Feb 3, 2021|
JD Big Data: Three Trends from this CNY Grand Promotion
by Ella Kidron
A recent report published by the JD Big Data Institute revealed a handful of trends observed during the Chinese New Year grand promotion.
Fei Lu, senior data analyst at the Institute, said: “Spring Festival is one of the most important festivals in China. It is also an important shopping season, but there were some concerns that reduced travel to hometowns would cause a consumption contraction. Our data, however, shows demand staying strong with growth driven in new sectors.”
Here are three trends worth noting:
1. New definition of “home”
Home is a vital ingredient of the Chinese New Year. Ordinarily, many Chinese people will travel from the city where they work to their hometowns to celebrate CNY with their big families. A new wave of COVID-19 cases across several provinces in January has prompted many consumers to opt to stay put rather than travel.
But the saying “home is where the heart is”, rings true as consumers in the big cities rush to send gifts home, and hometown friends and family are eager to send a “taste of home”. This is one of the reasons for a spike in “remote orders” (orders where the sender and recipient city differ). Interestingly, the highest number of such remote orders coming from Beijing head to Hainan.
Looking more closely at CNY Grand Promotion orders, rice, flour, oil, alcohol and other necessities have seen a 1-2-time increase YOY. In addition to products, sales of services such as laundry, healthcare, auto, pet services and more have increased 6-10 times compared with the same period last year (according to the lunar calendar).
2. Driving “new” areas of consumption
The concept of staying put in the place of work instead of traveling has meant increased consumption in new categories. Comparing the consumption structure for CNY last year and this year, it is possible to see that pet life, maternal and child, personal care and education and books consumption as a proportion of the total is more significant. Consequently, with a reduction in travel and visits, the alcohol and gift category expenditure as a proportion of consumers’ total CNY spending has gone down.
Consumption remains vibrant, especially for high quality, high-priced goods like gold and silver, milk powder and luxury goods. “CNY is a very good time for brands, especially for the release of new products, which always lead the consumption trends,” said Lu. “During 2021, the number of consumers buying new products on JD’s platform increase as much as during Singles Day. This is what we defined as the ‘Rebuilding of Consumer Confidence’.”
3. Young consumers set the trend; the rest follow it
Micro-demand has triggered multiple opportunities for brands to capture trends. For example, during this CNY Grand Promotion, the famous traditional dish Buddha-Jumps-over-the-Wall has seen explosive demand in southeastern provinces, with sales increasing 320% YOY, an old soda brand, Arctic Ocean, increasing 207% and Hanfu (traditional Chinese dress worn in ancient times), which has become very popular in the last few years, increasing 78%. Shanghai consumers are keen on bird’s nest and Ferrero chocolates, while footbaths in Wuhan, Hubei province increased by 115%. Consumption of electronic firecrackers in Beijing more than doubled compared with the same period last year.
Lu said: “JD’s consumption data can provide an accurate reference for brands to release new products, control the pace and position marketing. In the chaotic, post-epidemic era, consumers need a strong and powerful guarantee and leader, instead of being blindly conservative and cutting back on expenditure.”
Apr 22, 2024|
JD.com Debuts AI Digital Representative of Founder Richard Liu During Livestream, Drawing 20 Million Views in Under One Hour
During a livestream on April 16th, JD.com introduced an AI digital representative of its founder, Richard Liu (Qiangdong Liu), nicknamed “procurement and sales manager Brother Dong (采销东哥).” Liu appeared in both JD Home Appliances and JD Supermarket’s livestreaming rooms, attracting over 20 million views within the first hour and generating RMB 50 million in sales throughout the entire livestream.
The digital representative almost perfectly replicates Liu’s facial expressions, body language, gestures, and voice, capturing even the subtlest movements of his fingers. Behind this technology is JD Cloud’s ChatRhino, an advanced large language model (LLM) that brings the avatar to life.
Behind the Technology
The LLM precisely mirrors Liu’s distinctive expressions and movements, naturally weaving in his occasional finger twiddles while he speaks, accentuating points with hand gestures, and adding nods at just the right moments for emphasis, creating a natural and authentic representation. Perfecting the voice proved to be a greater challenge. Those who have heard Liu speak are well-acquainted with the distinct inflections of his Suqian accent—a characteristic touch from his small-town roots in Jiangsu province. Observers will note the brisk pace of his speech, lighter enunciation, and his tendency to meld words in a seamless flow. His “sh” sounds carry a nasal quality, and he often addresses people as “brothers” to boost morale.
While programming the standard Mandarin dialect is relatively straightforward, teaching the AI to adopt the nuances of the Suqian dialect and Liu’s unique vocal patterns required a precise level of customization from the ChatRhino LLM. For example, the LLM had to provide accurate judgments on when to introduce the nasal tonality or the specific moments to merge words, ensuring the AI’s linguistic output mirrored Liu’s signature speaking style authentically.
Beyond replicating vocal characteristics, the AI’s voice must also be suitable for the casual, dynamic atmosphere of e-commerce livestreaming, such as adopting colloquialisms like “xiong di men” — a phrase comparable to “folks” or “guys” in English — to create a friendly rapport with the audience. JD Cloud’s ChatRhino team fine-tuned the model to focus on sociable nuances. The initial dataset for the LLM consisted predominantly of Liu’s formal speeches—spirited and compelling, yet too ceremonious for the interactive world of livestreaming. To cultivate a more congenial and approachable persona, the team utilized Liu’s recent casual conversations as the primary source material, rich with personal anecdotes and travel tales. This approach shaped the AI’s voice into one that is that is not only natural and approachable but also genuinely engaging for the end user.
As a fully self-developed technology product of JD Cloud, the ChatRhino Digital Representative solution has already served over 4,000 brand merchants, contributing to a 30% increase in order conversion rate during idle hours and helping merchants reduce livestreaming costs, enhance operational efficiency, and optimize user experience. Equipped with 50,000 hours of voice data, this technology enables digital representatives to intelligently adapt to various livestreaming styles dynamically.
The AI is also adept at managing 70% of routine live chat inquiries autonomously without any manual intervention, while also optimizing its responses with a self-improving algorithm. For instance, digital representatives can autonomously fields questions using product details and scripts, and post-livestream, and assimilate new information. Mirroring the acumen of seasoned sales professionals, it boasts a 90% accuracy rate in offering tailored product recommendations when solicited by customers.
The recent introduction of a cutting-edge livestream control console serves as the “brain” for the digital representative solution. It diligently monitors real-time inventory, adjusting the showcased products in the livestream and tailoring the script to ensure relevance—sidestepping items that are out of stock and spotlighting those in high demand. It also gauges and fine-tunes the frequency and style of interactions based on live audience engagement. With this advanced platform, businesses managing multiple livestreams can effortlessly operate thousands of sessions concurrently via cloud services, bypassing the need for intricate local setups. This innovation yields a substantial cost reduction of 30%.
Human-Machine Synergy
The intention behind digital avatars is not to outshine or compete with human talent but to harness the potential of technology to work in concert with livestreamers, maximizing overall growth. Essentially, the digital representative solution serves as a tool for brands and merchants to leverage long-tail traffic once real livestreamers conclude their broadcasts. JD’s analytics indicate this strategy can boost order conversion rates by 30% during off-peak hours, such as late into the night.
Digital representatives also excel in specific product categories that require detailed explanations, such as health products like nursing beds, electric wheelchairs, and oxygen concentrators. The solution can provide constant, round-the-clock guidance, adding substantial value to livestreams when traffic is typically lower.
Last week, JD.com announced an investment of one billion yuan into video content creation. This investment underscores JD’s commitment to leveraging the power of short videos and livestreams to transform the online shopping experience for its users and create new growth avenues for brand merchants.
Apr 20, 2024|
JD.com Unveils Ambitious Plans for 618 Grand Promotion: Aiming to More Than Double High-Performing Merchants
JD.com is gearing up for this year’s 618 Grand Promotion with an ambitious goal: to more than double the number of merchants achieving sales over one million yuan on its platform. At the recent Conference of Merchants and Ecosystem Partners on April 18, JD.com introduced a range of supportive initiatives aimed at achieving this ambitious target.
Sandy Xu, CEO of JD.com, noted at the conference that the company will dedicate significant resources to bolster traffic support, incorporate advanced AI technology, and enhance service capabilities. These efforts are particularly focused on empowering third-party merchants, including small and medium-sized enterprises in its marketplace.
Key initiatives include optimizing the platform’s traffic distribution ecosystem to prioritize highly-rated stores and products and competitively priced products through enhanced search and recommendation mechanisms. Additionally, JD.com will continue to offer merchants free access to high-traffic channels, which include significant incentives such as the popular 10-billion-yuan discount and free shipping programs.
To engage more content creators, JD.com recently announced that it will allocate over one billion yuan in cash incentives and traffic resources. This investment aims to cultivate a vibrant ecosystem that supports merchants’ traffic, business growth, and innovation.
At the core of JD.com’s strategy is technological innovation, which involves integrating AI-driven solutions into merchant operations. This includes the deployment of JD’s proprietary large language model, ChatRhino, and an AI-empowered merchant operation platform that offers are variety of free AI applications, and more. These technologies streamline various operations scenarios, enhance efficiency, and reduce costs for merchants.
For instance, On April 16th, JD.com unveiled an AI digital avatar of its founder, Richard Liu, as a sales host on its livestreaming platform. This event attracted 20 million viewers in just one hour and generated sales exceeding RMB 50 million ($6.9 million). This AI-driven virtual host technology, developed by JD Technology, is now supporting over 4,000 brands on the platform. Additionally, merchants such as a sashimi knife seller can utilize JD.com’s AIGC content generation tool to quickly produce high-quality demonstration images, bypassing traditional costs associated with product photography.
JD.com also continues to enhance its service capabilities, particularly for small and medium-sized merchants. This includes personalized business guidance, comprehensive training programs, and upgraded after-sales services, ensuring a seamless shopping experience for customers.
As of March 2024, JD.com has seen a significant increase in active third-party merchants on its platform, surpassing one million. This growth is a testament to the platform’s effectiveness and its appeal to both new and established merchants.
In-Depth Report: Chinese New Year Consumption: For Family, Oneself, or Gifting
