Sep 22, 2020|
JDD IPO Perspectives: JD Digits by the Numbers
by Vivian Yang
JD Digits filed its IPO papers on the Star market in Shanghai on September 11th. Here is a quick summary of some key figures in its over 400-page prospectus:
The first: JD Digits’ IPO is widely expected to be the biggest digital technology IPO on the Star market. The company adopts a TIE (Technology + Industry + Ecosystem” service model focusing on providing comprehensive digital solutions to businesses. It is the first digital technology provider to join over 4,000 listed companies on China’s A-share market.
RMB 10.327 billion yuan is the revenue JD Digits reported in 1H 2020. In the past three years from 2017 to 2019, its annual revenues were RMB 9.07 billion, RMB 13.616 billion and RMB 18.203 billion respectively, with a compound annual growth rate of 41.6%, a heavy-weight for the one-year-old Star market.
239.05%: Though innovation businesses only account for 5.57% of the total revenues, they grew fast in the past three years with a compound annual growth rate(CAGR) of 239.05%. These emerging businesses mainly target providing digital solutions to city governments and other clients (as opposed to its many merchants and financial institution clients) in the areas of intelligent cities, digital agri-husbandry, digital marketing and more.
Numbers of clients: Currently JD Digits has 600 financial institution clients including commercial banks, insurance companies, funds, trusts and securities companies. It has served one million small and micro enterprises, 200,000 small and medium-size enterprises and 700 large business centers with its business and technology solutions. In terms of government and other client services, JDD has served more than 40 urban public service organizations with the smart city operating system as its core product. It has a huge IoT marketing platform with over 15 million self-operated and alliance media points, covering more than 300 cities and more than 600 million people.
15.67% is the R&D spending as a percentage of revenue for JD Digits in 1H 2020.This percentage is higher than over 80% of companies listed on the Star market, and makes JDD rank among the top 5% of companies on the A-share market. The company steadily increased its R&D spending, reaching RMB 1.078 billion yuan, RMB 1.743 billion yuan, RMB 2.567 billion yuan respectively in the past three years and RMB 1.619 billion yuan for the first half of 2020 alone.
70%: By June 30th,2020, among JD Digits’ 9,989 employees, 70% are R&D personnel and staff in technology-related positions. The company targets hiring world-class talent, and so far, has gathered over 40 top-notch scientists from all over the world who work focus on AI and exploring the commercial value of technology and its products. More than 100 top technology experts are leading work on industrial-level applications of cutting-edge technologies such as machine learning, deep learning, knowledge graph, computer vision, voice and natural language processing.
72%: 72% of the funds raised during this IPO will be directly used for technology-related projects, especially for the expansion and upgrading of main business, and continuing to build up its R&D strength to stay ahead of the technological curve.
The post-90s generation: talented young people are the absolute main force for JD Digits. The prospectus showed that over 95.5% of JDD’s employees are born after 1980 with 48.7% of them belong to the post-1990 generation.
And many more “firsts”: The 400-page prospectus listed a number of JD Digits’ business breakthroughs in its seven years of development. Many of the company’s achievements are also industry milestones, including being the first in China to introduce JD IOU (白条), a credit product on the internet; the first to issue consumer finance ABS; the first to create smart asset management technology solution products; the first to adopt blockchain in ABS issuing; the first to develop intelligent city operating system for China’s cities and more.
Sep 27, 2024|
Leveraging AI to Drive Innovation, Reduce Costs, and Create Jobs: Insights from JD.com’s Chief Economist
At the 2024 FORTUNE Global 500 Summit in Guangzhou on September 26th, Dr. Shen Jianguang, Chief Economist of JD.com, shared how the company utilizes AI to transform its operations across retail, logistics, and more, while driving significant workforce expansion. “By integrating advanced technologies throughout our business, JD.com has more than tripled its workforce in the past six years from 180,000 to 620,000, all while increasing salaries,” Dr. Shen explained during the panel discussion titled “‘Changes and Opportunities’—Chief Economists’ Perspectives.”
AI tools have enabled JD.com to boost efficiency and elevate the customer experience. For example, JD’s AI-driven digital human livestream hosts have helped over 5,000 brands increase off-peak hours’ sales conversion rates by 30%. Additionally, AI-powered customer service representatives offer more personalized support, and logistics couriers use AI to deliver packages faster and with greater sustainability.
JD.com’s customer service representatives
“The competition in China is so fierce, and that’s what drives innovation—you have to innovate to survive,” said Dr. Shen, underscoring the role of innovation in reducing costs and increasing productivity. This is especially crucial in China’s e-commerce landscape, where consumers are becoming more price-conscious. “Consumers are looking for the ‘extreme quality-to-price ratio,’ meaning they want high-quality products at lower prices,” he added. At the same time, Dr. Shen noted a growing trend in rural and lower-tier markets, where significant growth opportunities are emerging.
Dr. Shen also discussed China’s recent economic stimulus packages. “Policy initiatives are important. When people perceive a shift in policy, the market responds,” he said, referring to the government’s subsidies for home appliance trade-ins introduced earlier this year. This program has stimulated demand for affordable, high-quality products, as reflected in the increased sales of subsidized items.
Guangzhou, the host city for the summit, launched a new round of consumer goods trade-in subsidies on September 1st, positioning online platforms like JD.com as essential providers of seamless trade-in services. Over 800 home appliance brands have partnered with JD.com in Guangzhou, offering more than 8,500 products. Additionally, JD.com is working with its brand partners on a Customer-to-Manufacturer (C2M) model, leveraging consumer insights to drive innovation for more tailored products.
JD.com provides one-stop trade-in services for home appliances and home goods
The panel discussion featured Dr. Shen alongside Minggao Shen, Global Chief Economist at GF Securities, and Robin Xing, Chief China Economist at Morgan Stanley, with FORTUNE Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell moderating. The panelists agreed that while AI is still in its early stages, its potential is vast. With China’s stimulus policies and a functioning capital market, the private sector is well-positioned to unlock considerable industrial and social value.
JD.com ranked #47 on the 2024 Fortune Global 500, moving up five spots from the previous year. Guided by its mission to “Make Lives Better through Technology,” the company remains committed to cost management, operational efficiency, and enhancing user experiences, while continuing to invest in employee development and upskilling to foster both business growth and workforce advancement.
(vivian.yang@jd.com)
Sep 13, 2024|
JD.com Showcases Cutting-Edge Supply Chain Innovations at 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS)
JD.com unveiled its latest digital supply chain technology advancements at the 2024 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS), held in Beijing from September 12 to 16. As a global partner of CIFTIS for the fifth consecutive year, JD.com demonstrated its commitment to driving digital transformation across industries. Notably, JD Cloud’s digital human powered by its ChatRhino (or Yanxi in Chinese) large language model (LLM) and JD Health’s Dermatology Service Platform were recognized with the “China Service Practice Case” and “Innovation Demonstration Case” awards, respectively.
JD Cloud’s ChatRhino AI digital human, a pioneering innovation in the field, played a key role during JD.com’s 618 Shopping Festival, becoming the first large-scale commercialized digital human in the industry. Developed entirely in-house, ChatRhino has supported over 5,000 brands, increased off-peak hours’ conversion rates by over 30%, and logged more than 400,000 hours of live streaming with a reach of over 100 million viewers and more than five million user interactions, the digital human has driven over RMB 10 billion in gross merchandise value.
In April 2023, JD Health launched China’s first online skin hospital, featuring over 6,000 registered doctors, including more than 3,500 from top-tier hospitals. Using JD Health’s Jingyi Qianxun (京医千询) LLM, the platform integrates vast medical expertise to deliver smart diagnostic support. The Dermatology Service Platform streamlines the diagnostic process at every stage of patient care, improving treatment efficiency while maintaining the highest standards of medical care.
At CIFTIS 2024, JD.com also introduced several breakthrough retail technologies, including JD.Vision, an early native application for Apple Vision Pro; Jingyan （京言）, an AI assistant for e-commerce; and Jingdiandian （京点点）, an AIGC-powered content generation platform. JD Logistics presented a virtual logistics park leveraging digital twin technology to simulate operations such as storage, packaging, sorting, and highlighted carbon-neutral logistic park practices. JD Industrials launched the “TAIPU”(太璞) digitally intelligent supply chain solution, tailored to optimize demand, procurement, fulfillment, and operations for industrial products. Additionally, JD Finance presented its suite of digital financial products and services, including consumer finance, payments, and wealth management.
JD’s exhibition also highlighted its digital and physical supply chain integration advancements across various business sectors. Key initiatives included cross-border e-commerce operations through JD Worldwide, omnichannel retail by ochama (JD.com’s Europe-based brand), country-specific online flagship stores known as JD National Pavilions, and on-demand retail and instant delivery service under JD NOW. These innovations attracted significant attention and reinforced JD.com’s leadership in advancing the digital transformation of supply chains.
(vivian.yang@jd.com)
JD And China Telecom To Deepen Cooperation On Supply Chain
