by Ling Cao
Chinese New Year (CNY) meals provided by JD.com’s omnichannel supermarket SEVEN FRESH were popular among customers during the CNY festival. Items high in demand include ready-to-cook meal gift boxes and meal packages, which include Boston lobsters, steamed fish, as well as cooked crabs.
by Yuchuan Wang
Twenty-one papers from JD Technology, a business group under JD.com providing technology-driven industrial services, were accepted by Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) 2021, one of the world’s leading AI conferences. The conference was held virtually from Feb. 2-9.
JD Technology’s papers cover research areas including computer vision, federal learning, adversarial learning, deep learning, sequential recommendation, social recommendation, graph neural networks, casual interference, spatial AI and more. The papers related to industries including retail, smart city, agriculture, robotics and others.
Founded in 1979, the AAAI, is an international nonprofit scientific society devoted to promoting research in, and the responsible use of artificial intelligence. It is regarded as the wind indicator of the future development of AI.
According to Professor Kevin Leyton Brown, Co-Chair of the conference, AAAI 2021 saw over 9,000 paper submissions, of which 1,692 were accepted.
JD Technology’s papers accepted by AAAI 2021
As a technology and service provider, AI is at the core of JD’s technology research and applications. As of Jan. 2021, JD Technology published about 350 papers on leading AI conferences including AAAI, IJCAI, CVPR, KDD, NeurIPS, ICML, ACL and ICASSP. The company has established AI labs with Stanford University and the University of Science and Technology of China to carry out IUR (industry-university-research) practices in AI.
by Vivian Yang
Sales of exam preparation books for China’s college entrance examination(Gaokao) saw a spike on JD Books as China just confirmed on Feb 20 that the national exams for 2021 will be held on June 7 and 8.
Gaokao in China never fails to become a heated social topic each year. The decision to hold the Gaokao at its normally scheduled time in June reflected the country’s confidence in controlling the virus spreading. Last year, the exam was postponed by one month due to COVID-19.
According to China’s Ministry of Education, the exam will be the biggest organized collective event since the pandemic outbreak, gathering more than 10.7 million candidates in 400,000 exam rooms in more than 7,000 venues across the country.
“The announcement gave all Gaokao candidates a sense of urgency,” noted a representative of JD Books, adding that the demand of relevant books keeps growing despite the Lunar New Year Holiday from Feb 11 to 18, which was amid students’ winter vacation.
Meanwhile, propelled by the Gaokao’s increasing emphasis on extensive readings, rather than rote learning, classic literature books are gaining increasing popularity among young readers. For instance, the Top 10 bestsellers on JD Books during the holiday period included well-known sci-fi series The Three-Body Problem （三体）, influential Chinese novel Ordinary World （平凡的世界）, and the popular history book series on the internet 30 Minutes of Chinese History / World History in Illustration and（半小时漫画中国史/世界史), all of which are highly useful extracurricular reading selections for students.
As China’s leading book-selling platform, JD Books offers comprehensive education products and services for customers in different age groups and on all kinds of subjects, throughout K-12 and beyond to adult education. During this year’s winter school break, JD Books offered more than 5 million products in promotion and proposed 40 reading suggestion lists at the disposal of different types of student readers to facilitate their learning needs.
by Ling Cao
“Since 2017, we have cooperated with Hommy, one of JD’s private label brands focusing on home furnishing to create over 100 products, with a 90% success rate for new product development, and annual sales reaching RMB 15 million,” shared Weiyuan Zhou, the e-commerce manager at Linkfair, in an interview with Chinese domestic media New Business Trend. Linkfair is a Guangdong-based manufacturer or stainless steel cookware, aluminum cookware and smart appliances.
For a long time, Linkfair was mainly an export-oriented manufacturing business, whose domestic market accounts for only 10% of its total sales. With the complex COVID-19 situation as well as the government’s advocate for dual-circulation, Linkfair has seen a chance to expand in the domestic market.
The company previously had less experience and know-how regarding customers’ consumption habits in China. Zhou shared, “For example, people in Europe and the UK will tend to buy a set of pots with different sizes, while Chinese customers prefer to buy just one specific and suitable pot. This forced us to redesign our products.”
With the help of JD, Linkfair was able to understand customer profiles and shopping preferences more accurately, enabling the company to design more suitable products. Additionally, JD will open up its experience in e-commerce operation, sales forecasting, warehousing and logistics, marketing and after-sale service to Linkfair and other partners.
As Xutao Xie, general manager at Feibang, a Zhejiang-based fitness equipment manufacturer that also cooperated with JD’s private label brands said, “Going forward, after the product has been produced, we will have JD to handle all of the next steps.”
Zhou’s team has also gradually gained experience from JD after the long-term partnership, he said. “The cooperation is very effective, and has helped us increase sales growth by 50% to 70% annually.”
After over two years of exploration, JD has created four private label brands focusing on different categories and markets, as well as over 8,000 SKUs (stock keeping units), including Jing Zao, a comprehensive brand; LATIT, focusing on sports-related products; and Huixun (literally means “seeking discounts”), which targets customers from lower-tier markets, as well as Hommy. In 2020, sales of JD’s private label brands increased 200% YOY.
“Leveraging JD’s supply chain, brand awareness and technology-driven capabilities, JD hopes to join hands with partners together to focus on creating a value chain in the industry, helping manufacturers undergo digital transformation,” said Xiaosong Wang, senior vice president of JD.com and head of JD Original, JD’s private label brands department, during a partner conference at JD’s headquarters held in last December.
On Feb. 9, JD began the voluntary transportation of China’s COVID-19 vaccine in Yizhuang, the Economic-Technological Development Area in the south of Beijing. JD will handle the last-mile delivery of the vaccine from a government-designated transfer warehouse to the vaccination points in the area.
JD.ID released a video campaign on Feb. 11 that celebrates new chances and challenges that have been overcome, after Indonesia faced a difficult start to 2021 including massive flooding, a devastating earthquake and the ongoing pandemic. As recovery efforts ramp up, JD.com’s e-commerce joint venture in Indonesia JD.ID will donate 3,000 items of clothing and other necessities to victims of the disasters, and has been raising money for the victims and toward disaster relief efforts.
On Feb. 9, Junkui Zhu, a JD courier from Xi’an received a Wuling Sunshine van from the company. In recognition of frontline couriers, JD has awarded a special year-end bonus to over 10 couriers in China, with Wuling Sunshine vans, to honor their good performance in collecting orders in the second half of 2020.
JD Home Appliance flagship stores have launched a New Year’s celebration event in which locations will stay open through the holiday across nine cities, including Nanjing, Suzhou, Xuzhou, Kunming, Bengbu, Ma’anshan, Jiaozuo, Deyang and Xiangtan.
JD opened an imported liquor bar JD YOUNG in Xiamen, providing free taste before purchase. At 200 square meters, the bar can provide customers with an omnichannel experience, allowing them to enjoy drinks at the bar, and purchase them in-store or online. By using JD’s Omnichannel Fulfillment system, JD can deliver to consumers in as fast as 28 minutes.
by Kelly Dawson
After Indonesia faced a difficult start to 2021 including massive flooding, a devastating earthquake and the ongoing pandemic, JD.ID is looking to the future with renewed resolve, releasing a video campaign that celebrates new chances and challenges that have been overcome.
A montage of excited faces is seen, each person reacting as a package is opened, with every item representing a new chance to “reassemble a dream,” the video states.
According to a JD.ID spokesperson, the video was inspired by a hope that the new year may bring chances for people to finally achieve the goals that were set aside in 2020. “Because of the events of 2020, many people’s plans were cancelled and postponed, bringing a lot of disappointment,” the spokesperson said. “Now, as we face 2021 and also the Year of the Ox after the recent Lunar New Year, we would like to start the year with resolution and a goal to help people achieve a joyful moment.”
Also seen in the video are JD.ID couriers, warehouse workers and customer service representatives hard at work. Their shirts read, “Make joy happen,” along with JD.ID’s guiding principles: #Ownership, #CustomerFirst, #Integrity, #Gratitude, and #Collaboration.
In order to support people’s goals, JD.ID aims to offer reliable service, continuous communication to better understand customers’ needs, and to provide a sense of comfort and safety, the spokesperson said. “We can make joy happen this year.”
by Rachel Liu
JD Home, JD.com’s offline retail experience store chain, and Chinese mobile phone brand realme have achieved ominchannel supply chain cooperation, including setting up realme counters in JD Home stores, realme providing exclusive new products to JD’s offline stores, big data and supply chain sharing and more.
Through working with JD Home, JD can help realme and other digital brands introduce more traffic and resources offline and expand the offline and lower-tier markets through online and offline integrated marketing. JD Home’s high-quality after-sale service and “one-hour delivery” service also supports many mobile phone brands to earn customers.
Besides realme, brands including Xiaomi, Honor, and OnePlus also opened counters in JD Home stores, and enjoyed JD’s support on traffic and supply chain for better sales performance. Working with JD Home provides brands with high-quality offline channels, saving time and energy for brands to build offline channels. Take Xiaomi for example, the performance in JD Home stores has greatly exceeded the brands’ expectations.
“After transferring my store into a JD Home store, I began to do omnichannel marketing, in which the online and offline traffic supplement each other. Soon after, I saw sales of the store doubled that month,” said the owner of a JD Home store.
Joining JD Home for omnichannel innovations can bring benefits for all parties. For brands and retailers, the online and offline integrated marketing has increased the sales performance of brands. For JD, working with leading mobile phone brands also improved its ability in marketing and innovations. For customers, experiencing products offline and enjoying the price and service equal to online has become a trendy way of shopping, and they can now enjoy more new and exclusive products in JD Home stores.
by Kelly Dawson
As recovery efforts ramp up, JD.com’s e-commerce joint venture in Indonesia JD.ID will donate 3,000 items of clothing and other necessities to victims of the disasters, and has been raising money for the victims and toward disaster relief efforts.
Since the start of 2021, Indonesia has experienced series of natural disasters, including massive flooding that collapsed bridges and killed at least 15 people in the South Kalimantan region; a devastating earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 on the Richter scale in the WestSulawesi region that led to at least 105 deaths; and finally, two landslides on the island of Java that saw 18 housing units swept away and at least 18 deaths. This all followed on the heels of COVID-19.
“JD.ID together with our long-term partner, Kitabisa.com, hopes that many victims can be helped and that many burdens can be alleviated through our actions,” said CEO of JD.ID Li Zhang. “So it brings joy and a glimmer of hope in Banjarmasin, Majene, Mamuju, and Sumedang. Let’s work together for them.”
Created in partnership with the fundraising platform Kitabisa.com, the program is titled JD Peduli #JDfor ID Banjarmasin, Majene, Mamuju and Sumedang (the names of the impacted cities), and is empowering JD.ID customers to participate in fundraising efforts during a time when the country has been pulling together to recover from the disasters.
Those who wish to donate can do so through JD.ID when making purchases of products marked “JDforID,” or directly on Kitabisa.com where special pages have been set up for the efforts, titled #JDforID Banjarmasin, Majene, Mamuju and Sumedang. The platform is equipped for various payment methods.
JD.ID has also recently released a video campaign pledging its commitment to supporting its customers, in a year when people hope to finally go after dreams deferred during the pandemic and as a result of the recent disasters.
“With the main mission of the company “Make Joy Happen”, JD.ID longs to not only be an online shopping platform that is safe, comfortable, and enjoyable for customers, but to be a platform that brings joy in various aspects of people’s lives, especially social and human aspects,” said Zhang.
The campaign will be concluded at the end of March 2021, with all donations handed over directly to organizations in charge of social assistance in the affected areas.
