by Ella Kidron

JD Super, JD.com’s online supermarket, has seen significant progress since launching its Omnichannel Fulfillment program last year. Changming Li, head of Omnichannel Fulfillment Program, FMCG Omnichannel, told a virtual audience during JD Super’s press conference on September 8^th as part of the 9.9 JD Super Festival  to celebrate JD Super’s founding, that the platform went from having one water provider partner to many partners, and from being in one city – Beijing, to now being available nationwide.

Omnichannel takes many forms on JD Super, all aimed at making the shopping process and the back end, more seamless. JD Super has already helped many offline merchants with online sales, not only diversifying the products available to customers, but also helping partners to increase their online sales channels. According to JD Big Data, during the first half of 2020, over 10,000 brands saw sales increase 100%, 7,000 brands saw sales increase 200%, 5,000 brands saw an increase of 300%, 200 brands saw sales of over RMB100 million yuan and over 20 brands saw sales of cover RMB 10 billion yuan.

As the key representative project of JD FMCG’s omnichannel efforts, through the Omnichannel Fulfillment program, JD Super works with partner offline stores to source inventory for orders made online, providing customers with a more convenient shopping experience, and brands with more precise access to performance data. Coca-Cola, Nongfu Spring, WalMart, Yonghui, Bubugao, and other brands have already joined Omnichannel Fulfillment.

Using big data and location based services (LBS), JD has been able to capture and meet consumers’ multi-scenario needs, helping to drive more traffic for brands and open up more growth avenues through an improved omnichannel model. Li explained that JD has strengthened its LBS capabilities, which originally were based on recipient’s address, to become more precise, enabling more useful insights. Furthermore, if a consumer orders Coca-Cola on JD Super, the system determines where the product is located closest to them, enabling delivery in an hour from partner stores such as Walmart, Yonghui Supermarket and many others.

Li said, “In the past, how to digitize offline data, in terms of consumer characteristics and attributes, was very difficult. With Omnichannel Fulfillment, JD as the common touch point, we can connect online and offline information.” This helps both JD and brands better target consumers and ensure the relevance of PUSH notifications, for example. It also improves customer flow, basket price, repeat purchase rate and consumers’ overall stickiness.

JD Super saw a high frequency of visits during the epidemic, as meeting basic needs moved from offline to online or from offline to omnichannel. Liu Hui, Chief Data Officer at the JD Big Data Research Institute,  said, “In the first half of this year, rice, grains, oil, fresh food and other categories saw massive growth as compared with prior years. Fruit and vegetables became important categories for online consumption. Growth in these categories exceeded three times.

(ella@jd.com)

by Ella Kidron

As further indication of an entrance into the new normal, consumers heading back to school here in China are stocking up on masks, with mask sales seeing an 18 time increase as compared with the same period last year. Many schools require students to take a nucleic acid test prior to the start of school. Transaction volume of JD Health’s nucleic acid test booking service has seen an obvious increase in the last week. Affected by the coronavirus outbreak, students are also opting for more personal care items, such as lunch boxes / food storage containers, electric toothbrushes and even electric lunch boxes increasing by 141%, 114% and 86% YOY respectively.

After a bout of home schooling or online lectures under the pandemic, students and parents alike are looking forward to the return to school in the new normal. JD Big Data from the middle of August shows that this anticipation is being reflected in recent purchases.

As students prepare to meet each other in person for the first time in half a year, consumer data reveals an increased attention on personal appearance related products. Cosmetics and skincare saw a 120% YOY transaction volume increase. Designer and streetwear apparel sales growth reached 183%. From a back-to-school fashion perspective – perhaps a symptom of half a year living in sweatpants – consumers are preferring convenience and comfort. Sales of casual pants were 2.9 times that of jeans, while sales of dresses were 3.8 times that of skirts. At the same time, students are getting a jumpstart on prepping for winter, with scarves, gloves and other winter gear seeing a year on year sales growth of over 50%.

Students living in dormitories are opting to spruce up their bedding with sales of fiber quilts, fiber pillows, mattresses, bedding sets and fragrant pillows ranking among the top five products in the category. Sales of latex pillows increased by more than 50% YOY.

Students are adopting a work-hard play hard attitude with actual school supplies as well as entertainment-related products seeing significant increases. The volume of stationery supplies purchased by students increased 79% year-on-year, among which pens, as well as gaming consoles and related equipment up more than 60% YOY. Mobile phone cases and protective equipment were up 73%. Looking at the purchases of books by colleague students, sales of English course books are 10 times higher than the previous year.

Beijing ranks first in terms of computer and digital products, stationery, mobile phones, makeup and skin care sales, all of which have increased 60% YOY. With significant improvements in the COVID-19 situation, students in Hubei province (capital is Wuhan), pay specific attention to health protection. Mask sales were up 40 times as compared with last year. Lunch containers and electric lunch boxes increased by 226% and nearly 120% YOY respectively. After eight months away, students and Wuhan’s Huazhong University of Science and Technology returned to blankets moldy from disuse. Since then, Zhangfeng Wu, a JD courier, has delievered an average of 300 new blankets a day to a single dormitory at the university.

(ella@jd.com)

by Rachel Liu

JD and LG have debuted seven new jointly-developed C2M refrigerators and washing machines.

JD and LG took only two months to develop the seven new products. The process included visiting LG’s factory, analyzing the data and designing the products, as well as the eventual product launch and pre-order.  All products are designed based on customers’ preferences and the latest trends in the home appliance industry. The washing machines are equipped with AI technology that can optimize the washing process. The refrigerators add LG’s Smart ThinQ system that can manage the smart appliances.

“We have seen that the Chinese home appliance market and sales channels are changing rapidly in China, and omnichannel platforms such as JD are becoming more and more important for us. To better adapt to the changes and bring more high-quality LG products to Chinese consumers, we had deepened our partnership with JD in this April,” said an LG spokesperson.

According to the 2020 H1 China Home Appliance Market Report released by China Center for Information Industry Development (CCID Group), online sales account for 51.84% of China’s home appliance market, and JD accounts for 28.86% of the market both online and offline. COVID-19 has hugely impacted the offline channels for home appliance, and many brands are making more of an effort to develop the online market. JD and LG Electronics signed a partnership in April to sell RMB 5 billion yuan worth of products on the e-commerce platform, and to work deeper on omnichannel, new product development, customer experience, marketing innovations and smart supply chain.

JD and LG started to work on C2M in May 2018. C2M products the two sides have developed include facial machines, air purifiers, vacuums and more. Based on JD’s big data analysis, JD is able to help the brands with the whole process of product design, launch, marketing and customer cultivation. This model can effectively shorten the product research time, and help bring products to the right customers at launch, which can improve the sales performance.

(liuchang61@jd.com)

by Vivian Yang

Confronted with export challenges, manufacturers of Chinese car accessories are turning to the domestic market and actively embracing e-commerce for new growth opportunities.

Tiantai county of Zhejiang province is one of China’s main production zones for car accessories. In the next two years JD Auto will work closely with Tiantai’s over 200 manufacturers, offering direct sales of various products at factory prices to customers across China both online and offline.

Under the agreement signed between Tiantai county and JD Auto on September 4^th, the two sides will deepen cooperation on the marketing and branding for Tiantai’s car accessories products. As a result, manufacturers will be able to utilize e-commerce methods such as livestreaming, with the goal of penetrating farther into the domestic market and reaching a wider range of Chinese customers.

To help manufacturers better understand consumers’ needs, JD Auto will frequently deliver customer insights and consumption forecasts based on JD’s big data and R&D capacities, with the goal of facilitating more C2M (Customer-to-Manufacturer) products—and ultimately increased sales and brand awareness.

For a long time, the car accessories industry has been hampered by the problems of unregulated production standards, a lack of leading brands, and disorganized sales channels. To tackle these problems, JD will work closely with Tiantai’s industry associations and leading brand merchants over the next year to come up with manufacturers’ standards for the production of car cushions and covers. These standards will help the most competitive products and brands emerge within a crowded market.

More than 100 brands and 1,000+ stores from Tiantai’s car accessories production zone are operating on JD.com at present, with annual sales of over RMB 400 million yuan (US$58 million dollars) in 2019.

It is estimated that by 2025, the penetration rate of e-commerce in China’s automotive aftermarket will reach 17%. JD has been developing in this field since 2012, not only by expanding product categories and developing consumption scenarios both online and offline, but also by providing internet-based support to traditional manufacturers and industry partners.

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

by Hui Zhang

Panasonic, a major Japanese multinational electronics company offering a wide range of products and services, saw a daily sales increase of 1,650% for its brand across JD.com on the opening day of its new custom home furniture store on the e-commerce platform on September 4th.

To celebrate the opening, the brand hosted livestreaming on JD.com with product showcases and special discounts as part of JD.com’s Super Brand Day program, a campaign designed for brands to significantly raise brand awareness and increase sales in China.

During Panasonic’s Super Brand Day, Tetsuro Homma, the company’s chief executive officer of China and Northeast Asia, appeared on a livestream promotion via JD Live, JD’s livestreaming platform, to an audience of more than 4 million viewers.

JD’s Home and Lifestyle business has gathered tens of thousands of both domestic and foreign furnishing brands, with products and services spanning every category of home decoration. Panasonic has sold household building materials on JD.com since 2013, and their intelligent toilet seats and table lamps remain among JD.com’s bestsellers.

“We are optimistic about the huge potential of development opportunities in China,” said Hailong Jin, director of the housing system business unit of Panasonic China & Northeast Asia. “Panasonic’s target customers are a close match with JD.com. With the opening of our custom home furniture store, we will provide one-stop home decoration solutions that can better meet the needs of middle- and high-end customers. Additionally, JD’s logistics and financial services will make the online shopping experience more efficient and smooth.”

Chao He, general manager of JD Home and Lifestyle business, said that JD.com is committed to providing consumers with high-quality one-stop home decoration solutions. “Panasonic’s high-quality products, design team and more cutting-edge customized furniture products are a perfect complement to JD’s home decoration selection. We’re excited to bring Chinese consumers even more diverse home furnishing choices for our customers.”

(zhanghui36@jd.com)

by Yuchuan Wang

As Chinese consumers’ demand for services that enable greater convenience has grown rapidly in recent years, JD held a “Maintenance Engineer Skills Contest” during the past weekend in Shenyang, Liaoning province. Fourteen cell phone and PC engineers who won the preliminary competition out of 300 from JD’s Service Plus business competed in the final contest.

Yujian Liu, a JD Service Plus engineer from JD’s Northern China branch, won the championship for cell phone maintenance.

As a one-stop service platform at JD, customers can find various services on JD Service Plus, such as installation, repair and cleaning for electronic products, home appliances, and furniture; maintenance for bags, shoes and clocks; eliminating dust mites; air quality tests and air purifying services and much more.

The platform was designed to offer a hassle-free experience for online shopping, and also to solve the pain points of offline shops providing insincere pricing to customers.

“There are actually some shady institutions and individuals in this industry. For ordinary consumers, there is a certain cognitive threshold which gives people with bad intentions an opportunity to make a profit,” said Liu. He thinks that a platform should maintain its conscience, in addition to providing excellent services, in order to win the recognition of the market and customers.

Yujian Liu

Liu majored in electronics and information technology and graduated from China Agricultural University in 2000s. As he was fascinated in electronic gadgets such as cell phones, he joined Nokia in 2006 as an after-sales engineer.

In 2015, Liu was recruited to JD’s after-sales business. At that time, the team was looking to grow, and Liu found JD to be a great platform for him to further develop his career.

At JD, Liu has repaired almost all phones of mainstream brands. Last year, he set a record of maintaining 520 mobile phones in a single month, with an 100% customer satisfaction rate.

Yujiian Liu is just one of tens of thousands of service engineers at JD Service Plus. At the moment, leveraging JD Logistics’ nationwide network, customers can enjoy JD’s services in the convenience of their homes, sending products to JD Service Plus or visiting JD’s offline service stations in person, with rapid response, transparent pricing, trained professionals and guaranteed quality.

“Now that 5G phones are becoming more and more popular, we have to upgrade our maintenance experience which was previously for 4G phones, otherwise we will not be able to keep up with the pace of change.”

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

by Ling Cao

JD Fresh announced that it would sell 200,000 tons of domestic aquatic products in one year. The plan was announced at a fishing season launch event in Hainan province on September 4^th. The event aims to help local fishermen sell their products following challenges brought by the pandemic. JD Fresh also launched a “seafood safety alliance” with government regulation body, aquatic products industry institutions and leading enterprises.

Xiaofei Li, head of aquatic products at JD Fresh said, “The industry has been affected by the epidemic, impacting local fishermen. To address their pain points, JD Fresh decided to leverage its integrated resources to help sell 200,000 tons of aquatic products from all over China, simultaneously providing customers with safe and reliable food.”

According to Li, leveraging JD’s capabilities in R&D of innovative products, e-commerce operation training and marketing resources, JD Fresh has already helped many products from popular aquatic origins such as Hainan, Fujian and Guangdong provinces.

One of Hainan’s leading aquatic products enterprises Xiangtai benefitted from JD’s big data analysis to improve its sales. By matching its JD Fresh customer profile with Xiangtai’s products, JD Fresh and Xiangtai jointly launched ready-to-cook food like boiled fish with pickled cabbage and chili and fish filets in hot chili oil. Even during the COVID-19 period, Xiangtai’s line of tilapia has doubled its sales.

The “seafood safety alliance” will undergo a series of actions to ensure product quality. In addition to providing nucleic acid tests for the aquatic products, the alliance has launched 32 aquatic products standards, providing the first comprehensive quality control standard in industry. The entire process from manufacturing, production and circulation is covered under the standard.

He Cui, a representative from the China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance said, “The series of methods pioneered by JD will not only create a trustworthy consumption environment, but also can rebuild customers’ faith in purchasing aquatic products, helping deliver an optimistic message in the industry.”

JD is also expanding its logistics network to guarantee efficiency. JD has added air transportation frequency and improved the turnover rate. The company has also added cold chain transportation lines in Guangdong, narrowing the transfer process. JD leverages integrated transportation resources, and cold chain logistics for the whole process, as well as shipping from the place of origin directly, enabling customers in nearly 100 core cities to receive the fresh produce in as fast as 24 hours. Customers in Guangzhou and surrounding cities can even receive orders by the next morning. JD Logistics also designed special packaging and arranged priority delivery methods for the products, upgrading the last mile delivery experience.

Lixian He, general manager of Hainan region for JD Logistics said, “JD Logistics will continuously expand the fulfillment network for local specialties, leveraging its integrated supply chain, logistics and technology abilities to guarantee people’s livelihoods and promote fulfillment efficiency.”

(ling.cao@jd.com)