Nov 11, 2020|

JD Singles Day: When Peak Day Arrives, Consumer Enthusiasm Is Strong in First Hour

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by Ella Kidron

From Nov. 1st to Nov. 11th  12:09am, JD saw transaction volume for its Singles Day Grand Promotion surpass RMB 200 billion yuan. Here are a few quick product and category specific highlights:

  • In 6 seconds sales generated from live-streaming exceeded RMB 100 million yuan
  • In the first 11 minutes, JD private label sales exceeded sales of the whole day on Nov. 11th last year
  • Haier, Midea, Gree and other brands sold over RMB 100 million yuan in products in one minute
  • Huawei Mate 40 sales in 7 seconds exceeded RMB 100 million yuan
  • Over 100,000 computers were sold in 10 minutes
  • The turnover of JD Super, JD’s online supermarket increased 10 times YOY in the first five mins of sales
  • JD Fresh increased 5 times YOY in the same timeframe
  • JD’s international business saw transaction volume increase more than 120% YOY in the first 10 minutes
  • JD’s imported goods supermarket saw turnover increase 2.5 times month-on-month
  • 93% of first party orders placed during the Singles Day Grand Promotion have been delivered to customers in 24 hours

Data indicates that as of Oct. 29th, pre-sale orders increased as much as 108% YOY and 2,536 brands participating in pre-sales increased orders by more than 100% YOY. On Nov. 1st, the first official day of sales, JD saw whole day turnover increased by nearly 90% YOY.

Singles Day is not only a consumer shopping carnival, but also a growth engine for consumption and economic recovery. Consumers have shown an eagerness to shop and JD has risen to the challenge providing a host of products, innovative services and omnichannel offers. Professor Wang Xiaohong, deputy director of the Information Department of the China Center for International Economic Exchange, pointed out that Singles Day showed strong signs of the recovery of Chinese consumption.

C2M

JD’s Consumer-to-Manufacturer (C2M) home appliances, which quickly became popular in the market because of their high cost performance and ability to meet consumers’ demands, were highly sought after during the Singles Day period. Twenty products hand selected by JD as development priorities quickly exceeded RMB 200 million yuan when the official sales period kicked off on Nov. 1st. C2M relies heavily on JD’s supply chain abilities. During the Grand Promotion, JD helped with sales forecasts for 33,000 brands and 5 million products, and automatically deployed them to the locations nearest to users in advance.

The C2M gaming phone category which has been pioneered by JD and brand partners, continued to be sought after by users. On Nov. 6th the turnover of gaming laptops increased eightfold compared with the same period last year, with products launched by JD accounting for 85% of sales.

Diversified geographic distribution of users

It is not just products that have diversified geographic distribution across the country – users do too. From a city-tier perspective, pre-sale orders in first-tier and rural markets grew 117% and 126% respectively. The cities with the highest per capita consumption of new users are Yingtan, Jiangxi province, Tongchuan, Shaanxi province, Chuzhou, Anhui province, Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, and Pu’er, Yunnan province. Furthermore, data indicates demand for smart products by rural consumers. During the Singles Day period, the turnover of smart watches by rural consumers increased 144% YOY; sales of smart accessories increased 128%; sales of electric toothbrushes increased 212%; sales of electric barbecue ovens increased 127% and sales of dishwasher sales increased 123%. Furthermore, the lower-tier cities have been a force for consumption in books. With the books, culture and education category sales in these markets are 2.5 times that of the first and second tier markets.

Partners, online and offline

Online platform partners have been key to making this Singles Day a success. With the impact of COVID on offline, JD’s Singles Day is a way to give back to consumers and brands and merchants. After a good start on the first, customer traffic in more than 1,000 stores increased by 200% month-on-month.

In addition, JD’s omnichannel medicine delivery services have seen strong performance. The services, which can deliver within 30 minutes and covers more than 200 cities, saw turnover from Nov. 1st  -10th  increase more than 13 times compared with the same period last year.

Services consumption drives product consumption

In the context of an overall consumption structure upgrade, service consumption has already become a new motivator. In many cases, service consumption is actually driving the consumption of goods.

Consumers’ attention to service quality on e-commerce platforms is also up. An e-commerce service satisfaction survey by Southern Metropolis Daily in Guangzhou saw that users are more willing to pay services offered by platforms, among which JD’s value-added services rank first among all e-commerce players in China. From Nov. 1st -10th , JD Auto Service, JD’s auto maintenance shops, saw car maintenance packages increase 118 times YOY, and orders for home cleaning services increased 3.5 times.

This Singles Day, JD launched or upgraded 20 different services. For example, several of JD’s categories supported an extended 30-day price guarantee. Third party merchants participating in the grand promotion on JD provided “refund + compensation” price protection services. JD’s first party pet food upgrading its trying program from seven to 30 days with a full refund. In addition, a portion of home decor categories extended its worry free return policy from seven to 30 days.

JD’s smart sentiment customer service support increased by 184% from Nov. 1-10 compared with the 11.11 period last year, of which queries handled purely by robots accounted for 90%, freeing up human staff for more complicated queries.

JD’s data capabilities allow for precise analysis of consumer groups, but just how precise? Here are a few tidbits by group during the first 9 days of  Singles Day shopping festival

  • New moms: Sales of maternal and child products bought by new dads increased 81% YOY
  • New dads: Sales of parenting books bought by new moms increased 123% YOY
  • Newly Graduated and New to the Workforce: Skin care sets, lipstick, presume, liquid foundation and shirts were the most popular products
  • Athletic and Active: Sales of yoga apparel, Pilates equipment, golf and tennis gear and dumbbells increased 407%, 368%, 177%, 150% and 134% YOY respectively.
  • Health Conscious: Sales of sugar free milk tea, low sugar cakes, low fat salad dressing, zero calorie coffee and tea beverages increased 815%, 721%, 658%, 245% and 214% YOY respectively.
  • Pet Lovers: Total amount of pet food items sold exceeded 3 million.
  • Jetsetters: Over one million users put travel gear in their shopping carts.

 

(ella@jd.com)

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