Chinese ecommerce giants JD.com and Alibaba have ignited a battle for the country’s fast-growing instant retail market, luring shoppers with huge discounts in a push to grab market share amid weak consumer spending.

The two groups have launched rapid delivery offerings in recent months, supplying food and consumer staples within 30 minutes via their fleet of drivers. That has intensified competition in a sector that has largely been dominated by Beijing-based Meituan for the past few years.

Alibaba is ploughing $7bn into promoting its Taobao Shangou service, while JD.com is investing $1.4bn over the next year to expand its food delivery business, as they fight it out to become China’s leading “everyday app” for transactions across goods and services.