In February 2025, JD.com announced plans to gradually provide full social security coverage for its full-time delivery riders, with the company covering both the employer and employee contributions for all full-time riders on JD's food delivery platform. This move makes JD the first "all-inclusive" platform in the industry. This means that a rider earning a monthly salary of 7,000 yuan will take home the same amount as they would without social security contributions. As a new entrant in the food delivery sector, JD's initiative to reshape the market landscape has set a trend, prompting Meituan and Ele.me to follow suit.

The push by food delivery platforms to provide social security can be seen as the internet's spillover benefits to other industries, representing a path for increasing per capita income and economic development in China. However, paying social security is not the same as giving more money directly to the riders. This difference constitutes the structural aspect of the spillover benefits.

The structural aspect, simply put, is about how the benefits are distributed to the riders—whether through higher wages or social security contributions. For instance, a survey by East China Normal University shows that over 30% of Shanghai's riders earn less than the local social security base threshold (7,384 yuan/month). If they were to pay for social security themselves, the amount required would represent a higher proportion of their actual income than the statutory contribution rate, both for the platform and the individual. Essentially, what could have been given directly to the riders is instead provided in the form of social security.