Dingdong Maicai was acquired by Meituan, and the instant retail market has entered a period of competition among giants.

Author | Ren Cairu, Li Xiaoxia

Editor | Qiao Qian

36Kr has learned that Meituan has reached a final agreement to acquire Dingdong Maicai in full. On February 5th, Meituan announced on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that it will acquire 100% of the equity of Dingdong Maicai's Chinese business at an initial consideration of approximately $717 million. The announcement shows that Dingdong Maicai's overseas business is not included in this transaction and will be divested before the completion of the deal. During the transition period of the transaction, Dingdong Maicai will continue to operate in the same mode as before the transaction. As of press time, Dingdong Maicai's market value is $694 million.

After the deal is finalized, this is not only the most significant integration in the local life service sector this year but also marks the end of the era when fresh food e-commerce platforms "burn money for scale" as independent platforms.

The rumor of Dingdong Maicai's acquisition has been around for some time. Previously, the market repeatedly speculated that JD.com Group was interested in acquiring it to strengthen its instant retail business chain. At that time, market analysts believed that the combination of JD.com's warehousing and distribution logistics system and Dingdong Maicai's front - end warehouse network could create synergy in the fresh food category and also support the accelerated expansion of 7FRESH's front - end warehouses.

"Previously, it was indeed JD.com in the negotiation, and Meituan didn't participate. But later, Meituan suddenly got involved. JD.com told Dingdong that 'Meituan is here to disrupt the situation'. Lao Liang (Liang Changlin, the founder of Dingdong Maicai) was also quite hesitant about Meituan's true intentions at first," said a person close to the transaction. "Meituan's move also has a defensive meaning. If Dingdong is acquired by a competitor, a price war will be inevitable."

An investor in Dingdong Maicai said, "Even though its market value is not high today, I still have great respect for Lao Liang (Liang Changlin). He is really a person who spends 80% of his time in the fields. He could have lived a comfortable life in Shanghai, but he chose to live like a farmer."

When talking about Dingdong Maicai's current situation, the investor said bluntly, "Facing the continuous capital injection from big companies, there isn't a very good way to deal with it. There were many players in the front - end warehouse track back then, and it's extremely rare for Dingdong to still be in the game now."

Behind the change of the acquirer from JD.com to Meituan, the competition in the instant retail market has become even more intense, and the expansion of cities and warehouses is in full swing.

36Kr previously reported that the GMV of Meituan's Xiaoxiang Supermarket was close to 3 billion yuan in 2024, with an expected increase of about 1 billion yuan in 2025, and it will open more stores and warehouses at a faster pace in 2026. A person close to Meituan told 36Kr that Xiaoxiang Supermarket originally planned to open 700 front - end warehouse sites in 2026. Before that, the total number of its front - end warehouses was over 1000.

Other players are also accelerating. JD 7FRESH has significantly increased its warehouse - opening and ground - promotion activities recently. A person close to 7FRESH told 36Kr that in January, 7FRESH had over 800 ground - promotion staff across the country, with over 300 in Beijing. When a new warehouse opens, most of the staff will be transferred to the vicinity of the new warehouse and are required to complete a specific number of new user orders every day.

Currently, 7FRESH's front - end warehouses cover Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Guangzhou and other places. "This year, it will expand southward, and Wuhan will soon open a new store," said a 7FRESH ground - promotion staff. "If there are over 30,000 people around a new warehouse, 7FRESH requires to cover at least 20,000 people."

Boxma also restarted its front - end warehouse business in 2025. As of December 2025, about 200 of its front - end warehouses have been put into operation, mainly covering the two major first - tier cities of Beijing and Shanghai. New first - tier and second - tier cities will be the focus of future expansion.

Regardless of who the "buyer" is, the positive changes in Dingdong Maicai's fundamentals have earned it a good "wedding dress".

The latest financial report shows that in the third quarter of 2025, Dingdong Maicai achieved a GMV of 7.27 billion yuan and revenue of 6.66 billion yuan, both hitting record highs. In addition, Dingdong Maicai's net profit in that quarter was 133 million yuan (GAAP standard), and it has achieved profitability for twelve consecutive quarters under the Non - GAAP standard and seven consecutive quarters under the GAAP standard.

For Dingdong, selling at this time is a rational choice to "get out at a high point" after proving its own value and before the drastic change in the industry pattern. For Meituan, it is to acquire a core asset that has passed the most dangerous loss - making period and has a mature network and team, avoiding the huge cost of early - stage investment.

"It's understandable if JD.com acquires it, but it may not be cost - effective for Meituan to spend money on acquiring Dingdong compared to building its own front - end warehouses," said a person close to Meituan, expressing his confusion.

However, in the period when the demand for instant retail has been fully verified and the competition is intensifying, the speed of warehouse expansion will also affect the evolution of the market pattern at any time. The locations and capabilities that Dingdong Maicai has accumulated in advantageous regions such as Shanghai can help Meituan quickly gain market share.

In the past year, Dingdong Maicai's advantage in its "home base" of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai has become more obvious. In the third quarter of 2025, the GMV in Shanghai and the Jiangsu - Zhejiang region increased by 24.5% and 40% year - on - year respectively, and the average daily order volume per warehouse in Shanghai was close to 1700. Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai are regarded as "must - fight areas" in the retail industry, and Shanghai has always been a weak area for Xiaoxiang Supermarket.

A person close to Dingdong Maicai told 36Kr that Liang Changlin, the founder of Dingdong Maicai, has led a part of the team to start a "second - time entrepreneurship" and build a B2B overseas business. In 2025, when Xiaoxiang Supermarket planned to go overseas, Dingdong Maicai had already launched a plan to go to the Middle East. Later, it targeted the B2B overseas model instead of directly doing the C - end home - delivery business like Meituan's Keemart.

"But Dingdong didn't do well overseas and came back. Now it's starting a second - time entrepreneurship again," said the person.

"The news of the acquisition has also spread within the company, which has a great impact on the employees' morale. Many colleagues think that there will soon be staff optimization," a Dingdong Maicai employee told 36Kr.

For participants such as Meituan, JD.com and Boxma, the current store - opening strategy has moved towards the "1 + N" model (1 large store + N small stores/front - end warehouses). The offline large - scale stores of Pupu Supermarket, another player in the front - end warehouse field, are also in preparation. "According to this competitive situation, the more warehouses, the better," said a Meituan employee.

This article is from the WeChat official account "36Kr Future Consumption". Authors: Ren Cairu, Li Xiaoxia. Republished by 36Kr with permission.