by Hui Zhang

Tom Dixon debuted its new lighting series on JD.com with VR accessibility during the Chinese New Year Grand Promotion from Jan. 20 to Feb. 12. JD is the first online platform in China to sell the lights, for which the design was inspired by Chinese lanterns and umbrellas.

In addition to participating in JD’s grand promotion to mark the upcoming Chinese New Year, the renowned British design and manufacturing brand specialized in lighting and furniture is also relying on JD’s 3DVR technology to move the brand’s offline stores online, bringing consumers an immersive shopping experience.

Consumers can not only appreciate the artwork-like products vividly, but also are allowed to turn on voice guidance to learn more about the product while listening to beautiful music.

Compared with regular categories such as apparel and bags, the size and shape of household products are more personalized and difficult to present completely with a flat view. Thanks to JD’s 3DVR technology, consumers can easily access the offline products without going outside during the pandemic, and are able to place an order online if they find any products they prefer.

JD sponsored Tom Dixon exclusively in November 2020 to support the brand participating in the 2020 “Design Shanghai” event. All of the art pieces presented were also available on JD. Additionally, Tom Dixon launched a flagship store on JD.com on May 30th, making JD the first e-commerce platform to partner with Tom Dixon in China.

“With more and more international household brands such as Tom Dixon, Italian trendy home design brand SELETTI and French leading brand for silver cutlery and silver accessories Christofle selecting JD to expand their business in China, JD has become one of the important destinations for Chinese consumers to choose high-end household products,” said Kevin Jiang, president of International Business at JD Fashion and Lifestyle.  “In the future, JD will also join hands with more brands to deliver beauty and refinement and create a more diversified, exquisite aesthetic for consumers.”

 

(zhanghui36@jd.com)

by Vivian Yang

JD Auto Services, JD’s omnichannel car maintenance store chain, announced that it will provide free anti-virus gift bags for customers who visited its 10 locations in Beijing from Feb 1 to 5. The pack will include PPEs such as masks, gloves, sanitizers, a guidebook of anti-virus measures for car users, and some new year celebration decorations.

“Given the reoccurrence of the virus in Beijing and people’s service demand in the lead up to the Spring Festival, we are also adapting our services to ensure customers can enjoy a healthy car environment,” said a spokesperson of JD Auto Services.

In addition, JD will roll out a number of car-care services in nearly 100 JD Auto Services stores in 7 cities before the Spring Festival, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Suzhou, Xi’an, Kunming and Chengdu.

Activities will include free-of-charge services for freeze point checking of the coolant, adding engine coolant, charging pole maintenance, electric vehicle rescue within 5 km of the store and more. Other promotional activities include buying 2L of windshield washer fluids at RMB 1 yuan, getting a whole car ozone sterilization service at RMB 9.9 yuan and more.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

By Vivian Yang

A book titled Will Drink Tea （《将饮茶》） by Yang Jiang (1911-2016), a well-known Chinese writer and translator, was auctioned at RMB 66,500 yuan on JD’s auction platform on Jan. 12, after 153 bidding rounds with a starting price of RMB 500 yuan. There are two pages of handwriting dedication between the cover and the title page by Yang and her husband, which makes this book a collectable item.  The inscriptions are poems expressing their mutual respect and appreciation.

Yang was the wife of late Chinese literary giant Qian Zhongshu (1910-1998), who is best known for his satirical novel Fortress Besieged （《围城》）, which is considered one of the masterpieces of twentieth century Chinese literature and widely recognized internationally.

Yang Jiang (left) and Qian Zhongshu

The couple became household names in China not only because of their literary achievements, but also because of their love, recounted through written stories about their relationship and family. In the auctioned book, Madame Yang wrote about how she met and fell in love with Qian, and how they supported each other during their studies in the UK and France from 1935 to 1937, and during the decade-long turbulent period in China from 1966 to 1976.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

by Vivian Yang

JD Auction is offering exclusive collectables autographed by the soccer superstar Lionel Messi and former NBA superstar Yao Ming for public bidding on Jan. 19.

Messi’s items are 3 jerseys and a soccer ball, all signed by the captain of both the Argentina national team and Barcelona football club. The three different jerseys, with a starting bidding price of RMB 9,900 yuan each, include two Argentina national team’s uniforms for home and away matches, and a Barcelona FC shirt. The soccer ball, with a starting price of RMB 6,600 yuan, was previously for the club’s match use.

Approaching the age of 34, the soccor player has created a lot of beautiful memories for people around the world. For his fans in China, his memorabilia would be a perfect gift for the upcoming Chinese New Year.

Another collectable item that will be offered on JD Auction at the same time is a signed basketball by Yao Ming, the legendary player, starting at a price of RMB 6,600 yuan.

As Chinese people are encouraged to stay where they work for Spring Festival holidays from Feb. 11 to 17 to reduce the possibility of being infected with the coronavirus, many fans in China will likely watch the 2021 NBA all-star game at home. The game will be held Feb. 13 to 15.

“We hope to add some color to the home life of those sports fans during this year’s holiday,” said a spokesperson of JD Auction. “These collectables are very special and rare gifts for the new year.”

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

by Rachel Liu

JD Auction and Yongle Art Space, operated by leading Chinese entertainment company YL Entertainment & Sports, are jointly holding an auction season with an offline pre-exhibition and online auction festival from Jan. 18 to 29. The collectible toys from iconic brand BE@RBRICK will join the auction, as well as Chinese painting and calligraphy, antiques, modern art works, watches and jewelry.

Hot-selling products from BE@RBRICK that will be auctioned on JD include BE@RBRICK x Beckoning Cat, BE@RBRICK X Jean-Michel Basquiat 3, BE@RBRICK X Hajime Sorayama with autography, BE@RBRICK X Basquiat #3 and more. Popular among streetwear fans, BE@RBRICK is a collectible toy designed and produced by Japanese company MediCom. The brand is famous for its collaborations with various artists ranging from graffiti artist, visual artists, fashion designers, streetwear artists and more.

Besides BE@RBRICK, the auction season also presents incense burners and tea pots from Japan, traditional Chinese art objects, such as Chinese paintings Plum Blossom by Xiangning He(1878-1972), a female artist of the 20^th century and wife of Liao Zhongkai(1877-1925), a close friend of Dr. Sun Yat-sen , and Bamboo by Shouping Dong, who is famous for his paintings of bamboos and plum blossoms.

The auction festival is held ahead of Chinese New Year, providing a new option for customers on gift-giving during the holiday. Plus, JD’s 2021 Chinese New Year promotion will kick off this Wednesday, Jan. 20, with various kinds of products, interactive activities and continuous logistics service to help consumers enjoy an abundant and convenient CNY.

 

(liuchang61@jd.com)