Sep 15, 2020|
JDer Lab #4 with Alex Rudnicki: Breakthroughs and “leveling up” at JD
by Kelly Dawson
JD.com’s more than 280,000 employees come from a wide range of backgrounds and areas of expertise. In the next installment of our JDer Lab series, we speak to another JDer about what it’s really like to work for China’s largest retailer.
“It could be [with] a new partner or a new business; it could be an existing partner and a new business. I love that kind of brainstorming and especially making that breakthrough where both sides are like, ‘Yes, we should totally do it,’” he said. “It’s just an awesome feeling.”
A second breakthrough often follows when management finally signs off and the project becomes more than an idea, he said.
Rudnicki has experienced his own share of breakthroughs in his time with JD.
After four years in Silicon Valley, Rudnicki came to China in 2017 for the Tsinghua-MIT MBA program. During that time he interned with JD as a project manager in international partnerships, eventually taking the leap to join the company full-time after graduation.
He spoke little Chinese at the time. In fact, when he and his wife first arrived in China he had about “five hours of Chinese class under my belt,” he told us. “I had just learned that there are these things called ‘tones’, which is about as rookie as it gets.”
Over time he’s leveled up his Chinese language abilities, now attending daily meetings and reporting to managers in Chinese. “I’m not really sure how it happened,” he said. “That will be something I’m proud of for the rest of my life.”
The openness and kindness of his JD coworkers have played a big role in making the process easier for him, he said. “I’ve been really impressed with how open people are, and especially coming in as a non-Chinese person in a non-Chinese company which doesn’t have many foreigners. It has been really eye-opening at how welcoming people are, and willing to forgive, whether it’s a language mistake or a cultural misunderstanding.”
Additionally, Rudnicki thinks JDers are some of the hardest working people he’s ever encountered.
“Coming from San Francisco and Silicon Valley where people work really hard, I think that there’s another level here,” he said. “It impresses me day in and day out to see the energy that people put into their work. I thought I was a hustler, and I constantly have to raise my own bar here.”
Oct 1, 2022|
JD.com Helps Boost Sales of Rice Named after Agronomist Yuan Longping
by Doris Liu
JD.com recently deepened collaboration with the farm that produces Yuan Longping Rice, which is named after China’s father of hybrid rice, in terms of quality control, digitally intelligent supply chain and branding as the Chinese Farmers’ Harvest Festival fell on September 23 this year.
In the first eight months of 2022, the sales of Yuan Longping Rice have grown up over threefold compared with the same period last year, according to JD’s data. To stimulate a positive cycle of high-quality agricultural products and rural consumption upgrading, JD.com maintains a strict control process to ensure that all such rice products sold in JD Super, JD’s omni-channel supermarket business, are of first-grade quality.
From the paddy field to household table, rice needs to go through planting, storage, processing, packaging, delivery and other procedures, showing obvious characteristics of the long industrial chain.
“Although vacuum packaging and low-temperature storage can largely reduce the smell and taste differences of rice caused by water evaporation and oil oxidation, there is still a certain impact,” said Jason Cao, director of the rice, noodles and food grains business of JD Super. “Therefore, JD continues to refine each node in the rice industrial chain to ensure perfect-tasting rice for every family.”
Many local agricultural products, despite being of high quality, lack brand awareness and a solid quality control system, and have no opportunity to develop its supply chain infrastructure. To tackle these issues, JD.com is supporting Yuan Longping Rice with resources including its platform channels, marketing advantages, various promotions and live streaming—reaching a win-win in both sales and popularity.
Yuan Longping (1930-2021), a Chinese agronomist renowned for developing the first hybrid-rice strain in the 1970s, devoted his life to the research of high-yielding hybrid rice that is strategically important for China, the most populous country of the world.
JD launched the “March to Rich Plan” (MRP) in 2020 with a goal to drive an output value of RMB 1 trillion yuan in China’s rural areas over the following three years and facilitate rural revitalization. After 22 months, JD had driven the rural output value to exceed RMB 620 billion yuan by the end of this August, helping millions of farmers increase their income.
As of now, JD Logistics has realized same- and next-day delivery in 94 percent of counties and districts across China and 84 percent of villages and towns nationwide, upgrading the logistics system for rural areas to a great extent.
Sep 28, 2022|
JD Launches New Products in National Pavilion of Sri Lanka
by Mengyang He
In concert with the 70th anniversary of the signing of the “Rubber-Rice Pact” between China and Sri Lanka, JD.com has launched an array of new products in the national pavilion of Sri Lanka, including tea, biscuits, coconut oil, etc.
Since opening, the JD National Pavilion of Sri Lanka has offered over 50 products, including popular Ceylon black tea brands, including Lions, Impra, and Sinolan. The snacks from Maliban offer biscuits with ginger and coconut flavors and more, allowing consumers to enjoy a taste of South Asia in China, according to Wei Ye, Vice President of JD.com and President of JD Foods.
In recent years, with the consumption upgrade, Chinese consumers have an increasingly strong demand for international high-quality products. In order to provide Chinese consumers with efficient access and excellent experience in purchasing products from all over the world.
Chiranjaya Udumullage, President of China Sri Lanka Association for Trade and Economic Cooperation said, “We are delighted to see Sri Lankan products are well received by Chinese consumers, and partnering with JD.com allows our local specialties to reach nearly 600 million active users.”
“We believe JD.com will be an ideal tool to connect Sri Lankan exporters and industries with its target market in China,” noted Suresh D de Mel, Chairman of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board. “Ceylon tea and Ceylon cinnamon are key national agricultural brands of Sri Lanka in the international market. Black tea is the main export item to China, with a worth of USD 50.6 million exports to China in 2021.”
Ravi Jayawardena, CEO of Maliban Group added, “We recognize the JD National Pavilion of Sri Lanka as a pioneering feat to encourage existing and new businesses to enter the Chinese market.”
For the following year, JD Retail plans to open more than 100 national pavilions, and JD will continue to enrich supply chain, optimize quality control, after-sales service and logistics services, providing consumers with a smooth shopping experience.
JD.ID seeks to bring more Indonesian products to consumers
