China’s online grocery-delivery market, where big technology companies and startups once fiercely competed, is facing a blow as companies grapple with continuous losses and cash shortages compounded by a slowing economy and tighter regulations.
Missfresh one of China’s top grocery-delivery companies, said last week that it has shut down its main business of same-day, groceries delivery. Hundreds of employees, accounting for most of Missfresh’s workforce, have lost their jobs, according to employees who were laid off. Missfresh also has faced protests from its unpaid suppliers at its Beijing headquarters and other locations in recent weeks as it ran out of cash to pay them, according to former employees and suppliers.