(Yicai) Sept. 8 -- China's on-demand retail sector is about to get more competitive after JD Daojia, an arm of e-commerce giant JD.Com, announced its expansion plan.

JD Daojia expects to enlarge its business scope to introduce more new categories such as fashion, home appliances, and smart locks, Li Changming, general manager of the on-demand retail platform, said at a press briefing yesterday. On-demand retail refers to orders placed online for items usually delivered within an hour.

Moreover, JD Daojia intends to expand the coverage of its service of one-hour delivery within the same city and launch a great number of subsidies as well as a low-priced flash sales campaign in the fourth quarter, Li added.

JD.Com's rivals are also paying more attention to the business model of quick sales. On Sept. 6, Alibaba Group Holding's takeout platform Ele.me said it will customize its policies to target merchants in five fields, including healthcare, takeout, beverages, groceries, and department stores.

In May, Meituan Shangou, a quick-commerce arm of Meituan, collaborated with merchants to offer subsidies on particularly popular items to widen sales. The move could be deemed successful as in the second quarter, the number of orders jumped by 32 percent to 5.4 billion from a year ago.

On-demand retail means physical commerce empowered by online scenarios that allow it to find an outlet in the internet era, Pan He, co-director of a research center at Zhejiang University International Business School, said to Yicai. However, instant retail will also face challenges, including rising delivery costs and more fierce online and offline competition in the future, Pan added.

Editors: Zhang Yuyichen, Emmi Laine