JD.com’s founder delivers takeouts as Meituan insists it exerts no pressure on couriers to “pick one” platform

JD.com founder Richard Liu personally handed over orders to customers yesterday, as JD.com doubled down on its delivery ambitions. The move comes amid an intensifying spat between JD.com and Meituan over alleged “pick one” tactic JD.com issued a public letter on April 21, accusing unnamed competitors of forcing riders to choose between platforms. The company responded by offering full refunds on orders delayed over 20 minutes and announced plans to double its full-time rider headcount from 50,000 to 100,000 in the next three months. In a public statement published later that day, Meituan pushed back against rumors that it penalizes riders for taking orders from competing apps, saying “no platform has the motivation or ability to restrict couriers’ choices.” [JD.com, Meituan, in Chinese]