by Ella Kidron and Rachel Liu

“Double 12” (Dec. 12) festival stats reveal new consumer preferences for home appliances. The four traditional large home appliances – TV, refrigerator, washing machine and air conditioner – are not all consumers seek in the category.

Sales of educational TVs, which are chock full of content suitable for children increased more than 120% YOY. In their downtime, families increasingly prefer to bring the cinema experience home, opting for 65-inch and larger TVs. Sony’s 65-inch OLED TV increased 10-fold compared with the same period last year.

The preference for refrigerators with sterilization capabilities that cropped up in the beginning of the year has remained strong all year, with a sales increase of 3.5 times YOY for Double 12. Furthermore, as families have grown in recent years with the relaxation of related policies, consumers are opting for larger refrigerators. Seventy percent of consumers who bought fridges during Double 12 chose high capacity 400L and up refrigerators.

When looking at laundry equipment, more than 80% of customers will consider the drying function when buying washing machines – gone are the days of clotheslines for many. Air conditioners with “gentle wind”, preferred by mothers and infants, are very popular. One domestic brand, Zaiyuezi, saw sales of one such model double compared with last year. With more attention on overall ventilation, central air conditions systems have increased by 150% YOY. Sales indicate the future direction of AC R&D, moving from single temperature regulation, to more complex systems.

With higher demands for “eating well”, consumers are also having higher demand on cooking facilities. Double 12 data shows that more consumers prefer products from leading brands, and more intelligent products are getting popular.

As for small home appliances, products that can help enhance customers’ appearance are getting popular. Thirty percent of female customers are interested in anti-aging beauty instruments, a 37% increase YOY. Razors that can protect skin from acne saw a sales increase of 144% YOY, and became the first choice for 20% of customers. Customers are also paying more attention to cleaning and disinfectants. Air purifiers with a disinfectant function became the first choice for 90% of customers. Forty percent of customers who buy vacuums chose middle to high-end products, and sales of vacuums that are over RMB 3,000 yuan (~US$460) increased 200% YOY.

(ella@jd.com; liuchang61@jd.com)

by Vivian Yang

BMW Motorrad announced to open its official  flagship store on JD.com on Dec. 16, 2020. At the same time, the German motorcycle brand confirmed that R18, its latest-released cruiser model, which is the largest and heaviest BMW to date, will be offered on this platform.  The announcement was made at a BMW event in Beijing to celebrate the entrance of three R18 editions to the Chinese market.

This move is a significant leap forward in the cooperation between JD and BMW Motorrad. It helps to expand product varieties on JD Auto, attract more customers for BMW and offer more competitive prices and better services for Chinese riders.

Fei Zhan (left) of BMW Motorrad China and Qing Yan of JD Auto on the JD flagship store unveiling ceremony 

“Equipped with innovative retail concepts, BMW Motorrad hopes to explore new channels and try out diversified ways to engage different circles of users. The launch of the JD flagship store is an important move for us to broaden our touchpoints with more users. We will work together to provide users with a customized and immersive experience that reflects the Make-Life-A-Ride spirit that our brand upholds,” said Fei Zhan, director of BMW Motorrad China.

“With the rapid growth of China’s motorcycle market, more and more global brands have made their presence on JD and deepened collaboration with us.  BMW Motorrad’s joining is a key step for us to develop the high-end market, and it is also a landmark event for JD’s motorcycle business layout,” said Yan Qing, general manager of JD Auto.

Leveraging JD’s supply chain advantages, user base, big data and technologies, JD Auto stepped up its effort in building the motorcycle business since 2017 and has achieved fast progress. To date, it has established cooperation with over 30 famous motorcycle brands home and abroad, including BMW, Ducati, YAMAHA, Wuyang-Hongda, Peugeot and more.  It has also become the go-to platform for Chinese motorcycle fans and riders. It is estimated that over two million users have bought motorcycle-related products on JD.com in 2020.

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

by Ling Cao

JD saw sales surge via JD’s livestream initiatives during the Double 12 Shopping Festival (Dec. 1-12). Sales generated through JD Live, JD’s livestreaming platform, increased 10 times YOY. The top five areas by sales were Shanghai, Beijing, Guangdong, Sichuan and Jiangsu.

During the 12-day period, JD livestream viewers increased 16 times YOY, and merchants who participated JD’s livestream increased 280% YOY. The top three categories for livestream initiatives were consumer goods, home appliance and home furnishing. The healthcare-related products and services category was among the top growth rate categories, exceeding JD’s own expectations.

Double 12 Shopping Festival results indicate a preference for personal and family care products among the younger generations. JD data showed that post-1990s consumers in Beijing frequently bought milk formula, and nearly 50% of customers who placed personal care orders where in this age group.

Other categories also performed well. Kitchenware sales increased 19 times YOY, sports and healthcare products sales increased 194% YOY, and book sales increased 5 times YOY.

(ling.cao@jd.com)

by Rachel Liu

JD will help the industrial belts in the city of Pu’er, Yunan province to achieve digital transformation. Pu’er is a city with rich natural resources and famous for producing globally popular Pu’er tea.

JD and Pu’er city jointly built the Pu’er cultural and tourism industry belt, to make better use of its tourism resources; and the JD Fresh operation center in Yunan province to speed up the development of the fresh food belt of Yunan. JD and ten leading tea companies in Pu’er also established the JD High Quality Pu’er Tea Alliance, and launched a direct sourcing base for organic Pu’er tea.

For the cooperation on tourism, JD will assist the development of the Pu’er tourism industry through building an online store, conduct joint brand marketing campaigns and provide resources and traffic, to help the local tourism industry achieve digital transformation.

The JD Fresh operation center will integrate high-quality supply chains in Yunnan province to empower local merchants and industries. JD Fresh will open a “green channel” for fresh food of Pu’er and provide trainings for merchants, helping to further develop omnichannel sales scenarios.

The direct sourcing base of organic Pu’er tea and the JD High Quality Pu’er Tea Alliance will focus on digitalization. JD will also help Yunan province with poverty alleviation, leveraging JD’s platform and resources, and empower agriculture companies with operations and marketing capabilities in every step from production to sales.

Supporting different industries and enterprises to achieve digital transformation has been a key goal for JD. JD Cloud & AI has also helped the city of Jiujiang, Jiangxi province to build online stores to promote its popular products, and hold livestreams with local brands. JD plans to build a digital economy industrial park in the city to provide infrastructure and technological support to local businesses.

(liuchang61@jd.com)

by Rachel Liu

Customers in Tianjin, Nanjing, Wuxi, Dongguan and Foshan can now shop with Yihaodian (No.1 store), the first online membership-only retail platform in China.

When it was first launched in August, Yihaodian covered four cities and two provinces, namely Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, and Guangzhou, and Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces.

Yihaodian also announced that it will expand its cross-border business. With JD’s supply chain advantages, Yihaodian’s experienced buyers will select high-quality products from around the world, providing a premium shopping experience to members.

“We are excited to bring Yihaodian’s products and shopping experience to more cities in China.” said Yihu Dai, head of Yihaodian: “I believe our selected products, competitive prices and convenient shopping experience will surely capture the hearts of customers in those cities. Expanding to cross-border products will also enable Yihaodian to provide more diversified choices for our customers.”

The upgraded Yihaodian is targeted at middle-class family customers who demand high-quality products with competitive prices, from groceries to fresh food, digital products, consumer goods, lifestyle products and more. Yihaodian has a group of professional buyers, most of whom have over five years of experience in their respective categories. The first party model can give customers peace of mind when shopping.

JD Logistics provides same-and-next day delivery for Yihaodian to ensure the quality of delivery service. Other services that ensure a high-quality customer experience include “membership fee insurance,” which means if a customer place over 12 orders in one year and the money they saved (compared with JD prices) is lower than the money they paid for the membership fee, Yihaodian will provide a full refund of the membership fee; as well as 24/7 customer service, refunds of orders with damaged packages, special discounts for new members and more, providing a better and more economical shopping choice for the growing population of middle-class customers in China.

(liuchang61@jd.com)