JD.com’s ambitious push into China’s booming food delivery market hit a major speed bump this week, as its newly launched platform, JD Takeaway, experienced a high-profile system crash during peak lunch hours on April 22.
The incident, which quickly became a trending topic under the hashtag #JDTakeawayCrashed, ignited a wave of user complaints and memes across social media platforms such as Weibo and Xiaohongshu (RedNote).
JD Takeaway Crash
The crash was reportedly triggered by an unexpected surge in orders, leaving thousands of users unable to complete transactions or receive their meals.
Frustrated customers shared screenshots of unprocessed orders and voiced anger over the company’s slow response and lack of customer support. Netizens later also posted about the high delivery fee of the platform, further ridiculing the entire incident.
JD later apologised to the customers and promised full refunds for delayed orders, along with a 10 yuan voucher for affected users.
Second Incident For JD Takeaway
This marks the second outage for JD Takeaway in less than a week, with a similar failure occurring on April 16 following a promotional campaign. The back-to-back breakdowns have raised serious questions about JD’s technical preparedness to compete in an already saturated market dominated by Meituan and Alibaba owned Ele.me.
The frequent system failures and lapses in customer service across China’s food delivery sector have highlighted its heavy dependence on gig workers and underdeveloped infrastructure.
The recent crash not only disrupted the service but also affected the company’s stock dipping over 7% as investors reacted to concerns about its readiness to compete in a high-pressure market.
Shift In E-Commerce
The incident comes at a time when the Chinese e-commerce sector is undergoing a significant shift. JD.com joined platforms like Pinduoduo, Taobao, and Douyin in canceling the “only refund” policy. Under the new rules, refund requests made without returning the product will now be managed directly by the sellers, shifting responsibility away from the platforms.
The policy, once seen as a consumer-friendly innovation, had been heavily exploited in recent years, resulting in massive losses for merchants and widespread distrust within the ecosystem.
The incident exposes the cracks in the Chinese e-commerce system, highlighting the challenges of rapid expansion without equally robust infrastructure, and raising fresh concerns about platform accountability, consumer trust, and long-term sustainability in a fiercely competitive digital marketplace.
