Oct 27, 2020|
JD’s Data on New and C2M Product Consumption
by Hui Zhang
JD released a data report on overall consumption trends related to this year’s new products and consumer-to-manufacturer (C2M) products, and outlined how JD.com helps brands drive sales by co-developing products in a bid to meet consumers’ demands.
Released by JD’s Big Data Research Institute on Monday, the report described how consumption of new products has become a major force assisting China’s post-pandemic economic recovery. Driving this trend are people younger than 40 years old with strong spending power, who are increasingly interested in products that can represent their personalities and preferences.
Big Data Behind New Products
A leading international research company found that while there were thousands of new products launched in the U.S. market in 2014, only seven of them were able to achieve sales of more than $100 million in that year— and it would take another year for about 70% of them to achieve significant sales growth. However, a majority of the new products launched in 2020 in China have been quickly and widely accepted by consumers within only a few months, with the help of e-commerce platforms.
A variety of big data provided by e-commerce platforms helps brands better understand their target consumers, and thus co-develop products to contribute to sales growth.
JD’s data show that the number of new product launches in one month in 2020 exceeded the entire year of 2018, and the number of new product launches in the first three quarters of 2020 is already close to 200% of the number launched in 2019.
Young Consumers Contributing New Product Consumption
According to the report, people who are younger than 40 years old accounted for 85% of new product purchases, with millennials and Gen Z (born after 1995) having the most significant growth. Unlike their parents, the new generation of consumers pay more attention to products’ appearance, designs, background stories, and the overall culture. Computers, mobile phones and other electronic appliances are favored by young people.
New products have become an important way to attract consumers and promote consumption growth. The C2M cooperation model connects the consumer side and the supply side, further accelerating economic recovery.
C2M Cooperation
Nielsen’s report on consumption trends in the home appliances business showed that JD’s supply chain capabilities have helped to improve communication efficiency between brands and consumers by integrating big data and AI to co-develop C2M products with brands.
For example, JD and Xiaomi jointly launched a new C2M mobile phone exclusively on JD: The Redmi K30 5G Racing version. In the first two minutes following the phone’s release on May 14th, sales had already surpassed RMB 10 million yuan, with a unit price of RMB 1999.00 yuan. Over 10,000 phones were sold in 11 minutes, and over 20,000 phones were sold that day.
In addition to Xiaomi, JD also works with many other well-known companies such as LG, Mars, and Mead Johnson to co-develop C2M consumer-driven products.
In cooperation with Lenovo, both sides set up a B2M platform leveraging JD’s big data, nationwide logistics and supply chain to enable enterprise clients on JD to submit individual needs, based on which Lenovo can design and manufacture customized products accordingly.
“What we talked about the most with foreign supply chain partners is just the price, while the cooperation between JD and Lenovo always focuses on consumers’ demands, which help us co-develop the products that meet consumers’ needs,” said Weichang Li, general manager of Lenovo’s PC Consumption department.
“The data analysis provided by JD has brought great help to Lenovo’s product design and helps us target the consumers more accurately and provide the right products for them,” Li added.
Apr 29, 2024|
JD.com Teams Up with Brands to Launch “Trade-in Alliance for Household Appliances and Home Goods”
JD.com recently announced the “Trade-in Alliance for Household Appliances and Home Goods” in collaboration with over 100 renowned brands. This initiative, unveiled on April 27, aims to expand and enhance trade-in services across China and has already been successfully implemented in 20 provinces and cities.
The Trade-in Alliance allows consumers to access JD’s trade-in services for an extensive range of products, covering over 200 subcategories including TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, and more. The initiative caters to a growing demand, with more than 16 million users leveraging JD’s platform since 2023 to exchange their old household items for new ones. This represents a 200 percent increase in first-time users year-on-year.
To further enhance the customer experience, JD.com has introduced the “Three Free & Four Unlimited” trade-in service. This service includes complimentary door-to-door pickup, disassembly, and handling of old goods. Additionally, it places no restrictions on the trade-in items regarding their original purchase channel, brand, age, or condition. With just four simple clicks on the JD app, users can receive generous discounts from their old goods and enjoy the convenience of JD’s one-stop trade-in services.
JD.com also utilizes its logistical strengths to extend these services to even the most remote areas of China. For instance, customers living in Tibet at an elevation of 4,300 meters can now easily access JD’s trade-in options, including doorstep delivery and recycling of old appliances.
The Trade-in Alliance is built on six foundational pillars: service capabilities, brand support, marketing initiatives, industry chain synergies, omni-channel development, and category cooperation. By fostering closer partnerships with leading brands in the household appliance and home goods sectors, JD.com is setting a new standard for hassle-free trade-in services, offering unparalleled convenience and value to consumers nationwide.
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.
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