alibaba's yellow and blue signs rapidly spreading in community corners. Especially in the Yangtze River Delta, Hema NB will further increase store density.

The three giants have only now converged, but discount supermarkets are not a brand-new concept; they have become a coveted asset for giants to compete over by 2025, driven by profound changes in consumer trends and market opportunities.

First and foremost, the shift in consumer attitudes is the fundamental driving force. Consumers are no longer blindly pursuing "experiential value," but are more focused on "reasonable prices after the experience." Discount supermarkets are a product of "anti-consumerism"—no longer relying on service to impress you, but persuading you with cost-effectiveness.

Additionally, the immense potential of the lower-tier market is a key factor. Consumers in third- and fourth-tier cities are more sensitive to prices, but their demand for quality has not diminished. JD.com’s choice of Suqian and Zhuozhou is precisely aimed at this market gap.

Prior to this, the explosive growth of snack discount stores has already proven the feasibility of this model. In 2024, China's snack market scale surpassed 400 billion yuan, with bulk snack stores focusing on "low prices + rich SKUs" achieving an annual growth rate of 45%. By 2024, the total number of discount retail stores nationwide has exceeded 35,000, with over 5,000 new stores added annually, achieving a growth rate of 15%. In many lower-tier cities, the large storefronts of discount retail stores have even become local landmarks.

Moreover, laying out offline discount supermarkets during this peak of online traffic in the internet era is also a way for companies to alleviate their traffic anxiety.

Observing the current competitive landscape in the discount retail sector, three differentiated models are beginning to take shape.

JD Discount Supermarkets are essentially an offline response to Pinduoduo's pricing logic, marking a shift from "platform to operator."

JD.com's confidence stems from its robust supply chain system. By sourcing directly from production areas to eliminate intermediaries, combined with the support of JD's private label, it fulfills the promise of "everyday low prices." This model does not rely on single-store profitability or franchise replication, but rather on a "thick enough foundation," using efficient logistics and distribution systems to lower overall costs Meituan's "Happy Monkey" takes a different approach, aiming to build a three-dimensional ecosystem of "instant retail + hard discounts + local life," forming a full-chain closed loop of "consumption - fulfillment - service."

The threat from Meituan to retail does not lie in the products themselves, but in the network effects of its local life services.

Meituan positions its stores as "Front Warehouse 2.0," where customers consume in-store while simultaneously replenishing online order inventory; in terms of logistics, it combines the "Meituan Delivery" network to achieve a dual fulfillment model of "in-store + home delivery." This design fully leverages Meituan's advantages in the delivery field while compensating for its lack of offline experience.

Hema NB is a concrete manifestation of Hema's overall lightweight and downward strategy. After closing a 20,000 square meter membership store, Hema NB precisely targets community capillaries, becoming the grocery basket within the community.

Having already set its sights on low prices, future competition will be a battle of the penetration efficiency of supply chain capillaries. JD.com bets on the "big store siphon effect," while Hema NB plans to crush competition with regional density, and Meituan rewrites the rules of time and space with instant delivery.

From the layout of the three companies, there is no longer a distinction between online and offline in the retail industry; the future will primarily compete on efficiency—efficiency of the supply chain, efficiency of instant delivery, and efficiency of operations.

With the entry of these three players, the discount supermarket sector will also welcome new stories