Apr 23, 2020|
JD Helps 210,000 of China’s SMEs Spend Less
by Ella Kidron and Yuchuan Wang
From February 2nd to April 8th, JD.com has already provided procurement support for nearly 210,000 SMEs, helping enterprises save a total of RMB 350 million yuan in enterprise procurement, and take the first step in returning to work and production.
Analysis of big data from JD Business, JD’s enterprise procurement platform, reveals a substantial increase in work-resumption related procurement between February 1st and April 20th, with a 48% month-on-month growth rate.
Scientific research and technology services, manufacturing, IT and leasing services are the industries at the forefront of the return to work. The volume of materials procured by these for industries accounted for 54.1% of the total procurement by SMEs, among which the rate of procurement in the leasing services industry has increased 300% YOY. One reason for this boost in leasing services is that the epidemic has strengthened demand for ‘digital office’ needs. Another is that, due to lack of cash flow in the short term, many SMEs are more inclined to adopt a “rent instead of buy” model to resume work more cost-effectively.
From a regional perspective, areas where SMEs are more heavily concentrated and there is a strong entrepreneurship and innovation vitality, such as Zhejiang province and other places in Southern China, have led the way. According to the data, from February 2nd to April 8th, work resumption was highest for SMEs in Guangdong province, Beijing, Shanghai, and Jiangsu province, with the cumulative procurement amount by SMEs in these regions accounting for 57.2% of the country’s total. Looking at specific cities, first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are in the lead, while cities with a high concentration of technological innovation parks such as Chengdu in Sichuan province, Suzhou and Wuxi in Jiangsu province, are also among the top 10 cities for enterprise procurement by SMEs.
From a category perspective, the increase in the procurement of office supplies, protective anti-epidemic supplies and food and beverages has been particularly apparent, increasing 102% YOY in March. As far as office supplies are concerned, stationery, peripheral products (such as keyboards and USBs), and office consumables accounted for 8.99%, 5.38% and 4.08% of all office supplies procurement respectively; while grains, oil and seasoning/condiments, snacks, drinks and drink mixes accounted for 6.26%, 3.86% and 3.63% of all food and beverage procurement respectively. In terms of protective, anti-epidemic supplies, there are 16 categories with a purchase amount of over RMB one million, among which the Top 5 categories are masks, paper products, detergent, disinfectant and self-care products.
Towards the end of February, JD and Lenovo jointly held a Super Brand Day to help support SMEs in the return to work. Supportive measures such as procurement subsidies, interest-free periods, and more, have greatly reduced the burden of fixed-capital procurement, which accounts for the bulk of spending for SMEs. Data shows that on the Super Brand Day, the number of SMEs that newly joined JD Business increased 84% compared with the same period last year, and the sales of Lenovo’s full range of computer equipment and other products increased by 256% YOY, among which ThinkPad sales increased by 741% as compared with the same period last year.
In addition to helping enterprises address capital and resource concerns, another concern is how to help with digitization and informatization of operations and management. As such, while helping enterprises to reduce costs, JD’s SME support program also provides digital transformation services to tens of millions of SMEs by opening and coordinating resources across the industry, and provides free software-as-a-service (SaaS) software, livestream classes and more. JD Business has partnered with six industry partners, namely, Enterprise WeChat, EleCloud, Best Sign, WeBank, Career International and Fxiaoke CRM to provide a total of 4,500 enterprises with digital services.
In addition, JD Business has worked with IT giants such as HP, Intel and Hisense to offer professional livestream lectures providing guidance on selecting and purchasing printers, computers and TVs, and helping to improve the efficiency in returning to work.
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.
JD.com Praised by Wuhan Government: Bring Us Hope and Strength
