Meituan has reached a final agreement to acquire Dingdong Maicai, bringing one of China’s longest running fresh grocery experiments to a close, according to 36Kr.
On February 5, Meituan announced it would acquire 100% of Dingdong Maicai’s China operations for an initial consideration of about USD 717 million. Dingdong’s overseas businesses are excluded from the transaction and will be divested before closing. During the transition period, the company will continue operating under its existing business model.
Once completed, the deal will represent the most significant consolidation in China’s local services sector so far this year. It also signals a broader shift away from an era in which fresh grocery e-commerce platforms pursued scale as standalone businesses through sustained cash burn.
Speculation about Dingdong Maicai being acquired has circulated for months. The market previously reported that JD.com was in talks to buy the company to bolster its quick commerce capabilities. At the time, JD’s warehousing and logistics infrastructure was widely seen as complementary to Dingdong’s network of frontend warehouses, potentially creating operational synergies in fresh produce while supporting the expansion of JD’s 7Fresh business.
“JD.com was indeed in talks at first, and Meituan wasn’t involved,” a person close to the transaction told 36Kr. “Later on, Meituan suddenly joined the process. JD.com even told Dingdong that Meituan is here to ‘stir things up,’ and Liang Changlin was initially quite hesitant about Meituan’s real intentions.” According to the same source, Meituan’s move also had a defensive rationale. “If Dingdong had been taken by a rival, another price war would have been inevitable.”
An investor in Dingdong Maicai said that despite the company’s current market valuation, he retains deep respect for founder Liang Changlin. “He’s someone who truly spends 80% of his time out in the fields. He could have stayed in Shanghai and lived comfortably, but instead chose to live like a farmer.”
The investor was blunt in his assessment of Dingdong’s broader predicament. “When big tech companies keep pouring money into the space, there aren’t many good countermeasures. Back when the frontend warehouse model was booming, players flooded in. To still be sitting at the table today is already rare.”
The shift in the deal’s protagonist from JD.com to Meituan reflects intensifying competition in quick commerce, where city expansion and warehouse rollouts are accelerating rapidly.
36Kr previously reported that Xiaoxiang Supermarket generated nearly RMB 30 billion (USD 4.2 billion) in GMV (gross merchandise value) in 2024, with another RMB 10 billion (USD 1.4 billion) in growth expected in 2025. Expansion is set to accelerate further in 2026. A person close to Meituan told 36Kr that Xiaoxiang Supermarket had originally planned to open 700 new frontend warehouses in 2026. Prior to that, it already operated more than 1,000 such facilities.
Rivals are also picking up the pace. JD’s 7Fresh has significantly increased the speed of its warehouse launches. A source close to the company said that in January alone, more than 800 promoter staff were deployed nationwide, including over 300 in Beijing. When a new warehouse opens, most of the team is reassigned to the surrounding area, where they are required to meet daily targets for new user orders.
At present, 7Fresh’s warehouses cover Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Guangzhou, and other cities. “This year we’ll move south, and Wuhan is about to launch,” said one 7Fresh promoter. “If there are more than 30,000 people living around a new warehouse, the requirement is to reach at least 20,000 of them.”
Hema, otherwise known as Freshippo, also restarted its frontend warehouse business in 2025. By December, it was operating about 200 such facilities, primarily in Beijing and Shanghai, with first- and second-tier cities next in line for expansion.
Regardless of the buyer, improvements in Dingdong Maicai’s fundamentals helped it secure relatively favorable terms.
Its latest earnings report shows that in the third quarter of 2025, Dingdong recorded RMB 7.27 billion (USD 1 billion) in GMV and RMB 6.66 billion (USD 932.4 million) in revenue, both record highs. Net profit for the quarter reached RMB 133 million (USD 18.6 million) under GAAP standards. The company has now reported profits under non-GAAP standards for 12 consecutive quarters and under GAAP standards for seven consecutive quarters.
For Dingdong Maicai, selling at this point appears to be a rational exit at a high, following proof of operational viability and ahead of potentially more disruptive market shifts. For Meituan, the acquisition adds an asset that has already survived an extended lossmaking phase, complete with a mature warehouse network and experienced team, while avoiding the high costs associated with early-stage buildouts.
“An acquisition by JD.com would have been easier to understand, but Meituan might actually spend more buying Dingdong than it would by continuing to build frontend warehouses itself,” said a person close to Meituan.
Even so, as demand for quick commerce has been validated and competition intensifies, the pace of warehouse expansion is increasingly shaping market outcomes. Dingdong Maicai’s established footprint in stronghold markets such as Shanghai could allow Meituan to gain share more quickly.
Over the past year, Dingdong has further strengthened its position in its core Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai region. In the third quarter of 2025, GMV in Shanghai and the broader Jiangsu-Zhejiang region grew 24.5% and 40% year-on-year, respectively. In Shanghai, the average daily order volume per warehouse has risen to nearly 1,700 orders. The Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai corridor is widely viewed within retail as a critical market, while Shanghai has historically been a weaker region for Xiaoxiang Supermarket.
A source close to Dingdong Maicai told 36Kr that Liang has already taken part of his team to begin a new venture focused on overseas B2B operations. In 2025, when Xiaoxiang Supermarket was preparing for international expansion, Dingdong had already explored entry into the Middle East. It later shifted toward a B2B model rather than pursuing a direct-to-consumer grocery business like Xiaoxiang’s Keemart.
“But Dingdong didn’t do well overseas and pulled back. Now it’s starting over again,” the source said.
News of the acquisition has also circulated internally, affecting employee morale. “Quite a few colleagues think layoffs will come soon,” one Dingdong employee told 36Kr.
For Meituan, JD.com, Hema, and other players, store strategies are increasingly converging on a “1+N” model, with one large store supported by multiple smaller stores or frontend warehouses. Another frontend warehouse operator, Pupu Supermarket, is also preparing to launch offline big box stores.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Ren Cairu and Li Xiaoxia for 36Kr.