On October 28th, JD.com’s international logistics team in Europe welcomed Philip Mountford, CEO of Hunkemöller, a Dutch-based international lingerie retailer for a visit to JD’s automated warehouse in Venray, the Netherlands.

The two sides entered into cooperation this June with the shared vision towards cutting-edge technologies as key to driving B2C retail operation efficiency. It is estimated that JD’s tech-driven distribution center has shortened two-thirds of Hunkemöller’ s average daily order production time.

Philip Mountford, CEO of Hunkemöller (center) visited JD’s warehouse in the Netherlands

“Our omni-channel has grown so significantly over the last few years that we needed to find a strategic partner who would help us grow in the future. JD is an amazing partner, and it was great to visit their new Venray distribution center, which will handle our Benefrux omni-channel business. Their state-of-the-art facility will allow us to deliver exceptional speed and fulfill our last mile requirements. I would like to thank the team for completing this whole project in such a speedy manner,” said Mountford

As China’s largest retailer and supply chain-based technology and service provider, JD.com is bringing its expertise in e-commerce and supply chain management in the building of its first warehouse in the Netherlands, which amounts to 12,000 square meters and is equipped with self-developed automations such as AGVs (automated guided vehicles), robotic arms, digitalized vertical storage racks and advanced logistics management systems that can greatly help merchants improve operating cost and efficiency, thus creating a faster and better service experience for the customers.

JD’s warehouse in the Netherlands was built within four months 

Hunkemöller is one of the fastest-growing lingerie brands, expanding worldwide with state-of-the-art online shops and approximately 900 stores. It is the first Dutch retailer to cooperate logistically with JD.com. At present, JD’s warehouse is handling Hunkemöller’s orders in four countries in Europe including the Netherland, France, Belgium and Luxemburg.

JD’s team used only four months’ time to build the warehouse from scratch into full operation. “If a European partner had been chosen, this would never have been possible so quickly,” Gijs van Engelen, chief digital officer of Hunkemöller told RetailTrends. “They would have needed to order robots and other things, but JD.com has everything in-house.”

According to Van Engelen, about one-third of Hunkemöller’s total online orders are now handled in Venray, and there is still room for further scaling up.

Kannan Qian, general manager of JD International Logistics in Europe said, “As brands expand their omnichannel businesses, JD’s tech-driven fast-response fulfillment solution comes as a fitting answer for them to holistically manage their product supplies to different channels and have more flexibilities on order productions at different times and shopping scenarios.”

In addition to the warehouse in the Netherlands, JD.com is also operating two highly automated warehouses in Germany and Poland respectively so far, which can work in synergy to serve clients in Europe on product storage, packaging, shipping assistance and more.

(vivian.yang@jd.com)