JD.com officially kicked off its annual 618 Grand Promotion, marking the company’s anniversary and China’s largest mid-year shopping festival, at 8:00 PM on May 31. Brands including Apple, Midea, Haier, Xiaomi, China Gold, Huawei, Little Swan, Gree, Hisense, TCL, and others quickly saw transaction volumes surpass RMB 100 million. By midnight, over 10,000 brands experienced a more than fivefold increase in transaction volume. Additionally, the number of new merchants with transaction volumes exceeding RMB 1 million grew by 45 times compared to the previous month.

In the first hour between 20:00 and 24:00 alone, orders in the “10-Billion-Yuan Discount” channel increased by 50% year-on-year The “9.9-Yuan Items with Free Shipping” channel attracted over 100 times more shoppers, with more than 75% of these consumers coming from third-tier or lower-tier cities.

During the first four hours, the number of viewers for JD’s livestreaming increased by 460% year-on-year, and orders from livestreaming sessions hosted by JD’s professional procurement and sales teams surged by 300% compared to Single’s Day in 2023. JD’s technological infrastructure, particularly the “Digital Representative” solution powered by JD Cloud’s ChatRhino, was utilized in over 5,000 brand livestreaming rooms.

JD.com’s nationwide intelligent logistics centers secures fast delivery for consumers. By midnight, the majority of the orders had been processed and shipped by JD’s automated warehouses. Consumers in multiple cities began receiving their orders within ten minutes, while consumers in hundreds of cities will receive their products on the morning of June 1.

Key Data Highlights from 8:00 PM to Midnight on May 31, 2024: 

• AI Hardware Products: Transaction volume of AI computers, AI mobile phones, and AI learning devices increased by 260% year-on-year in the first hour year.
• Emerging Product Categories: Transaction volume of products such as folding screen phones, open-ear headphones, smart health watches, OLED displays, NAS network storage, and high-power charging devices grew by over 100% within the first hour.
• Home and Home Appliances: Transaction volume of new products from over 700 home and home appliance brands increased by over 100%.
• Personal Care and Baby&Mother Products: brands like L’OCCITANE and Pampers saw a sixfold increase in transaction volume year-over-year.
• Fashion and Beauty Brands: Transaction volume for Nike, UR, and other over 2,800 other fashion and beauty brands increased by over 100% year-on-year.
• Luxury Brands: Transaction volume of LOEWE increased by 250%,, Tiffany & Co. by 100%, and Alexander Wang by 450% year-on-year.
• Electric Bike Services: Orders for battery installation and recycling services for electric bikes increased by 350% year-on-year.
• Medical Devices for Seniors: Transaction volume of medical devices designed for seniors increased by 130% year-on-year.
• Cross-Boarder E-Commerce: More than 180 brands on JD Worldwide, JD.com’s cross-border and import business, saw transaction volume increase by 100% year-on-year.
• Imported Alcohol: Transaction volume for Penfolds and Remy Martin increased by four times year-on-year.
• ochama in Europe: JD’s omni-channel retail brand in Europe saw a 276% year-on-year increase in orders in the first hour.
• Digital Representative: JD Cloud’s LLM, ChatRhino, was applied in over 5,000 brands’ livestreaming rooms.
• JD Logistics in Hong Kong and Macao: Orders increased by approximately 100% year-on-year.

(press@jd.com)

JD.com is set to energize the retail landscape with its 2024 JD618 Grand Promotion. Announced at a press conference on May 28th, this year’s shopping festival will officially kick off on May 31 at 8:00 PM. The event will see immediate sales, bypassing the traditional pre-sale phase and starting four hours early to maximize consumer convenience. With the theme “Affordability and Quality,” JD618 aims to provide a seamless shopping experience that save consumers money, time, and hassle.

Sandy Xu, CEO of JD.com, emphasized at the press conference that delivering the ultimate user experience is JD’s core mission and a key driver of its growth. As consumer demand becomes increasingly personalized, Xu believes that technology and service innovations will stimulate consumer demand, creating a positive development cycle.

Sandy Xu, CEO of JD.com

On the topic of customer service quality, Xu highlighted that JD.com has approximately 600 million active users, supported by over 20,000 customer service representatives and hundreds of thousands of JD delivery personnel. JD’s intelligent customer service system can automate 90% of service inquiries across pre-sale, sale, and post-sale scenarios. This unique business model enables JD.com to maintain real-time communication with users throughout the consumption cycle.

For this year’s JD618, JD.com is enhancing the consumer experience with several key services, including:

• Price protection on over 85% of products, allowing consumers to claim the price difference within the protection period. This service saved consumers nearly 3 billion RMB over the past year.
• Free home pick-up for returns on 97% of JD’s self-operated products and 75% of third-party merchant stores.
• An upgraded instant retail service, “JD NOW,” partnering with over 500,000 physical stores to offer on-demand shopping with delivery as fast as nine minutes.
• More than 200 basic services addressing common consumer pain points, with over 80 industry-first and unique services.
• 24/7 customer service from in-house representatives.

Xu also noted that JD’s extensive experience in the retail industry has allowed the company to accumulate high-quality interactive data, substantial industry know-how, and technical capabilities. This alignment of JD’s technology with industry needs enables the adoption of AI and other intelligent technologies to provide smarter services and more affordable shopping experiences at this year’s 618 event.

One notable innovation is the integration of AI digital avatars. Utilizing JD’s advanced language model, ChatRhino (also known as Yanxi), AI avatars of 18 brand leaders will debut in JD’s livestreams, following the recent introduction of JD’s founder Richard Liu’s avatar. These avatars will offer 50% off and numerous other discounts for viewers.

Additional affordability-focused promotions include:

• Hundreds of brand bosses presenting popular products starting at 1 RMB through JD’s livestream series.
• JD’s professional procurement and sales managers offering low-priced goods in their livestream channels.
• Daily 20 RMB subsidies for consumers on JD’s platform.
• “2 RMB Free Shipping Day,” offering millions of 2 RMB products.
• Numerous cost-effective goods from various industrial belts are available with free shipping.

JD.com’s customer-first commitment focuses on enhancing the shopping experience by providing a “Diverse Selection, Fast Delivery, High-Quality, and Cost-Effective” range of products and services. In the past year, JD launched the “100 Billion Yuan Discount” program to boost cost-effectiveness and product variety, attracting over 100 million users. The company also launched the “Spring Dawn Initiative” in 2023, which increased the number of third-party sellers to over one million and doubled the SKU count since early last year. To ensure high quality and fast delivery, JD.com has lowered the free shipping threshold, introduced unlimited free shipping for PLUS members, and expanded free home pick-up and refund-only services to third-party merchants. JD Logistics’ “211” same-day and next-day delivery service now covers hundreds of cities across China.

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

On May 16th, JD.com unveiled its upgraded on-demand retail business, JD NOW. Combining JD’s instant shopping services, formerly known as JD Shop Now and JDDJ, JD NOW offers a wide range of premium products from over 500,000 physical stores delivered in as fast as nine minutes to consumers across 2,300 counties and cities in China.

JD NOW’s new logo features JD’s mascot, JOY dog, wearing a bamboo-copter, symbolizing innovation and speed. In addition, JD NOW’s delivery riders sport new uniforms with a helmet topped with a bamboo-copter and a racing-style T-shirt. To enhance the delivery experience for special deliveries such as flowers and perishable items, riders in black gloves use mini-fridges to maintain optimal conditions throughout the delivery process.

Dada Now, China‘s leading local on-demand delivery platform and JD NOW’s delivery operator, is improving its operations and fulfillment technologies to ensure rapid delivery. Customers can enjoy ultra-fast doorstep delivery in as little as nine minutes, with the option of  insurance to cover any potential late deliveries.

Along with the introduction of the new brand, JD NOW gained a prominent new consumer touchpoint on the landing page of the JD App, showcasing five main categories: fresh produce, flowers and cakes, supermarkets, coffee and milk tea, and medicines. The JD NOW section dynamically updates its displays based on users’ locations and shopping preferences, while highlighting discounts to help consumers make informed decisions. Additional categories, such as digital products, baby and maternal supplies, and pet products, are also available.

On May 20th, a day associated with love in China’s internet culture, JD NOW launched romance-themed promotions, including limited-edition gift boxes with flowers and cosmetics and recommendations of gift items based on the popular MBTI personality test. These promotions aim to meet customers’ immediate needs for gift shopping.

China’s on-demand retail market has been growing rapidly and is expected to exceed RMB1 trillion in 2024, according to a recent white paper by the China International Electronic Commerce Center. The launch of JD NOW underscores JD.com’s commitment to enhancing user experience and meeting the increasing demand for instant and diverse shopping solutions.

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

JD.com, a global leader in e-commerce, is set to energize the retail landscape with its annual 618 Grand Promotion, starting at 8 PM on May 31. This year’s theme, “Quality and Affordability,” highlights a diverse selection of products that combine value with excellence, readily available for immediate purchase. JD.com is also offering daily coupons worth RMB 20, providing shoppers with even greater savings.

In recent years, JD.com has led the industry in making changes to streamline shopping for millions during major shopping festivals. During the 2021 Singles’ Day promotion, JD.com pioneered the “Shop from 8 PM” concept to help customers avoid late-night shopping. In 2023, JD.com also became the first in the industry to eliminate pre-sales periods for Singles’ Day, reflecting the company’s commitment to providing consumers with a simple and joyful shopping experience.

This year’s 618 event will kick off with the “10-Billion-Yuan Discount Day.” Special promotions will continue with “9.9-Yuan Items with Free Shipping,” “Super Livestreaming Day,” and “PLUS Membership Day” on June 2nd, 3rd, and 8th, respectively, ensuring shoppers have access to top deals.

JD.com is dedicated to providing a superior shopping experience with tailored services such as free doorstep returns, trade-in options, integrated delivery and installation services, allergy-free guarantees, and a food return policy. A 30-day price guarantee further assures customers of the best value.

Read more: 618: From JD.com’s Birthday to China’s Largest Mid-Year Shopping Carnival

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)