by Ella Kidron

JD CENTRAL (JDC) announced the release of a new benchmark to enable sellers to grow sustianably based on quality, price and service. The benchmark (referred to as QPS) was announced during the JOYFUL AWARDS ceremony the company hosted at its headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand on Feb. 25.

A total of 23 Thailand and international brands were honored, and their performance was based entirely on QPS. CEO of JD CENTRAL Vincent Yang, who announced the QPS benchmark in his keynote speech during the ceremony, explained: “Our awards aren’t about which sellers sold the most products, but about how they performed in terms of QPS. This is what creates real value – it’s not pure reliance on traffic and subsidies.“

Thai ready-to-drink milk brand Foremost was among the award recipients of the SUPER JOY AWARD. A Foremost representative said: “FOREMOST is committed to continue providing our quality products made of 100% cow milk to JD CENTRAL’s shoppers at special prices to enjoy the best shopping experiences on the JD CENTRAL platform.“

Foremost Thailand’s SUPER JOY AWARD

Even as COVID-19 put extreme pressure on Thailand’s GDP, JDC achieved 169% YOY growth in 2020.“ Our purpose of holding this event is threefold,” said Yang. “We want to provide sellers with a clear vision of where we are going, share with them what we have achieved, and articulate our competitive advantages going forward.”The company’s average revenue per user (ARPU) and basket size continues to increase. Continued strong performance is attributed to an ongoing commitment to the essence of retail, which can be measured by QPS.

(From left to right) JD CENTRAL CEO Vincent Yang, Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) senior vice president, Chatchai Khunpitiluck and JD CENTRAL CMO Korlap Suwacharangkul

Consumers have demand for e-commerce but they have been misguided by a market where there previously was not enough attention on quality and service. According to Yang, JDC is focused on enabling its sellers, but also offline partners through omnichannel models. “JD CENTRAL is not a typical e-commerce company,” explained Yang. “We want to grow together with and empower our partners.”

In addition to Yang, JD CENTRAL CMO Korlap Suwacharangkul, as well as Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) senior vice president, Chatchai Khunpitiluck spoke at the event to a room of sellers, and a local and international press corp who joined online. CMO Suwacharangkul provided a granular explanation to merchants of how to increase their QPS, in particular as it relates to product quality, attractiveness of promotions and prices, and services from pre-sales to aftersales.

DEPA representative Khunpitiluck shared that e-commerce in Thailand has grown significantly in the last several years, owing some of the growth in 2020 to living under a “new normal” as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. He emphasized the importance to promote SMEs and ensure they can benefit from e-commerce. Khunpitiluck also advocated for a range of measures to make it easier for SMEs to benefit from e-commerce and to protect the market from unequal competition, predatory pricing, and to reduce tax burdens among Thai entrepreneurs among other efforts.

Although the pendulum has increasingly swung in favor of e-commerce under COVID-19, e-commerce only accounts for roughly 5% of total retail sales in Thailand. This is not because of lack of internet access. The number of internet users continues to increase reaching 48 million in 2020, according to a data report by the Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission, the number of internet users in Thailand continues to increase, reaching 48 million in 2020.

JD CENTRAL CEO Vincent Yang

About JD CENTRAL

JD CENTRAL is a leading e-commerce and business retailer in Thailand and is a joint venture between Chinese retail giant JD.com and Thailand’s largest retailer Central Group.

JD CENTRAL officially began operating in 2018 and is a combination of direct-to-consumer and marketplace businesses. Its self-defined role as a digital enabler differentiates the company from most e-commerce players in Thailand, the second largest economy in Southeast Asia.

The company is the first online shopping platform in Thailand to claim to provide 100% authentic products, echoing the “zero-tolerance to counterfeits” promise of e-commerce parent JD.com. Before JDC entered the market in 2018, Thailand’s e-commerce market was made up consumer-to-consumer (C2C) players. Combining the forces of Thailand’s powerful offline retail conglomerate Central Group, with the long-term e-commerce expertise of JD.com, the company introduced the concept of an online mall with guaranteed quality. Thanks to its own and third party delivery resources, including eight self-built warehouses. Today it is able to cover the whole of Thailand with rapid delivery services.

 

 

(ella@jd.com)

by Rachel Liu

JD Worldwide, JD’s platform for imported products, held its first online conference this year on Feb 25 for potential partners and third-party companies, aiming to introduce more overseas brands to the platform. The online conference introduced the latest strategy of JDW and the new projects it is initiating to help overseas brands grow in China.

Through the conference, JD Worldwide hopes to convey that it is embracing brands around the world to join the platform, and will work with third-party companies to support the brands on operations, marketing and more to rise in the market, which has high potential.

Luke Liu, general manager of business development of JD Worldwide, introduced the new strategy of the business for 2021. “JD Worldwide is a young, vibrant and fast growing platform. We welcome more and more brands who want to explore the Chinese market to work with us, and will leverage our rich resources on supply chain, marketing and operations to empower the brands, providing customized solutions for brands based on their situations,” said Liu. JD Worldwide aims to work with 1,000 partners to reach 8,000 overseas brands in 2021.

JD Worldwide also introduced its new projects of 2021 that will help brands gain more exposure and maintain healthy growth. One of them is the “World Fair” project, which welcomes companies and organizations from all over the world to open National Pavilions on JD under the support of relevant governments and embassies, to provide high quality products, travelling and cultural information for customers. Other new projects include the development of the third-party ecosystem, celebrity endorsed stores, duty free stores, and more.

Founded in 2015, JD Worldwide now has over 20,000 brands and 10 million SKUs from over 100 countries. Any brands interested in building their business with JD in China can apply via https://www.jd.hk/cooperation_en, or by emailing worldwide_BD@jd.com and adding the “JDworldwideBD” account via Wechat.

According to the data of iiMedia Research, the transaction volume of China’s cross-border ecommerce business is estimated to reach RMB 12.7 trillion yuan, and the total number of cross-border ecommerce customers is estimated to surpass 200 million. The cross-border market in China is huge and has great potential. Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, many brands around the world have met difficulties to develop in local markets, and have taken action to enter the Chinese market.

 

(liuchang61@jd.com)

by Kelly Dawson & Martin Li

As Thailand continues its post-COVID recovery, JD’s joint venture in Thailand JD CENTRAL is positioned to support the local industry, said JDC CEO Vincent Yang during the JDC JOYFUL AWARDS held in Bangkok on Feb 25, to honor popular brands on the platform.

 

 

 

 

Yang delivered a key-note speech at the award ceremony. “I believe JD Central is the right partner to become the enabler for all Thai SMEs and brands. They can have this platform helping them to go through digital transformation. Since starting three years ago, we have evolved and so has our mission, because we believe in the transformative power of ecommerce and what can change Thailand for the better,” said Yang.

In addition to investing in ecommerce infrastructure, JD Central is committed to an omnichannel approach. “It’s not just about e-commerce but about omnichannel,” Yang said of the company’s strategy during the ceremony. “More and more brands will think about how to connect online & offline. This is why JD Central doesn’t just focus on e-commerce but also invests in offline retail.”

Even as COVID-19 has caused economic uncertainty, JDC achieved 150% YOY growth in 2020. Additionally, its average revenue per user (ARPU) and basket size continues to increase.

During the ceremony 23 awards were granted to top sellers based on the metric of QPS: Quality, Price and Service. Sellers who were honored will receive supportive measures that go directly toward helping them improve their QPS rating and drive sales.

Along with Yang, JDC CMO Korlap Suwacharangkul and Chatchai Khunpitiluck, Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) senior vice president spoke at the event to a room of sellers, and a local and international media audience who joined online.

Read more about the awards, and JD Central’s ongoing expansion here.

 

(kellydawson@jd.com, bjlihao3@jd.com)

by Kelly Dawson

JD.ID reiterated its commitment to support vulnerable groups among Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) during a meeting with Indonesian government officials.

As COVID-19 has propelled many businesses to go online, JD’s ecommerce joint venture in Indonesia JD.ID met with government officials this week to discuss the empowerment of  MSMEs and in particular those owned by vulnerable groups including women, minorities, elderly and those with disabilities.

“JD.ID as an e-commerce company will make every effort to provide its best support to help all MSMEs who are classified as vulnerable groups, namely women, disabilities, minorities, as well as the elderly, to continue to increase their sales through e-commerce platforms in realizing inclusive economic advancement which requires an evidence-based strategy which in the future can be used as mapping material for the government for economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic,” said JD.ID’s Chief Finance Officer Sandy Permadi.

Speaking of JD.ID’s support for MSMEs during the pandemic, Teten Masduki, Indonesia’s Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises said, “Online sales are a solution for MSMEs who can still run their business to continue to market their products in according with the Coronavirus prevention protocols.”

In order to support MSMEs, JD.ID is providing digitalization support, digital literacy training, learning opportunities for university students hoping to enter the industry, and more.

Additionally, JD.ID is opening opportunities for MSMEs to export products to China and helping connect small businesses with goods and capital suppliers.

 

(kellydawson@jd.com)