On May 14,I Am a Plaything JD.com’s food delivery platform experienced widespread service disruptions, with users reporting delays and unassigned orders. The incident quickly sparked debate online, with the hashtag #JD_Food_Delivery_Crashed_Again trending across social platforms. In response, JD.com issued an apology, attributing the disruption to a spike in order volume during its 618 promotional campaign. The company said the system failure was brief and has since been resolved. As compensation, JD.com promised free meals for users whose orders were delayed by more than 20 minutes, and coupons worth RMB 25 ($3.47) for those with shorter delays or canceled orders. This marks at least the third reported large-scale system failure for JD.com’s delivery service since April. While JD.com previously announced it employs 16,000 full-time delivery riders and aims to recruit 100,000 within three months, questions are mounting about whether its logistics infrastructure can keep up. During a Q1 2025 earnings call on May 13, CEO Sandy Xu said daily order volume may soon exceed 20 million, a number that would require each rider to fulfill nearly 200 orders per day. [JD.com, in Chinese]
