by Rachel Liu

JD upgraded the B2C e-commerce platform Yihaodian (No.1 Store) to be the first online membership-only retail platform in China last month, providing a premium shopping experience for middle-class customers with higher income.

One way to ensure a top-shelf shopping experience is through the store’s team of professional buyers, with an understanding that product quality is the foundation of any shopping experience. Yihaodian’s buyers all have years of experience in the industry, and aren’t afraid to personally visit manufacturers to test products and inspect processes to ensure the highest quality.

Weihao Zhang is a fresh food buyer who is responsible for meat, eggs and seafood sold on Yihaodian. With seven years of experience, he is able to select high-quality products by looking at their appearance. For example, he can judge how fresh an egg is by looking at the color.

Earlier this month, Zhang worked with his team to form a partnership with DQY, the leading egg producer in China, to provide customized, high-end eggs to Yihaodian customers. Before choosing DQY as the partner, Zhang visited hundreds of henneries to inspect the quality of eggs. During this process he also lived in various henneries for months to ensure that every process of the production was of a high standard.

“Eggs are a daily necessity for all of our customers, and are also the product that sees the highest amount of sales on Yihaodian,” Zhang said. “This is why we chose eggs to be the first customized product. Our customers are mostly middle and high-end customers. As a buyer, we don’t just provide them with high-quality products, but also a unique and customized experience.”

Huihui Wang, one of Yihaodian’s cleansing product buyers, is a veteran with over six years of experience. To select the most suitable washing liquid for Yihaodian customers, she once tried over 30 kinds of washing liquids in just one week, which made her family members think that she had become a neat freak.

“Most of the laundry products on the market contain surfactants extracted from petroleum, which is harmful to both the clothes and the environment,” Wang said. “On Yihaodian, we hope to provide customers with environmental-friendly and organic products. Through comparison and personal try-outs, we finally selected several washing liquids with plant-based surfactants, which is good for the clothes and the environment.”

Shuangshuang Zhang is a buyer responsible for personal care and beauty products. Sometimes her hands-on approach trying products at home has gotten her in trouble with her husband, she said with a laugh.

For example, anti-hair loss shampoos have become very popular in China, because people with stress and work-pressure related hair loss have increased. Although Zhang doesn’t struggle with hair loss, her husband does.

“As Yihaodian buyers, we need to personally try all the products before launching, so when I was working on finding the best anti-hair loss shampoo, I made my husband try many different products,” Zhang said. ‘He was quite supportive at the beginning, but after a while, he started to get impatient and said I had OCD. But luckily, I picked the most suitable product in the end, and my husband also showed understanding to my work.”

Zhang and other conscientious buyers are behind Yihaodian’s premium shopping experience, all working to provide trustworthy, high-end products for members.

“We are getting more and more picky about products. Maybe to be a good buyer, we all do need to have some level of ‘OCD’,“ Wang said with a smile on her face.

 

(liuchang61@jd.com)

by Vivian Yang

JD has launched an industry alliance to solve pain points in China’s mahogany furniture industry. Announced on September 24^th, the alliance involves a range of stakeholders, including leading furniture manufacturers, industry organizations such as the China Mahogany Committee, regulatory bodies such as the National Center for Quality Supervision and Inspective of Furniture and Indoor Environment, and industry media.

The JD Mahogany Alliance integrates the use of X-ray and block chain technologies in furniture production, quality inspection, sales and shipment, greatly reducing customers’ doubts about the origin and quality of furniture products.

Mahogany furniture often symbolizes high status and wealth in Chinese culture. However, in recent years, Chinese consumer’s enthusiasm toward it has been declining. An industry report shows that production value in 2019 was RMB 60 billion yuan as opposed to RMB 180 billion yuan in its heyday about a decade ago. The main reasons behind the fall are people’s worries about solid wood sources, quality, and difficulties in repairing and maintenance.

At the same time, brand members of the alliance have jointly made a commitment to enhance their after-sales services such as service response within 24 hours, annual free-of-charge maintenance service for the first three years after the furniture is sold, and more.

Brand members at the launching ceremony of JD Mahogany Furniture Alliance

In addition to brand endorsement and value-added services, JD will also support alliance members in the areas of open data, precise customer acquisition, optimized operation solutions, and brand building.

Ms. Jing Zhao, general manager of the furniture department of JD Retail said that “online retailing is a ‘blue ocean’ for the mahogany industry. The alliance provides us an opportunity to integrate the resources of this traditional industry, empower it with technology, and invigorate its growth.”

Mr. Liyu Wang, general secretary of the China Mahogany Alliance said at the launching ceremony that “JD Mahogany Alliance will help manufacturers to leverage resources online and offline, better conform to market trends, expand their business and meet more customers’ demands.”

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

 

by Vivian Yang

Ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Beijing resident Mr. Liu ordered more than ten hairy crabs from JD.com on Sept 22^nd. A few hours after receiving the order, he discovered that several of the crabs were dead. He immediately reported this to JD, and received the standard double refund within a day. Case closed, right? Not so fast. Mr. Liu discovered later that it was actually his six-year-old son who was the crab-tampering culprit.

On the day when the order arrived at home, Mr. Liu placed the crabs in a basin covered by a piece of cardboard so the crabs could not run away. He then answered an important phone call in another room. When Mr. Liu returned to check the basin, he peeked into the basin and noticed that several of the crabs were dead.

Mr. Liu immediately called JD – according to the company’s fresh crab delivery promise, customers are eligible to receive a double refund for each dead crab received during the Mid-Autumn Festival. His request was quickly processed to his satisfaction.

It was not until the next day when Mr. Liu was doing a casual review of his home monitor video that he discovered that his six-year-old son had facilitated the crabs’ “prison break”, going so far as to tie small ropes to the crabs in an attempt to walk them like dogs, and pretended to battle the crabs. During the “play” session, several of the crabs died.

When Mr. Liu returned from his phone call, his son was too scared to admit what had happened. It was only the next day when the boy was confronted with the video that he admitted what had actually happened.

Mr. Liu called JD’s customer services at once, and apologized for previous wrong complaint. He insisted on returning the refund.

“If it hadn’t been for the monitor video, I wouldn’t have known what really had happened at my home,” Mr. Liu said.  “I felt embarrassed for requesting a refund.”

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)