JD Launches Smart Express Station in Beijing Railway Station

by Yuchuan Wang

JD launched a smart express station in Beijing Railway Station on September 16th, in partnership with China Railway Express. As the first express station to open in the train station, it handles delivery of JD customer orders and also helps travelers and neighboring users ship products anywhere in China.

The station is highly digitized, utilizing an information technology system and automated sorting devices that can hugely improve efficiency, thus speeding up express delivery service to customers. In the future, it will also adopt smart shelf technology for automatic parcel management, stock checking and more.

In recent years, JD and China Railway Express have cooperated on multiple projects. For example, last year, the two parties launched high-speed railway delivery for fresh products, enabling 24-hour nationwide delivery of apples harvested from Beijing’s Pinggu district.

“With the continuous innovation and integration of e-commerce, logistics and the high speed railway network, the freight market is in great demand,” said Jian Cui from JD Logistics’ express delivery department. “JD will further strengthen its cooperation with China Railway Express to release more railway transport capacity and help the logistics industry increase efficiency and reduce costs, and provide high-quality and cost-effective express services for consumers and businesses.”

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

JD Health’s “Unprecedented Attention” to Drug Safety

by Hui Zhang

“Consumers attach much more importance to the reliability and safety of health products than other products,” said Enlin Jin, general manager of JD Pharmacy. “With that in mind, JD Health pays unprecedented attention to medical safety.”

JD Health is committed to the highest standard of drug safety, making full use of a world-class team of pharmacists and doctors, cutting-edge technology, and a strong supply chain and risk management capabilities to ensure peace of mind for online patients.

During the COVID-19 outbreak earlier this year, JD Pharmacy, the pharmaceutical business branch of JD Health, not only ensured the circulation and supply of drugs across China but also offered professional medical guidance and consultation through more than 50,000 practicing physicians on its platform. Of this extensive network of medical professionals, 300 work full-time, and most have more than 10 years of clinical experience.

To ensure the utmost safety of patients, JD Pharmacy divides drugs on the platform into six different categories: A, B, C, D, E and X, in ascending order of risk. For example, for drugs belonging to category B, the platform will control the prescription dosage and will provide patients with more frequent reminders on drug use, but otherwise take a lighter hand. Drugs belonging to the highest-risk category X, such as Tyronine, are prohibited from display and sale on the platform by means of sensitive word control and manual screening.

In the past, doctors relied on their knowledge and experience to provide prescriptions, resulting in different prescription standards and low efficiency in drug review. To ensure higher consistency and accuracy, JD Pharmacy applies big data and AI to analyze drug use and past adverse reactions to offer guidance to doctors prescribing drugs.

Patients will also receive instructions and safety tips via SMS or WeChat notifications, and have the ability to chat or message with medical professionals directly in the app—just one more way in which JD Health is committed to ensuring peace of mind for online patients.

 

(zhanghui36@jd.com)

JD’s SEA President Shares Observations On New Normal At DBS Panel

by Martin Li

Soon Sze Meng, South-east Asia president for JD.com, shared his observations on the new normal in a world still reeling from COVID-19, at a panel discussion organized by the leading financial services group DBS in Singapore on September 16.

Among the three observations Soon shared are more trade flows and manufacturing coming into ASEAN, changing consumer behavior and the importance of supply chains.

“We see the values of putting the customer first, integrity and collaboration as key,” Soon said. “Adaptability is a critical skillset in this ‘next normal’ and we need to be open to learn and relearn. And it’s no different for JD. We started online 17 years ago, disrupted the offline business in China and became an e-commerce giant. But in the last 5 years, we shifted our focus back to offline to the changing landscape. We too have to constantly readapt and rethink our strategy to maintain our competitive edge.”

Soon also highlighted the immense value of data in helping both global brands and consumers on JD’s platform develop, supply and access preferred products; while for smaller merchants, data helps them with the when, where, how and what price to sell their goods.

“We need to focus on what adds value to the customer, and this could mean abandoning familiarity, and taking a harder, unknown route to get to the destination,” he said.

As part of a day-long speaker series themed “Transform Tomorrow, Today”, the panel discussion was moderated by Tan Su Shan, DBS group head of institutional banking,. Among the panelists were Singapore’s Minister for Communications and Information S. Iswaran; Conor McNamara, managing director of Amazon Web Services (AWS) for ASEAN; and Jeremy Palmer, CEO of QuantumBlack.

Watch more of what Soon has to say on the new normal here:

 

(bjlihao3@jd.com)

Healthcare Consumption Surge on JD Super Healthcare Day

by Ling Cao

Sales of health-related products and services increased 104% YOY on JD’s super healthcare day on September 16th, according to JD Data. Among the best-sellers were household medicine, consultation services on JD Health’s platform, and HPV vaccines, which respectively increased 600%, 474% and 104%.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the prioritization of healthcare among consumers, with influenza vaccine sales increasing nearly 17 times in the previous month, and a “family medicine suitcase” program launched in May of last year helped to drive a 230% YOY increase in customers for medicine management services. The program provides integrated healthcare services including notifications featuring medicine recommendations and instructions, and healthcare consultation – available via SMS, WeChat messages or directly in the JD Health app.

Additionally, healthcare products, medical apparatus and medicine all jumped in popularity. Data showed that Omron sales increased 148% YOY, while Johnson & Johnson sales increased 387% YOY. Swisse sales increased 193% YOY, and some Chinese brands selling bird’s nest soup also saw a boost. In the consumption medical service category, sales from ikang’s JD store increased seven times, and YOY sales from Amcare Women’s and Children’s Specialized Health increased over nine times.

 

(ling.cao@jd.com)

JD Launches Service Ecosystem for MRO Industry

by Ling Cao

JD has launched Jing Gong Bang (京工帮, literally means JD Industry Helper), a system that will help digitalize the MRO (maintenance, repair and operations) industry by connecting big companies with industry-leading service providers for manufacture-level omnichannel service solutions.

The system, which was announced at the ongoing 22nd China international Industry Fair (CIIF) in Shanghai, will ensure the MRO industry is equipped to handle “unexpected occasions,” said Deming Ding, general manager of JD MRO, JD.com’s B2B subsidiary for industrial MRO products and services.

“When those occasions happen, it’s hard for a company to respond entirely based on its own capabilities,” he said. “Building a service system with industry partners is the only road to go digital.”

These days supporting services like installation, repair and maintenance can play an essential role in driving purchase—and are rapidly becoming a customer expectation. Jing Gong Bang hopes to fill that gap.

In the first phase, the system will focus on three service scenarios: deploying a team to the client’s factory to provide purchasing recommendations and consultation; completing the last mile supply chain by providing forward warehouses or space in JD’s warehouses, and access to smart lockers; and professional maintenance services such as instant installation and maintenance services.

For example, in this year’s one road construction project in Sichuan, JD helped build forward warehouses that improved construction efficiency for the project.

As part of the announcement, JR MRO signed a cooperation agreement with six industrial product service providers.

In addition to Jing Gong Bang, JD also launched other products including an app providing a factory-to-business procurement platform.

 

(ling.cao@jd.com)

Yihaodian and DQY Join Hands to Offer High-End Eggs

by Rachel Liu

JD’s premium membership-only online store Yihaodian, the first online membership-only retail platform in China will partner with DQY (德青源) Ecological, the leading egg producer in China, to develop exclusive, high-end eggs free of chemicals, antibiotics and bacteria.

“We’re excited to form this partnership with DQY Ecological to provide exclusive benefits to our members,” said Tiger Dai, general manager of Yihaodian. “This is also a beginning for us to develop products for our own Yihaodian brand in the future. In fact, we hope that in the future 50% of Yihaodian’s products are unique and customized.”

Yihaodian will continue to develop tailored products leveraging JD’s strong supply chain system, big data capability and its professional buyer team, Dai said.

Yihaodian will continue to develop tailored products leveraging JD’s strong supply chain system

The partnership also represents a new approach for DQY Ecological, which has twice won the highest award in the worldwide egg industry, in 2008 and 2013.

“We have always attached great importance on the safety and quality of eggs, but to work with Yihaodian on customized high-end eggs is a fresh strategy for us,” said Daliang Zheng, CEO of DQY Ecological.

The store also updated its app this week, providing 30 free eggs every month for each member for one year, as part of the benefit for new partnership.

This August, JD upgraded Yihaodian, which was a B2C e-commerce platform primarily selling groceries. The new Yihaodian model is targeted at middle-class family customers who want affordable high-quality products.

Yihaodian’s upgrade is part of JD’s larger strategy to not only target “down” to lower-tier city customers, but to also target “up” to higher-income customers seeking a premium shopping experience.

 

(liuchang61@jd.com)

JD Health to Construct “Internet + Medical Health” Ecosystem in Suzhou

by Hui Zhang

JD Health will help construct an “Internet + Medical Health” ecosystem in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, by signing a partnership agreement with the health commission of Taicang County and Suzhou branch of Agricultural Bank of China, as announced on Sept. 15th.

According to the agreement, JD Health will work with Taicang’s health commission to build an “Internet + Medical Union” by organizing local hospitals and medical institutes to promote the realization of internet hospital, data/information sharing, medical alleviation through internet, and more.

According to the agreement, JD Health will work with Taicang’s health commission to build an “Internet + Medical Union”

JD Health will take advantage of its technology strength to help Taicang’s major hospitals including the First People’s Hospital of Taicang, and TCM Hospital of Taicang to construct online hospitals, making it easy for local residents to seek for professional consultation through the Taicang Health Commission website, JD’s online hospital and WeChat. JD Health is also committed to integrating AI technology into local hospitals’ information management system to optimize the clinical prescription process, and make it convenient for people to buy medicine wherever they are.

More importantly, the construction of an “internet + medical health” ecosystem will also benefit people in need. JD will help build a medical poverty alleviation platform through which the local health commission will organize medical experts to offer remote consultation, and share their medical knowledge to help those who lack medical resources.

“JD Health, as a leader in China’s medical health field, has mature medical service capabilities and a track record of cooperation with many different governments across China, which is of great importance to supply integration and reasonable allocation of resources,” said Wenwei Lu, director of Taicang’s Health Commission.

“The cooperation between JD Health and Taicang County will cover all scenarios of ‘internet + medical health’,” said Lijun Xin, CEO of JD Health.

“Both sides will take advantage of JD’s technology including AI, big data, IoT, and rely on Taicang’s medical resources and JD Health’s ecosystem. Our cooperation will also further accelerate the digital upgrading of the urban health industry and promote the realization of national digital ‘medical new infrastructure’.”

On the same day, JD Health and Suzhou branch of Agricultural Bank of China also agreed to explore cooperation to build an “internet + finance + health” ecosystem.

Both sides are expected to cooperate on medical insurance payment, online medical projects promotion to the bank’s consumers, personal healthcare credits, and loans to merchants on the JD Medicine Procurement platform.

 

(zhanghui36@jd.com)

JD to Build Playgrounds for Pigs to Increase Farmers’ Income

by Vivian Yang

JD and the local government and enterprises in the city of Harbin, Heilongjiang province in northeast China announced a partnership on September 15th to co-develop pig farming and pork products. As a poverty alleviation effort and under the company’s “support agriculture” program, JD announced the plan at a signing ceremony to sell RMB 200 million yuan of Harbin’s “running mountain pig” within one year in China.

JD will work with local government to create a healthy and happy environment for black pigs to grow.

The first project for JD is to revamp the pig farms in Yuquan Hill (玉泉山), a poverty-stricken mountainous scenic area near Harbin. JD will work with local government to create a healthy and happy environment for black pigs to grow.

Several playgrounds will be built inside the farms, allowing the pigs to do sufficient daily exercises in a space that is ten times larger than the average pig farm. Pigs can swim in the pool during summer and play in the snow during the winter. Thanks to the diversified activities available, pigs raised in Yuquan Hill farms have earned the name “running mountain pig”. They contain less fat than ordinary pigs.

Pigs can swim in the pool during summer and play in the snow during the winter.

At the same time, to support households living below the poverty line in this region, JD will give farming tasks to poor households and once they meet JD’s standards, the pigs will be sold on JD, and the company will ensure they are compensated for their farming costs and receive a portion of the proceeds from the sale.

With the support of JD, “running mountain pig

With the support of JD, “running mountain pig” products such as pork heads, bellies, and ribs saw the quickest growth rates both online and offline in the fresh pork category during this year’s 618 Grand Promotion.

“JD has set a goal to help sell RMB 2 billion yuan of running mountain pigs this year,” announced Xiaofei Li, the head of the program, during the signing ceremony. “We have confidence in the comprehensive supply chain management and quality control of the pork products, and we also know that the program can indeed increase income for the local farmers and serve as a good model for agriculture support and poverty alleviation.”

The “running mountain pig” program has so far directly increased incomes for 540 poor households and provided 4,000 working opportunities for local residents in Harbin.

JD will also support local pork enterprises to develop more C2M (Consumer-to-Manufacturer) products based on its big data and consumption analysis. For example, a local manufacturer’s C2M “juicy black pork grilled sausage” product became a hot seller on JD.com thanks to its quality guarantees backed by JD and the increase of home-made barbecue demand because of the epidemic.

JD will also support local pork enterprises to develop more C2M  products based on its big data and consumption analysis.

The “running mountain pig” program is part of JD’s poverty alleviation initiative that aims to provide job opportunities for people in impoverished areas and high-quality “farm-to-table” agricultural products to urban consumers. Other projects under this initiative include JD’s “running chicken”, “swimming duck” and “flying pigeon”.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)