Sep 1, 2017|
Bridging the Islands: The New Era of Online Brand Building
The internet has forever changed the way people shop, transforming the retail industry and forcing retailers to rethink how they engage with customers. And while the Internet is a powerful marketing tool without precedent, the often bewildering range of factors influencing e-commerce behavior makes it difficult for brands to engage meaningfully with consumers.
One of the biggest challenges in engaging with customers online has been the emergence of “data islands” – that is to say, data about customer behavior that is confined to only one app or platform. “Data islands” effectively prevent companies from tracing user behavior across different platforms and screens – and with only a limited picture of user behavior, brands often struggle to convert customer engagement into sales.
This problem can best be resolved through greater cooperation between companies in terms of data sharing, cross-platform integration and leveraging emerging technologies such as AI and big data. Only by mapping out user behavior across a range of “data islands” can companies achieve precision marketing – leading to better customer engagement & loyalty and higher sales conversion rates.
In order to better support brands’ online marketing – and to help overcome the “data island” bottleneck – JD.com has recently joined forces with Baidu and Qihoo, building upon our partnerships with Tencent and Toutiao, China’s largest news aggregator app. The combination of these partnerships gives JD the most complete data set of user habits of anyone in China’s Internet space – allowing us to precisely match products to users’ needs and preferences. For example, a user searching on Baidu for baby-related topics could be guided to advertisements from JD.com that offer related products; and users of Toutiao interested in cuisine may be served advertisements from JD.com for the items needed to make a recipe they have recently viewed. And as our data has clearly shown, customers that receive advertisements tailored to their personal interests enjoy a richer e-commerce experience, with a higher likelihood of making purchases.
Working together with our partners, our powerful cross-platform big data resources, huge user bases and AI technology also allow JD to offer third party merchants powerful programmatic advertising solutions. Leveraging JD’s innovative bidding system LADDER which we leverage in our partnerships, merchants are able to maximize advertising ROI with targeted ad placements on the full range of our partners’ platforms. During our most recent June 18 shopping festival, our bidding system helped increase advertising revenue by more than 50%, with ROI up by as much as 17%. As we enhance our AI-driven advertising algorithms, we expect these figures to grow.
With the rise of the mobile internet, we have increasingly seen the need for online shopping solutions that are scenario-sensitive. For example, if a user spends significant time on a cooking app, chances are they will be interested in purchasing food items or kitchen appliances. Or if you are a frequent user of a running app it is likely you will be receptive to ads for the latest sneakers. However, until now there has not been a convenient way for apps to bring their users targeted e-commerce solutions.
To overcome this hurdle, we established JD Kepler in 2016 to help users fulfill their specific shopping needs directly within our partners’ apps while enjoying the full range of JD.com’s service offerings. Bringing together the full suite of JD.com’s offerings including products, supply chain & logistics services, IT and big data to third parties and partners, JD Kepler has established partnerships with over 160 of China’s most innovative tech companies across key internet verticals such as shopping, search, news aggregation, telecom, security and hardware. Whether providing “first-level entry points” for purchasing JD products in popular apps like Mobile Baidu, or supplying full e-commerce solutions, such as China Telecom’s customer-loyalty online purchase program, JD Kepler allows companies to leverage the full strength of the JD platform to benefit their users.
The internet has brought the retail industry into the modern age. Today, it is imperative for brands to incorporate big data and artificial intelligence into their e-commerce strategies and work with partners across a range of platforms. At the same time, new technologies are changing the way JD.com does business, including the adoption of delivery drones to connect with rural areas; the introduction of robotics in our warehouses; and use of advanced AI to better predict product demand. As these technologies and platforms increasingly merge together, JD will continue to push the boundaries of the online shopping experience, challenging imaginations & driving value for both consumers and brands.
Nov 8, 2019|
JD’s Marketing360 boosts growth for Dyson in China
JD.com is using its advanced technology to empower yet another group, advertisers, helping companies like renowned home appliance company Dyson win in China. When Dyson decided they needed to boost sales in the country while maximizing their marketing resources, they turned to JD and its innovative Marketing360 platform. Leveraging Marketing360, Dyson and JD.com were able to target potential Chinese customers with an unprecedented degree of accuracy and efficiency.
Dyson’s decision to partner with JD.com comes as China has become its fastest growing market, and is expected to be its largest market by 2021. During JD’s “6.18” anniversary shopping festival this year, sales of Dyson products increased 60% year-on-year. JD is now Dyson’s largest retail channel globally.
“JD’s Marketing360 platform is an incredibly powerful tool for connecting brands with the Chinese market, as we’ve seen through our partnerships with Dyson and other leading brands,” said Paul Yan, President of JD Retail Business Growth. “Our tech-driven model enhances user experience by bringing consumers the products and content most relevant to them.”
JD Marketing360
JD’s Marketing360 platform formulates marketing solutions through its unique “4A” model which systematically identifies customers in four different categories: 1A – ‘Aware,’ 2A – ‘Appeal,’ 3A – ‘Act,’ and 4A – ‘Advocate”:
- 1A Aware – users who have been exposed to the brand via advertisements
- 2A Appeal – users who pay attention to the brand – indicated by browsing, searching, and/or adding products to cart – but still don’t make a purchase
- 3A Act – users who make a purchase, write product reviews, and/or use after-sales services
- 4A Advocate – users who make multiple purchases, recommend products to others, and/or share on social media
By analyzing the characteristics of users within each group, the “4A” model enables a targeted approach in converting users who have not yet made a purchase (“1A” and “2A”) into users who have (“3A” or “4A”). User groups are then further divided into subcategories according to their potential conversion rate, allowing the company to allocate its marketing resources in the most effective way.
Marketing360 tailored for Dyson
In Dyson’s case, JD’s Marketing360 platform utilized the “4A” model to identify 1A and 2A users, and also identified users in five closely related categories who had strong potential to purchase a Dyson vacuum. The five categories were:
- Baby and maternal products buyers: young parents eager to ensure a clean and safe environment for their offspring;
- Gift givers, with recent trends showing Chinese consumers now often favor buying Dyson products for loved ones due to their practicality and high quality;
- Auto accessory shoppers: car owners who have a need for car vacuums;
- Pet products shoppers;
- Home furnishing products shoppers who are likely to buy vacuums for their new homes.
Based on this analysis, JD can help Dyson forecast the sales of different user groups and rationally allocate marketing resources to attract users and boost sales.
JD and Dyson also worked to develop several video advertisements tailored to different categories of consumers. Tailored scenarios included people with allergies using a Dyson vacuum cleaner to clean their beds, pet owners cleaning animal hair and parents who want a safe and clean environment for their children.
The videos were then promoted throughout JD’s vast ecosystem of partners, including video streaming site iQIYI, social messaging service WeChat, and news platforms like Toutiao and Baidu.
Dyson’s experience with the JD Marketing360 platform shows how JD’s cutting-edge technological infrastructure can help advertisers overcome common bottlenecks within China’s digital marketing landscape, and address the major challenge of turning traffic into sales. As a result of the campaign, Dyson tripled the efficiency of its new customer acquisition for vacuum products, and the sales on JD during that month exceeded expectations by 22%. Dyson continues to use the model to better target its users.
Oct 21, 2019|
As Young Chinese Go Crazy for Art, JD Partners with Museums to “Bring Art to Life”
JD is bringing art museums and Chinese consumer brands together to develop high-quality products adorned with the work of the world’s most renowned artists, allowing a new generation of Chinese consumers to enjoy aesthetic masterpieces in their daily lives.
The initiative comes as art is enjoying immense popularity in China, particularly amongst the younger generation. Recognizing this, JD launched JD Art, an exclusive channel for art purchases in March last year. JD Art customers are primarily born after 1980, with 66% of consumers aged 26-45. For many young Chinese, a key highlight of any museum or gallery visit is the gift shop, which provides the chance to take their artistic and cultural experiences back home with them. At Beijing’s Palace Museum, for example, sales of products including bags, cups, cell phone cases and even lipstick – exceeded RMB 1.5 billion in value during 2017.
To mark its Global Museums Day sales promotion, “Bring Art to Life” , on October 21, JD.com has partnered with four of the world’s finest museums to produce an array of well-designed consumer products incorporating elements of classic artworks from the museums’ collections. Consumers on JD can now enjoy 300 products from 50 brands decorated with works from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, as well as London’s National Gallery and V&A Museum.
The vision behind “Bring Art to Life” is to provide consumers a way to appreciate these masterpieces in their everyday lives and foster a greater understanding of classic art among China’s youth. As such, the artworks have been integrated into the design of everyday products, rather than obscure luxury pieces to be placed on a mantelpiece. One highlight of the product range is a gift box manufactured by Chinese cosmetic brand Chando that is decorated to resemble a renowned book design by 20th century American illustrator Margaret Neilson Armstrong from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection. Hygiene brand Tempo also brought pieces from the Met to life by integrating Van Gogh pieces “Wheat Field with Cypresses” and “Irises” and Henri-Edmond Cross’ “Landscape with Sky” into its product packaging.
“Our ‘Bring Art to Life’ collection of products brings some of the world’s most amazing artworks from museum walls into the homes of our sophisticated young Chinese users,” said Jing Li, Director of JD Brand Marketing. “The four museums we worked with as part of this initiative are some of the world’s most eminent guardians of culture. By combining the booming interest in classic artwork and JD’s commitment to high quality, unique products, ‘Bring Art to Life’ will introduce the works of artists such as Van Gogh and Monet to new and enthusiastic young audiences in China.”
The Met’s head of licensing and partnerships, Lisa Silverman Meyers said, “The Met’s unique products and educational content feature a global array of art from the Museum’s vast collection, which we hope will inspire, delight, and inform Chinese consumers. The Met is so pleased to collaborate with JD.com on this first-ever JD Global Museums Day.”
In recent years, more and more museums have turned to e-commerce as a channel for promoting classic artwork. Earlier this year, both the Met and the V&A launched stores on JD’s platform.
JD.com Announces Series of New Agreements for Drone Development
