by Ling Cao

“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. He said that JD aims to provide integrated solutions for partners who work with JD.

Xiaosong Wang

JD’s private label brands cover comprehensive categories, including several sub-brands including J.Zao, Hommy, LATIT and Huixun. Dr. Jon Liao, CSO of JD.com, shared during the conference, “JD Original is one of the key chances for JD to go from the downstream chains in retail including merchandise, logistics and post-sale sectors, to the retail industry’s upstream chains including design, R&D and services sectors. JD will hold an open attitude to closely tie with partners to build the ecosystem together.”

Dr. Jon Liao

Based on big data and precise marketing solutions, JD Original will help brands find the right customers with the right demand, gaining sustainable growth. Specifically, JD Original will focus on C2M (Consumer-to-Manufacturer) initiatives and creative marketing methods.

Tom Tang, general manager of J.Zao, shared that since the beginning of this year, J.Zao’s customers and orders both grew nearly 400% YOY. Additionally, customers who search J.Zao on JD increased 147% YOY. This is all based on the quality of products and the algorithm-powered technology for customers. He added, “JD targets to achieve higher growth with partners next year by sharing information and abilities together.”

Tom Tang

Livestreaming is another key factor to ensure JD’s private label brands’ growth. For example, in January Huixun brand’s livestream on Kuaishou drove 4.2 million orders in  10 days. In June, the brand’s livestream on Kuaishou resulted in four Huixun products each selling 1 million orders. And in November, after JD made livestreaming a standard marketing solution, Huixun held 27 livestreams in just one month.

Wilson Zhu, COO of Li & Fung said, “In today’s global economy environment, not all manufacturers are able to easily transition to digitalization. JD Original is a blue sea: combined with JD’s brand recognition, it creates a “short cut” between manufacturers, brands and customers.”

Wilson Zhu

While Bin Chang, founder and managing director of GenBridge Capital, which is the private equity growth fund led by JD, shared during the conference, “Only by data-driven processes can we help brands and manufacturers understand customers. For manufacturers and partners, a very important ability will be learning to use the new generation of infrastructure to leverage platforms like JD.

Bin Chang

 

(ling.cao@jd.com)

by Ella Kidron

Enjoying the rich winter flavors of mulled wine hassle-free is now made possible RIO’s new beverage, which debuted on JD.com on Dec. 19. Ahead of Christmas, the popular domestic ready-to-drink (RTD) brand released its new mulled wine-flavored canned beverage, on sale for a limited time only. The product was a category No. 1 on the first day of sales, and RIO saw a six-time increase in sales YOY.

RIO’s limited edition mulled wine-flavored beverage, available on JD

RTD cocktails are doing very well on JD, especially among young Chinese seeking alcoholic beverages with less alcohol (RIO’s beverages range from 3%-5% alcohol content) and fewer calories. Consumers aged 18-35 account for 60% of the category. Female consumers, who have been observed to prefer lighter beverages, account for over 50% of the total. The new mulled wine product is made of a mix of three grapes – Bonarda, Tempranillo, and Syrah, as well as vodka and other ingredients. It has 5% alcohol content.

In the last three years or so, mulled wine has become popular in China, and RIO’s product aims to capitalize on that trend, especially during the holiday season. The can is a deep red reminiscent of wine, and is decorated with a winter holiday theme, further driving this point home.

The novelty of RTD products is also a huge draw for JD consumers. “Our data shows that consumers are more willing to try new products and brands, especially those that offer something unique and entertaining,” said Yan Liu (刘岩), head of imported spirits at JD.com. As a result, JD offers a host of such products, and many brands choose to debut their latest and greatest on the platform.

RIO is the market leader in RTD in China. The brand was founded in 2003 and is known for its light and often fruity RTD “alcopop” beverages. JD’s emphasis on new products and its understanding of consumers’ demand for items that stand out from the crowd, makes the platform a natural fit for these products. JD and RIO have worked together several times to offer fun and inspired limited-edition products to consumers, including a cherry blossom flavor timed with spring.

 

 

(ella@jd.com)

by Rachel Liu

As the partner for Red Top Award, the leading award in China’s home appliance industry, JD joined a ceremony on Dec. 16 revealing this year’s winners, including BOSCH washing machine, Casarte refrigerator and Galanz air fryer, which are sold on JD.com.

Shuai Tang, general manager of marketing and operations at JD Home Appliance joined the summit discussion and revealed the consumer trends of the industry based on JD’s data.

According to Tang, the key that drives the revolution of the industry is the constantly changing demands of customers, which are becoming more unique, especially in different scenarios. This is the motivation for brands to expand into high-value, premium products and more niche markets. JD is leveraging its bid data and customer operation capabilities to provide more suggestions to manufacturers and help them with product upgrades.

This year, JD launched a special section to promote the award-winning products, as well as a livestream show to provide a detailed introduction for customers.

During the past Singles Day, many niche and innovative products received great sales performance on JD. For example, sales of laser TVs, TVs with touch screens and OLED TVs increased 4.5 times YOY. High volume built-in dishwashers saw sales increase over 4.5 times. JD’s C2M (consumer-to manufacturer) home appliance products also saw sales increase . Sales of water heaters that can monitor water quality increased 130% YOY. Robotic vacuums that can automatically collect trash from Viomi, and a LG washing machine that can automatically adjust performance based on the amount of clothes both saw sales increase rapidly.

Behind the hot-selling products is JD’s accurate insights into its target customers. Through big data brands can recognize customers’ pain points and market trends, and make innovations in research and development of products; then they can recommend the right products to the right customers. JD’s digital smart supply chain has become the motive and foundation for the home appliance industry to improve their products.

 

(liuchang61@jd.com)

by Hui Zhang

Christofle, the world’s leading brand for silver cutlery and silver accessories, joined JD.com on Dec. 17, making JD the first e-commerce platform in China to partner with Christofle to open its official flagship store.

The Christofle store on JD provides the brand’s new products and classic, best-selling items covering the collections of MOOD, Jardin d’Eden, Malmaison, Oh, Albi, Vertigo, and others. Various categories of products including dining, barware, home decoration, children, jewelry and personal accessories are available on JD.

JD, which is well-known as a guarantee of authenticity and high-quality products, has a large consumer base of loyal, high-income consumers with strong consumption power, which echoes Christofle’s consumer demographic. JD’s technology strengths and big data capabilities enable it to provide user engagement tools for brands to help them reach out to their targeted consumers more precisely within JD’s 441 million active consumers’ pool.

“Christofle has been a household name for ‘Arts on Table’ for more than 150 years,” said Kevin Jiang, president of International Business at JD Fashion and Lifestyle. “The opening of Christofle’s flagship store will bring JD consumers a variety of high-end choices for cutlery, and JD will assist Christofle to better penetrate the Chinese market.”

The eclectic Christofle cutlery collection is crowned with refined silver accessories and silver jewelry by famous designers. Over the years, Christofle has furnished many royal houses, well-known institutions and luxury hotels with its silver cutlery and accessories. These have included the Orient Express, Napoleon III’s table, the Elysée Palace as well as many sultans’ palaces and aristocratic homes around the world.

 

(zhanghui36@jd.com)

by Ling Cao

JD launched an e-sports gaming phone alliance today with industry partners in Sanya, Hainan province. The alliance leverages JD’s expertise in supply chain, technology, distribution, marketing and payment solutions to upgrade the gaming ecosystem and to make JD the top choice for customers purchasing gaming devices.

According to an industry report, China’s e-sports market grows 10% annually, and is expected to reach RMB 270 billion yuan by 2022. JD previously launched the JD Esports plan in middle of the year, aiming to expand to gaming phone hardware, service and competitions. Based on the plan, JD formed the JDE gaming team, and released new gaming related products with Lenovo, ROG, Black Shark and Nubia’s Hong Mo, promoting industry growth.

Daniel Tan, president of JD Mobile Devices said during the conference, “With the development of the whole industry, gamers pursuit of a superior experience is even higher. The JD Esports Plan can provide an integrated service for them, as well as help our partners achieve maximum business value.”

Daniel Tan

During the ceremony, JD announced a series of services for gamers, including a special trial service, one hour fast delivery, a special network guarantee and more. Based on the JD Esports plan, JD will also help train professional gamers, appeal to more fans by working with livestreamers on platforms like Huya, create Consumer-to-Manufacturer (C2M) products with brands, and launch brick-and-mortar experience shops.

 

(ling.cao@jd.com)

by Kelly Dawson

As JD has embraced an omnichannel retail strategy, consumers have benefited from increasingly fast delivery times propelled by the company’s rapidly expanding network of offline stores and an advanced supply chain. Less discussed but arguably equally important is the lifestyle opportunity that omnichannel provides customers to curate their experiences and manage their time— one more way in which JD is putting the customer first.

While most global industries and enterprises including JD have steadily followed the path of digitalization, it’s JD’s recognition of the need for online-offline integration in the face of increasing fragmentation of consumer demand that will be key to future success, said David Roth, chairman of BrandZ and CEO of The Store WPP EMEA and Asia， who accepted JD’s phone-interview from his London office .

“JD is one of the leaders in understanding this strategic challenge,” Roth said.

Online-only retail can only truly work with utilitarian products for which people feel a low emotional connection, and feel low to zero enjoyment picking them up in store, he said. Such products might include toiletries or kitchen cleaning solution, for example.

On the other end of the spectrum are products for which customers feel great enjoyment in touching and feeling, and for which they might even bring a friend or family member along for advice while shopping. With these products, the physical part of buying is an integral part of the customer journey, even if ultimately the final step in purchase is completed online.

JD’s omnichannel approach reflects an understanding that consumers are reluctant to forfeit these experiences, and may in fact feel that a shopping experience has been diminished as a result of missing the opportunity to participate in an offline interaction, Roth said.

JD consumers can now engage in shopping experiences online, offline, through livestreaming, content commerce, social commerce and more. Being able to curate where, when and how to enjoy shopping experiences allows consumers to pick and choose how they will spend their time and energy. In this sense, JD’s approach to omnichannel enables consumers to curate a desired lifestyle.

 

“See, Touch and Feel”

JD’s omnichannel approach extends across multiple categories and industries, with its over 12,000 offline home appliance experience stores across China serving as a clear example of how offline stores can add value for consumers.

Visitors to JD E-Space, JD’s 50,000 square meter experience store in Chongqing, have free rein to try anything in the store. Customers debating between washing machines are encouraged to take them for a ‘spin’; participate in baking tutorials, and more.

“JD is allowing people to make transactions not only in a functional way, but also in an inquisitive way that allows them to touch and feel and ask questions,” Roth said.

The company plans to open 20 JD E-Space experience stores in first-tier cities across China by 2025. These offline stores play an important role in the company’s expansion into lower-tier markets, where customers are still acclimating to online shopping. Customers can also access post-sales services at the offline stores, which helps provide peace of mind.

“E-commerce penetration in lower-tier markets still needs to be cultivated,” said Shuangxi Wu, head of JD’s refrigerators and washing machines sales department. “The experience stores help them access JD’s rich home appliance product selection.”

JD’s omnichannel strategy is also powering its promise for ever faster delivery, through the Omnichannel Fulfillment supply chain innovation program, which leverages the inventory of multiple types of offline channels including supermarkets, convenience stores and brands’ offline stores in order to drastically shorten delivery time to consumers.

Additionally, omnichannel is playing a role in the expansion of luxury brands into the e-commerce space. Shoppers who want to buy a Prada purse can visit an offline store for the upscale ambiance of a luxury store; and then later purchase the item online through JD, with a guarantee that it will be delivered from the same store at which they viewed the purse.

As always, JD’s omnichannel offerings are backed by an advanced supply chain network that ensures seamless integration of all shopping experiences across categories, with features including price synchronization and more.

 

Growth of omnichannel

Even as online shopping has exploded worldwide as a result of COVID-19, JD has steadily continued a path of expansion into the offline space. Digitalization remains essential, but without the omnichannel component, retailers will remain one step behind.

In past years, many Western retailers were entirely focused on the desire to exit the physical space, Roth said. “The model switch came from China,” he said. When JD begun opening offline stores, “Western companies were very curious, but I don’t think they really fully understood the change in strategy.”

The Western model has traditionally taken a “hub and spoke” approach, with inventory stocked at a main hub and then delivered to consumers through the supply chain. Western retailers embraced this model, prioritizing efficient supply chain and 100% on-shelf availability.

“The Chinese companies turned that thinking on its head,” Roth said of JD and other Chinese e-commerce companies that have shifted into omnichannel. “They realized that the future of retail doesn’t lie in 100% on-shelf availability, but instead about the speed in which products can get to customers—first with next-day delivery, then same-day, and now even within 30 minutes in some cases.”

Once JD identified speed of delivery as the main priority, the “hub and spoke” model could no longer work, because the distances were too great, Roth said. Expanding the network of offline stores was the smartest solution, resulting in the necessity of an omnichannel model.

“This new thinking was an entirely different paradigm,” Roth said.

 

Future of omnichannel

Moving forward, the most important question for retailers will be, “How can you serve customers both physically and digitally?” Roth said. “And equally important: How can you integrate the two?”

There will always be a place for offline channels, Roth predicts. “If a company wants to compete, they will need to offer both physical and digital. The balance and proportion between the two will change over time, but the true key to success will be synergy between the two, whether through sharing data or learnings to understand and explore between offline and online.”

He imagines a time in which an IOT-connected world will ensure that utilitarian products like washing detergent will automatically arrive at your home when your supply is low, based on the number of cycles registered on your washing machine.

In contrast, products with higher emotional connection, like fashion, for example, will necessitate the continued existence of offline stores. JD will aim to serve this demand, in recognition that customers have wide-ranging needs.

“For a retailer, the way to measure success is customer experience,” said Chenkai Ling, vice president of JD.com and head of Strategy Development, JD Retail. “Consumers are getting more sophisticated and have higher demands.”

However, there are a class of products that could go in either category—fresh vegetables, for example—and the future of these products will be in the hands of retailers and brands to create emotional propositions that prevent them from becoming pure commodities, Roth said. JD’s SEVEN FRESH omnichannel supermarket offering is rapidly expanding in this space.

As the omnichannel model continues to develop, JD will play an important role, Roth predicts. “JD is at the forefront of creating the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that makes up this ecosystem,” he said.

 

(Kellydawson@jd.com)