by Ling Cao

The epidemic has changed the consumption habits of consumers in China and worldwide, with online sales for fresh produce and other foods increasing during the pandemic when many offline stores were closed, and later continuing even as conditions stabilized.

“Our online sales are up dramatically. We’d been actively promoting our online sales for a couple of years and it really took off with the pandemic,” said Bill Dewey, head of public relations of Taylor Shellfish, one of the largest producers of farmed shellfish in the US in an interview with SeafoodSource. In December 2020, online sales for the company hit US $580,000, five times greater than sales in December 2019. According to the report, e-commerce has been a key component to Taylor’s resurgence.

In China, e-commerce players like JD have upheld social responsibility and increased online sales of fresh produce in a moment when more consumers are shopping online; and have also educated frozen food enterprises and restaurants who want to transition online.

JD shared four tips for them, related to the product supply chain, sales model, e-commerce team and logistics cooperation. Additionally, during the COVID-19 outbreak period, JD also launched a “catering retail alliance”  to help catering merchants expand their online businesses.

 

Strict food safety control

Even though online sales are a trend, selling during a pandemic isn’t an easy task. JD takes food safety as a high priority. It undergoes a strict disinfection process and nucleic acid testing of fresh produce during the whole fulfillment process. For imported food, JD requires merchants or supplies to provide the inspection and quarantine certificate from Customs before stocking items in the warehouses. Once products have entered the warehouses, JD will undergo an additional three rounds of disinfection and regular nucleic acid sample testing. For the last mile delivery, couriers will spray disinfectant on their vehicles and the package surfaces before finally depositing the packages on customers’ doorsteps by JD’s nationwide cold chain network, which now operates 50 warehouses that enable fulfillment in 300 cities.

Ye Kan, sales manager of meat products at JD Fresh shared, “On the one hand, we will continuously maintain a strict safety control process. On the other hand, we need to take further steps to resolve customers’ concerns. For example, we are continuing to update the nuclear acid testing reports and other related food safety certificates regularly and have made them easily accessible on the product description page.”

 

Tailored for those in need

While maintaining food safety is a baseline, the company also needs to sell the products that meet customers’ needs. Based on big data, JD understands customers’ pain points and then works with enterprises to develop products that match demand more precisely. Kan shared that they will regularly look at customer comments, popular key word searches and more.

For example, JD Fresh has designed a steak product specifically for JD’s PLUS members, with premium beef collections and packages. The product is very popular among PLUS members, with a 97% satisfaction rate. Kan and his team sourced another high-end steak based on customers’ enquiries seeking high-end steak from Australia.

Besides meat, the seafood sales team at JD Fresh are also trying to find new paths. “Under the COVID-19 situation, we saw ready-to-cook products are popular, which can soften customers’ concerns for buying fresh seafood, as well as release them from complex cooking processes. Going forward, this could be a new trend,” shared Yu Feng, sales manager of seafood at JD Fresh.

At JD Fresh, a range of seafood-related ready-to-cook products are popular, including scallop with vermicelli, fish with fermented vegetables and spicy crayfish. Local ready-to-cook specialties also saw a quick increase, such as fermented fish from An’hui and Buddha Jumps Over the Wall (Fotiaoqiang) from Fujian. Among them, Buddha-Jumps-Over-the-Wall witnessed significant sales growth during the 2020 Single’s Day Grand Promotion on JD as sales of the dish increased by over 4 times within only 5 minutes during the shopping event.

 

Win-win success

JD has also worked as a bridge to gather industry partners to achieve win-win success. Last November, JD Fresh formed an industrial alliance for aquatic products with over two hundred enterprises across the industry chain, covering brands, e-commerce players, and supply chain providers. The alliance aims to integrate resources to find more new opportunities within the industry, building a safer and more standard aquatic products ecosystem for customers.

Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is a member within the alliance. Xianglong Meng, its senior business manager of China programs said, “As the international standard institution representative, MSC will help promote sustainable fishing, and support JD Fresh’s supply chain building in sharing resources and applications.”

Like seafood, the fruit team also took great importance on partnering with industry players. One example are Chilean cherries. In December 2020, JD Fresh launched a premium alliance with cherry merchants who have opened third party stores on JD, aiming to source top quality cherries from Chile by leveraging JD’s high quality resources in supply chain, logistics and talent for first party fruits.

Xiaozhou Zhou, head of the fruits division at JD Fresh said, “We hope to empower our third party merchants with services, in order to provide a superior fruit shopping experience for customers.”

As one of the initiatives under the premium alliance with cherry merchants, JD also launched a C2M tailored cherry gift box decorated in red and featuring the zodiac ox, which aims to appeal to Chinese customers purchasing New Year’s gifts, while 2021 is the lunar year of ox. In addition, JD Fresh made a C2M gift box for PLUS members, tailored in volume, quality and package style by working with Chilean’s local farmers at the place of origin. The gift box is also a private label brand under JD, and is among the hot-selling products.

 

 

More ways to operate

Livestreaming was another avenue that enabled JD to promote fresh produce sales in 2020. Most recently, JD Fresh held a livestream to promote Chilean cherries, New Zealand kiwis, Philippine pineapples, Thai coconuts and more. Customers were active during the initiative, with one customer posting “like” 301 times, and several said they can’t wait to purchase fruits.

For another event in July, JD invited a series of entrepreneurs to join a livestream. Liang Zhang, general manager of e-commerce at the barbecue chain Hannashan joined JD’s livestream with the company’s executive chef. During the livestream, they taught customers how to cook delicious meat, driving up their sales of convenient barbecue meat products.

JD has been sourcing fruits directly from many countries, such as Chile, US, Australia, New Zealand, Egypt, Thailand and Canada. Yihong Wang, sales manager for imported fruits at JD Fresh said that the sales of the imported fruits still face challenges, such as not being able to go abroad for selecting products and communicating with suppliers in person. Wang shared, “Thanks to our long-time high quality suppliers and brands, with whom we have worked for several years, we could communicate and procure products smoothly via phone or email remotely when travel was suspended due to the pandemic.”

However, Wang and her team believe this isn’t enough. They also consistently think of new ways of operation. Leveraging JD’s supply chain capability, JD even worked with suppliers in Thailand to create its own coconut water brands and sold them to Chinese consumers, which were popular in markets.

Wang further explained why her team was able to operate smoothly under the COVID-19 situation. “We mainly work with major export suppliers overseas, which can ensure quality and stability. JD’s in-house logistics network and know-how for the Chinese market have gained reputation for overseas fruit merchants.” Wang added, “After working with JD, they don’t need to worry about the integrated service from warehousing to post-sales.”

 

Future outlook

The epidemic situation remains uncertain. As the nation’s major e-commerce player, JD has the responsibility to ensure the livelihood of many who depend on its deliveries. The company announced on Jan. 15 that it will increase its fresh produce inventory of daily necessities by 300% for residents of Beijing and Hebei. This comes as Hebei province recently saw a spike in COVID-19 cases.

No matter how things develop, the meat sales manager Ye Kan is optimistic about the future: “We should join hands together with industry partners and build up our own supply chain capability, as well as hold a responsible attitude to society.” Feng shared that local specialties across China hold great opportunity, and JD will consider how to cooperate in this field.

Feng from the seafood team thinks the industry is transforming to a more standard business model, in which the industrial alliance for aquatic products could play an important role.

While Wang from the fruit team eyes for purchasing more high-quality food worldwide in 2021, she shared, “During the epidemic, brands and merchants care more about online penetration, and this is a good opportunity for us to have a deeper cooperation with them, bringing more best-in-class fruits to Chinese customers.”

 

(ling.cao@jd.com)

by Yuchuan Wang

A JD all-cargo aircraft Boeing 737-300F took off in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia on Jan. 19, adding a provisional route from Inner Mongolia to Tianjin, to meet the increasing demand for meat products and secure in-time delivery during the Chinese New Year period.

Inner Mongolia produces the most mutton and is the second largest origin for beef in China. With the launch of the route, consumers in dozens of cities including Shanghai, Hangzhou and Guangzhou can receive their orders of Inner Mongolian beef and mutton in 24 hours, while consumers in over 200 cities will be able to receive orders in 48 hours.

Joining JD’s Tianjin-Wuxi and Tianjin-Shenzhen air cargo routes, the Hohhot-Tianjin route helps to connect Inner Mongolian meat products to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area, the Yangtze River Delta and the Great Bay Area of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau by air.

Over 200 beef and mutton merchants from Inner Mongolia have formed partnerships with JDL. “Logistics coverage, freshness and fulfillment timing are closely affecting our sales,” said a representative from Yunchuang E-commerce in Inner Mongolia. “JD Logistics has the advantages in these areas.”

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

 

by Rachel Liu

JD Worldwide welcomed the launch of the Sri Lanka National Pavilion on Jan. 21.

Sri Lanka National Pavilion will focus on providing the most iconic and high-quality products from the country, including gems, black tea and spicy products. The Sri Lanka National Pavilion will also focus on the popular gold coconut water and gold coconut slices from the country to bring the most special products to Chinese consumers. Besides shopping for exotic products, customers can also learn about the culture from the beautiful country.

Among the distinguished guests who joined the launch ceremony were Dr. Palitha T. B Kohona, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to China; Mr. Alexi Gunasekera, Commercial Minister of Embassy of Sri Lanka in China; Ms. Jessica Han, Commercial Officer of Embassy of Sri Lanka in China; and Larry Lee, Vice President of JD.com.

“For Sri Lanka, China is a massive opportunity, and we would like to continue to enter the Chinese market to a greater extent than what we are doing now,” said Dr. Kohona. “Sri Lanka sits in the middle of the Indian Ocean; therefore, it provides some of the most lucrative supply chains and markets that the world has ever seen. JD is doing remarkably well in the Chinese market as well as the international market. We hope our collaboration with JD can benefit both of our sides.”

Lee also expressed excitement about the launch. “We are honored to know that it is the first online National Pavilion of Sri Lanka in China authorized by the embassy. Under the guidance of Ambassador Kohona, a veteran diplomat and expert on international trade, and the joint effort by the embassy and JD Worldwide, I am sure the Sri Lanka National Pavilion will have a great future.”

During the China International Import Expo held in Shanghai in November 2020, JD Worldwide and the Embassy of Sri Lanka in China signed the agreement to jointly develop the National Pavilion on JD. JD’s capabilities in logistics, finance, supply chain and marketing have provided easy access for Sri Lankan brands to enter the Chinese market.

National Pavilion is an important project for JD Worldwide to introduce overseas products and culture to Chinese consumers. In November 2020, JD Worldwide launched the Peru Pavilion focusing on health supplements, alpaca products and quinoa. JD Worldwide will continue to optimize its quality control, after sale service and international logistics, to support more countries and international brands to expand their opportunities in China.

 

(liuchang61@jd.com)

by Ling Cao

JD.com has published a white paper on future technology trends on Jan. 21^st, which describes five key technology trends in AI, IoT, blockchain, automated system, and next-generation technology. It introduces JD’s technology applications in retail, healthcare, logistics, finance and smart cityand shows how JD’s efforts in building digital intelligent supply chain infrastructure based on the industrial internet has been put into use.

JD first raised its digital intelligent supply chain concept at the company’s 4^th annual tech summit, JD Discovery (JDD), held on Nov. 25, 2020 in Beijing. The concept revolves around three primary themes: Digitalization and intelligence, online-offline integration, and the strengthening of industry infrastructure. At JDD conference, JD’s CSO Dr. Jon Liao characterized JD’s next steps in supply chain development with a “5D” principle. He said supply chain should be constructed around deep tech, deep connectivity, deep data, deep intelligence and deep purpose. The white paper further elaborates on these ideas.

At JDD, Liao said, “JD eyes three long term objectives for the digital intelligent supply chain infrastructure: 1) Empower the retail economy, covering 1.5 billion customers across the globe and nearly 10 million enterprises, 2) improve efficiency among industries and help clients reduce inventory turnover rate by 30% on average and lower the costs of society’s logistics costs to less than 10%, and 3) promote environmentally friendly programs. JD aims to achieve a 50% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 compared with 2019.”

Yiming Wang, vice chairman of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE) and former vice president of the Development Research Center of the State Council (DRC) said of the future of supply chain development: “The digitalization and intelligence of supply chain is important for building a new development landscape, something that should be considered as a major task for enterprises.”

The paper pointed out that in the ten years, machine learning, machine vision, NLP under AI will achieve key breakthroughs, so as to enhance the reliability of AI. While with the rapid development of 5G and edge computing, IoT will be more popular.

Dr. Bowen Zhou, Chair of JD Technology Committee, IEEE Fellow said, “JD has already formed a technology system based on intelligent and digital supply chain, as well as opened up to third parties, to continuously optimize cost and efficiency.”

In the application case studies mentioned in the whitepaper, JD has applied omnichannel and C2M(Customer-to-Manufacturer) in smart retail sector.

In smart healthcare, JD aims at building a full life cycle healthcare management platform based on medical and healthcare supply chain and services.

In smart logistics, JD has applied technologies in warehousing and delivery, serving for not only JD’s internal business, but also partners beyond JD.

 

Download the whitepaper:

http://storage.jd.com/iso-ipa/file/%E6%8A%80%E6%9C%AF%E9%87%8D%E6%9E%84%E7%A4%BE%E4%BC%9A%E4%BE%9B%E5%BA%94%E9%93%BE-%E6%9C%AA%E6%9D%A5%E7%A7%91%E6%8A%80%E8%B6%8B%E5%8A%BF%E7%99%BD%E7%9A%AE%E4%B9%A6.pdf

 

(ling.cao@jd.com)

by Kelly Dawson

In China a famous saying binds two cities: “Above, there is heaven; below, there are Suzhou and Hangzhou” (上有天堂, 下有苏杭).  Residents of the two beautiful cities will likely stay put during the upcoming Chinese New Year, along with most of the country, as the pandemic continues.

Fortunately, in lieu of the usual family celebrations, consumers in these cities and elsewhere are still finding ways to express their love and warmth, making use of JD’s guaranteed express delivery leading up to and during the holiday period to send snacks and other gifts to loved ones working in other cities.

According to JD’s Big Data Research Institute, the number of “remote orders” of items purchased by consumers in Hangzhou and sent to people in other cities since Jan. 1 until now has increased by 42% YOY. Among the most popular items “sent” by these consumers are roasted seeds and nuts, biscuits, cakes, preserved meat and candied fruit. In Suzhou, remote orders during this period increased by 35% YOY, with top items including beverages, seafood, meat and tea.

Hangzhou residents were most likely to place remote orders to be sent to Ningxia, Shanghai, Jilin, Liaoning and Shandong, with popular products including West Lake lotus root starch, Zhiweiguan (知味观) pastry gift boxes, pecans and other specialty products. Meanwhile, Suzhou residents were most likely to place remote orders for Hebei, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Liaoning, with popular products including salted duck, Suzhou-style dim sum, crab, shrimp and other delicacies.

In both cities, remote orders of essentials such as rice, noodles and cooking oil increased by 30-50% YOY, which may be attributed to a desire to ensure loved ones are well fed and safe during a time when many families are separated.

Remote orders purchased in lower-tier cities and regions and sent to Hangzhou, Suzhou and other cities also increased, indicating that family members also wanted to demonstrate love for their children living away from their hometowns.

According to JD’s data, the number of remote orders sent to Suzhou increased by 50%, with most orders originating in Hubei, Shandong, Fujian and Sichuan provinces. Among these orders the most popular products were frozen foods, meat and dairy products, and specialty snacks from different regions. For example, remote orders from Hubei included local specialties including duck neck, brown glutinous rice cakes, nuts and more.

Hubei, Shandon and Fujian also ranked high among the areas that placed remote orders to be sent to Hangzhou, along with Jiangsu and Liaoning. Most of the orders sent to Hangzhou were convenient or frozen foods from those areas. For example, the most popular products purchased by remote order in Shandong included pork, fresh sea cucumber, Dezhou braised chicken, Zhoucun sesame cakes, and more.

JD Logistics announced that it will ensure delivery during the Chinese New Year period, for the ninth consecutive year. As the first logistics company in the country to offer this service, JD is now also expanding its delivery policy to include the first three days following New Year’s Eve, during which customers in 30 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, nearly 300 cities and 1,500 counties and districts can receive orders as fast as usual.

 

(kellydawson@jd.com)

by Ella Kidron

With the uptick in COVID-19 cases, many people working in China’s tier-1 cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen (colloquially known as Bei-Shang-Guang-Shen),  will spend their Chinese New Year holiday in the city where they work, rather than traveling elsewhere, such as to their hometowns. As JD Data indicates, however, this safety precaution has not precluded these people, from appreciating family and friends from afar.

Since New Year’s Day, to today, remote orders (defined as orders where the sender and recipient city differ) sent from Beijing had increased 52% YOY. Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen had seen remote orders increase 37%, 36% and 31% respectively. In Beijing, alcohol, tea, milk and other beverages, seafood, meat and condiments lead the pack, at least doubling YOY. In Shanghai, alcohol, seafood, and mid-to-high end candies and chocolates had at least quadrupled. In Guangzhou, top products include beverages, candy and chocolates, smoked meats, and more, where as in Shenzhen, white tea, cookies and cakes, drink mixes and milk that needs to be refrigerated are the top sellers.

It is clear that family members far away also want to let their children in the big cities know they are thinking about them. This is indicated by the fact that Beijing is the top city in China in terms of receipt of remote orders, many of which consist of local delicacies from across the country.

With the newly emerging COVID-19 cases, it is no surprise that remote orders placed for rice, flour, oil and other essentials are seeing a 30-50% increase in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, as people separated by distance seek peace of mind in knowing their loved ones will be able to get what they need.

For the ninth consecutive year, JD Logistics has committed to delivering throughout the Chinese New Year holiday period ensuring consumers can celebrate safely no matter where they are.

 

 

(ella@jd.com)

 

by Vivian Yang

Nearly 300 offline stores in Wuhan, Hubei province joined an omnichannel marketing campaign launched by JD and China’s tissue giant Vinda. The campaign started on Jan. 19, ahead of Chinese New Year.

Knowns as “JD Super Citywide Shopping” (超级全城购), the campaign is the first project of JD’s upgraded ominichannel strategy which aims to further integrate brand-led marketing activities into JD’s ecosystem, especially its offline merchants community.

No matter if customers prefer to shop in brick-and-mortar stores or on JD’s online platforms, such as JDDJ (a local on-demand retail platform), SEVEN FRESH(JD’s omnichannel supermarket）or the company’s social e-commerce apps, they will enjoy the same promotions and one-hour delivery service for orders placed online.

“We hope to help brands to increase touch points with customers,” said a spokesperson of the project. “The omnichannel format can also provide customers with more worry-free shopping experiences.”

JD is committed to provide delivery services for its customers during the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday from Feb. 11 to 18. The company has collaborated with a number of leading retail chains in China including Walmart, Better Life, Hualian and more, to provide one-hour delivery service for frequently-needed products during the holidays, such as fresh groceries, medicine and healthcare products, personal care and cosmetics, consumer electronics and more.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

by Ella Kidron

Over the last few days, several cases of COVID-19 have cropped up around Beijing. To support the epidemic prevention response in the capital, JD Logistics, along with Guangzhou Railway Group and China Railway Container Transport Co., Ltd., supported the transfer of goods from Guangzhou to Beijing (approx. 2,300 km via rail).

A train with 40-cars of containers of masks, disinfectant and medication, food and other epidemic prevention materials departed Guangzhou on Jan. 18 in the afternoon.

This is the first special train from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater bay area to aid Beijing with epidemic prevention materials this year. The goods were transferred from JD Logistics’ warehouses in Guangzhou and Foshan to Guangzhou Tangxi Railway Freight Yard.

Guangzhou Railway Group then set up a special train for the materials to be transported to Beijing’s Dahongmen Station, from which they will be promptly delivered to JD’s storage center and then out to Beijing residents by JD Logistics.

 

 

(ella@jd.com)