JD.com Inc. founder Richard Liu urged staff to address deep-seated issues within his e-commerce company, in an internal memo that echoed a call to arms issued by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. founder Jack Ma last month.

Liu was responding to an employee’s post on a JD.com forum over the weekend, in much the same way Ma addressed and amplified an Alibaba staffer’s views about rising competition. The unidentified employee listed a litany of problems from poor merchant support to an overly pricey item list, according to a person familiar with the message thread. The JD founder, apologizing for typing while in a car, agreed with that assessment and called for change.