JD and Partners: Splendid Mooncakes are Coming

Posted on by Ella Kidron

by Ella Kidron

Mooncakes started as a treat traditionally eaten during the mid-autumn festival, but have since in their own right become a phenomenon. They can be found in sweet and savory varieties, and boxed in all different types of ornate packaging. In fact, it’s not uncommon to find mooncakes in Chinatowns in cities such as New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and London, all year round. In China, both retailers and brands go through immense lengths to prepare for the frenzy of mooncake buying ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival (August 15th on the lunar calendar), JD included.

In advance of the holiday, which coincides with National Day in China (October 1st ) this year, JD Super, JD’s online supermarket brand, hosted a press conference and unveiled its upgraded strategy for mooncake sales on August 31st. The company also took the opportunity to share its big data-based findings on mooncake consumption.

During the press conference, Liu Hui, Chief Data Officer of the JD Big Data Research Institute introduced key findings from the “Mooncake Consumption 2020 Report”. Among the findings of the report, core consumers of mooncakes appear to be highly-educated and high spending customers, yet there is a gradual increased consumption from younger consumers and those from lower tier cities, where growth rates of mooncake consumption by Generation Z, youth from small towns and middle aged consumers from small towns are as high as 56%, 56% and 41% respectively.

JD’s Chief Data Officer Liu Hui shares insights on mooncake trends from recent report

JD’s Chief Data Officer Liu Hui shares insights on mooncake trends from recent report

Xiaojun Wang, general manager of Packaged Foods, JD FMCG Omnichannel, said, “In the past, with the help of our partners and consumers, we had the best growth rate in mooncake sales in the industry.” He added that in the future, JD plans to focus on improving results from eight dimensions: brand upgrade, strategy upgrade, resource upgrade, consumption upgrade, data sharing, data co-creation, brand co-creation and mutual benefit. “We will make full use of JD’s core platform advantages to promotion brand growth and provide consumers with higher quality products and more personal services.”

JD and brand partners launch alliance for mooncake sales

JD and brand partners launch alliance for mooncake sales

As shared during the event, 2020 has brought new challenges to mooncake brands and increased requirements concerning product quality, marketing ability, service level and more. JD Super has formed an alliance with famous Beijing snack brand, Daoxiangcun (稻香村), Guangzhou Restaurant (广州酒家), traditional Peking duck chain Quanjude (全聚德) and other brands. Under the alliance, members will have access to five major types of resources provided by JD, such as customization through the C2M (Consumer-to-Manufacturer) initiative.

C2M is a key initiative to boost performance of mooncake products this year. As such, JD has launched hundreds of customized gift boxes with mooncake brands, providing a wide range of choices in terms of packaging, flavor, gifting needs vs. personal consumption, and more, to fully meet diversified consumer demand.

 

(ella@jd.com)

JD Launches Services to Make Buying Large Home Furniture Easier

Posted on by Rachel Liu

by Rachel Liu

JD launched services for customers who buy large home furniture such as beds, sofas, cabinets, doors and more last week, to make their shopping experience easier. The services include 11 items such as AR shopping, free measuring and installment, home delivery, and 30-day return policy. The “JD Furniture Service Platform” was also launched to make the whole shopping experience more transparent.

In online shopping, the home furnishing category usually has higher-than-average complaint rates. This is mainly because customers are not satisfied with the logistics and installment services. Traditionally, the furniture is delivered from the factory to the local warehouses by one logistics company, and from the local warehouses to customers by another. The products need to be moved on and off the truck five-to-seven times during one delivery cycle, making it more likely for them to be damaged upon arrival. Customers are not able to see the delivery process either. The service quality of the local installment teams is sometimes unsatisfactory, which can impact customers’ feedback.

The JD Furniture Service Platform can effectively solve these issues as it gathers all of the information from merchants, logistics companies and installment companies in one place. With the platform, customers are able to see the whole logistics process. Now the platform has over 30,000 merchants, over 300 third-party carriers, 170 logistics companies and 40 installment companies. Customers can also rate the service providers on the platform, and merchants can choose service providers with higher ratings to work with to improve customer satisfaction.

The JD home furnishing team also works with JD Logistics to explore one-stop service for customers. JD Logistics will support the entire logistics process, and products only need to go from the factory to the warehouse, delivery station, and then the customer, so they are less likely to be damaged. JD Logistics also provides high quality installment services. The service is already available to support deliveries from Foshan, a city famous for its furniture industry in Guangdong province, to other cities in China. A customer in Beijing is now able to order and receive furniture and have it installed in just four days.

Chao He, general manager of JD Lifestyle said:” We always focus on providing more efficient and higher quality home furnishing service for customers. The upgrading of furniture-related services and the launch of JD Furniture Service Platform will provide a transparent and convenient experience for customers.”

 

(liuchang61@jd.com)

JD Promotes Premium Wuchang Rice through Online Shopping Festival

Posted on by Rachel Liu

by Rachel Liu

On August 30th, JD and the government of Wuchang, Heilongjiang Province, jointly initiated the first “Wuchang Rice Online Shopping Festival”, to bring premium rice originated from Wuchang to more Chinese customers, and support local farmers and brands to develop further by going online.

The city of Wuchang now is China’s only “Five Star” production area for rice. It has a special fragrance and flavor that makes it unique compared with rice grown in other areas, and is thus very popular among Chinese consumers.

Jian Yang, Major of Wuchang city said: “Wuchang has advantageous natural resources to grow high-quality rice. We hope to increase the sales of the rice and improve the confidence of farmers and enterprises through the shopping festival. We will continue to work with JD not only on retail, but also logistics, financial services and more, to build a better future for the city.”

Xiaojun Wang, general manager of Packaged Foods, JD FMCG Omnichannel said:
“With JD’s over 417 million active customers and leading supply chain and technology advantages, we hope to help Wuchang city to promote the brand around the country and improve the situation of local farmers after COVID-19.”

Based on the Online Shopping Festival, JD and Wuchang city will expand the partnership to omnichannel fulfillment, key account procurement, JD cloud warehouse and Yihaodian (No.1 store), JD’s online membership store.

The shopping festival is the latest of several initiatives in which Wuchang rice has leveraged the JD platform for more exposure. This April, JD and the Wuchang government reached a partnership agreement and established the Wuchang rice first-party and flagship store. During the June 18 Grand Promotion (618), government officials from Wuchang city joined JD Live, JD’s livestream channel, to promote the iconic rice in person. Over 1.3 million viewers joined the livestream, and sales generated from the livestream increased 319%.

 

(liuchang61@jd.com)

JD Logistics Head of Strategy: Building the Agile Supply Chain to Deal with Uncertainties

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

Bing Fu, head of strategy of JD Logistics made a speech at the annual meeting of the China Chain Store & Franchise Association held on August 20th. Fu highlighted the critical role of agile supply chain in guaranteeing supplies under COVID-19 and its potential in helping deal with future uncertainty.

Compared with lean supply chain (LSC) which focuses on the stability and reduction of costs and supply chain waste, an agile supply chain requires rapid response to client’s demands. During the pandemic, the agility of JD’s supply chain made it possible for the company to quickly respond to emergencies and ensure the recovery of production capability.

Bing Fu, head of strategy of JD Logistics

For example, JD Logistics quickly increased the inventory in its various front warehouses based on consumption big data to make sure that goods were placed nearest to customers and could be delivered as soon as possible. After the lockdown in Wuhan, Hubei province, JD also launched an emergency plan to quickly deploy logistics staff and introduced automated delivery robots to minimize human contact when delivering supplies. JD even helped Hubei province set up a supply chain management platform, making emergency supplies such as masks, goggles, and protective clothing easier to manage, distribute and trace. All these quick responses have reflected the critical role of agility in supply chain construction.

According to Fu, the business environment has undergone immense change and a simple supply chain can no longer meet the increasing needs of various scenarios and channels; in the meantime, changes in the consumer market have resulted in not only an SKU (stock keeping unit) quantity that is far more extensive than 10 years ago, but also the shortened life cycle of SKUs. Clients will prefer enterprises that can respond more quickly in the future.

Fu said, “The past 20 years have seen the rapid expansion of globalization. There may not be more disasters than there were 20 years ago, but the impact of disasters on the supply chain is definitely much greater. With the deepening of globalization, the whole manufacturing and even the whole logistics industry will face unprecedented challenges. It is imperative for enterprises to improve supply chain agility and increase their risk management ability when faced with uncertain events.”

Fu also gave his suggestions for enterprises eager to improve supply chain agility.

On the one hand, enterprises can identify the unstable factors influencing supply chain in medium-and long-term planning, and also quickly adjust the supply chain network and supply capacity according to environmental changes; leveraging flexible and repeatable processes, enterprises can also manage assortment, inventory structure and inventory level. On the other hand, enterprises can quickly match supply plan with consumption demand based on big data, which can not only integrate upstream and downstream data, but also enhance the transparency of the supply chain, and thus speed up response to abnormal situations.

Fu suggests that in order to make the supply chain most agile, enterprises should:

  • Build a digital twin model for the existing supply chain and recognize the unstable influencing factors of supply chain in medium- and long-term planning.
  • Discover the respective demands of multi supply chains of an enterprise using data, and then set up a dedicated supply chain model.
  • Use data that accurately reflects market conditions to enhance the ability to perceive market changes.
  • Establish a digital planning system that can adjust supply chain based on front-end demands.
  • Make your supply chain visible and able to handle abnormal situations.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

Chinese National TV: JD “Greened” Before National Guidelines

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

On August 28th, the Chinese national television station CCTV interviewed Jerry Duan, head of the Green Stream Initiative at JD Logistics. CCTV highlighted that before the national guidelines were announced, JD had already begun using green packaging.

In late July, eight departments including the State Administration for Market Regulation and National Development and Reform Commission released guidelines titled “Strengthen the standardization of green packages for express delivery”. The instructions state that by 2022, China’s express delivery system will be subject to a strict and binding system for green packaging. CCTV also interviewed other representatives from logistics and e-commerce companies.

Years earlier, in 2017, JD Logistics launched the Green Stream Initiative (GSI), which aims to work closely with JD’s upstream and downstream partners to build a green supply chain for environmental protection. To date, the company’s recyclable boxes have been used 160 million times in over 30 cities around China through its supply chain, equivalent to every one of Chengdu’s 16 million residents purchasing ten packages from JD.

“We are also communicating with brands and manufacturing enterprises to carry out green design of commodity packaging and logistics packaging at the sourcing end, which will enable those packages to directly meet the requirements of the logistics environment. There will be no need for additional packaging in the transportation and delivery phases. At present, about a dozen brands have begun to do this with us,” Duan said in the interview with CCTV.

However, the price of degradable materials for express packaging is about 3-5 times that of traditional materials, which makes it difficult to popularize green packaging. Duan pointed out that “The benefit of the degradable packaging also needs to be carried out by the entire industry chain, not only for the packaging itself, but also afterward within facilities for industrial composting, waste sorting and more. All need to be considered and implemented.”

At present, there are over 30 manufacturers of green packaging materials in China with an annual production value close to RMB 50 billion yuan. As the industry continues to scale up, the manufacturing cost for green packages will likely go down. Within 5 years, the whole market is expected to expand to RMB 100 billion yuan.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

Posted in ESG

JD and Xinchao to Provide Brands with Omnichannel Marketing Solutions

Posted on by Ling Cao

by Ling Cao

JD and Xinchao, an innovative media group, launched a new plan on August 26th, which will combine JD’s experience in big-data-driven precision marketing, as well as offline marketing resources from Xinchao, to provide brands and merchants with brand new omnichannel marketing solutions.

Paul Yan, President of JD Business Growth said, “The plan will leverage JD’s Data Management Platform and IoT ecosystem, as well as Xinchao’s 600,000 smart elevator screens covering 103 cities and 45,000 residential compounds, as well as partners’ databases, to help Xinchao digitize its business, and help brands reach customers more accurately. We aim to build an integrated and smart marketing channel online and offline.”

Jixue Zhang, founder and chairman of Xinchao said, “The partnership is important to both of us, and the industry as a whole. Through the plan, JD can further tap into offline marketing value, Xinchao can benefit from JD’s big data capability, and brands can receive integrated marketing solutions.”

The Jingpingguo platform is one of the products based on the plan. The project can help brands maximize marketing resources by understanding customer profiles ahead of time, and selecting the marketing resources, as well as analyze the effectiveness of each program. Recently Yanjing Beer, a popular beer brand of China, used the platform for marketing its new u8 product, and saw a huge increase in transaction volume.

With improvement of the COVID-19 situation in China, the marketing industry has recovered quickly. Despite this, brands and media still need digitization to continue their business growth. The plan is developed with this in mind.

 

(ling.cao@jd.com)

JD’s 2:31 Marathoner: Fast and Warm-Hearted, In His Job and on the Course

Posted on by Ella Kidron

by Ella Kidron

This past weekend, JD.com was a special partner of the BMW Hood to Coast relay race held in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province, around a seven hour drive from Beijing. On top of JD Logistics providing all of the supplies for the event, both on site and ahead of time to the teams, as well as JD Super setting up a makeshift supermarket to feed hungry runners a hot meal, drinks and snacks at one of the checkpoints mid-way through the race, JD sent three teams of five people to compete in the Challenge Course race. Among the participants was a member of JD’s courier team who happens to run a 2:31 marathon, Yushuai Luan.

The JD No. 1 challenge team, led by Yan Qing, head of JD Auto

The JD No. 1 challenge team, led by Yan Qing, head of JD Auto

Hours before the race, in a small family-owned restaurant serving the kind of food you would find in Inner Mongolia – its signature dish is a big rack of lamb – Yushuai, or “Xiao Shuai”, an affectionate nickname the team gave him, roughly translated as “Little Shuai”, shared a bit about how his love of running to a captivated audience of JDers. “In school when we ran, I was always considered pretty fast,” he said humbly. As he would later share, as a kid, the native of Northeast China’s Jilin province (known for its cold weather), was accustomed to running up and down hills, even in the blistering cold. He liked running, but running a marathon was never part of the plan.

Yushuai joined JD Logistics as a courier in 2015 in Beijing’s Haidian district where delivery is held to very high speed standards. It was challenging at first, but he got the gist by familiarizing himself with the neighborhood, street by street, alley by alley. Rather than walk, he would run everywhere he could. “I would usually run upstairs in one breath. It was an amazing feeling.” Where others might deliver 130-140 orders per day, he could deliver 170 or more, and even 200-300 during promotions. His hard work paid off, and he was promoted from a delivery courier to the assistant to the head of the station. He earned recognition as a “JD Logistics Star” for his outstanding performance.

Rewind several years to 2017. JD Logistics, as the official supplier of the Beijing International Marathon, was given a batch of spots. The company hoped to organize its frontline couriers to form a JD Logistics running team. When the station head recommended Yushuai for the 42.195 km run (26.2 miles), he shied away. He said, “I was worried about running that much at once and delaying work. Also, if I wasn’t able to finish it, I would cause JD Logistics to ‘lose face’. Finally, what if I got injured and wasn’t able to work?” That didn’t happen. What did happen is that Yushuai finished his first-ever marathon with essentially no training in 4:23:23, a very formidable result for a first time marathoner. The next day, when most people would take time off to recover after running such a hard race, he was right back at work.

From there he never looked back. He explained while looking across Zhangbei’s expansive open fields, “It wasn’t that I ran super-fast from the start, but that I kept improving and improving faster than most people.” He has run several marathons since then, all in the Beijing area, so that he doesn’t delay his work. Last year, he posted a jaw dropping 2:31:04 at the Beijing Marathon.

The JD No. 1 challenge team, led by Yan Qing, head of JD Auto

JD’s Yushai Luan

The secret to his speed? Pure love of the sport. He uses the slogan of JD Retail “热爱 Re Ai”, which roughly translated means “passion” to describe his love of running. When he says it, it sounds completely natural, not forced. Even though work is busy, he makes time to run 10-20 kilometers, or maybe more, each day.

Yushuai’s positive energy is contagious. Just a few weeks ago, sitting as a team mapping out who should run which sections of the race, he eagerly volunteered for a section called “Hard as Hell” (地狱难). When the team suggested he run 10 or so more kilometers than others, he excitedly replied, “No problem!” Standing at the starting line at 3:30 am smiling a grin big enough to be seen from at least 10 meters away, he exhibited not nervousness, but pure passion. On the course, when it’s “go time” he’s unstoppable. Off the course, even after averaging 3’30” per kilometer up and down hills, he’s the first to volunteer to help the team out. He’s making sure the team is eating and well-hydrated, waiting in line with you for the rest room just to keep you company, and encouraging you every step of the way. It is no wonder that he’s somewhat of a celebrity in the Beijing running circuit – at every checkpoint, there is someone who knows his name. Speed is only half of it. At the end of the day, warmth also goes a long way.

To say that Yushuai sees the glass half full is an understatement. He explained that once time he picked up a customer’s phone call at 1:00 am. The customer was to get on a plane at 5:00 am and was eager to receive his package. He immediately got dressed and braved the cold to deliver to the customer. When he arrived much earlier than expected, the customer was both appreciative and apologetic. But Yushuai only saw the positive, “I had the chance to try a middle of the night delivery.”

On August 29th in the afternoon, as the race was nearing its end, Yushuai took off for his final 9.6 kilometers, entirely uphill. When he got to the top, he was grinning ear to ear. Just as with every time he finished the previous laps, having barely broken a sweat running on pace with some of the country’s top runners, when asked how he felt, he said, with that same contagious positivity, something equivalent to “That was amazing.” And then he put his full heart into the supporting the team and representing JD.

The day after the race, it was business as usual. Yushuai was back at work, sharing the same warmth with customers that he brought to running each and every kilometer of the race.

 

(ella@jd.com)

JD Delivers Samsung Galaxy Note20 to Customers within One Hour

Posted on by Rachel Liu

by Rachel Liu

Samsung’s new Galaxy Note20 went on sale on JD last week. To provide a better customer experience, JD added one-hour delivery service for the product.

JD, Samsung and JDDJ (JD Daojia, a local on-demand retail platform under Dada Group) worked together on the on-demand delivery service. Over 100 Samsung offline stores have launched on JDDJ. When customers order Samsung products on JD, the nearby Samsung store can take the order and have JDDJ finish the last-mile delivery. Now the service is offered in 43 cities around China.

JDDJ started to offer electronics products beginning in April. JD Mobile Store and many brands’ offline stores have launched on the platform. During the past annual JD Mobile Phone Festival, JD updated the service package for mobile phone buyers to include five services: 30-day return, one-hour delivery, free-trial for 7 days, trade-in and “30365” service. One week after the launch, orders of mobile trade-in services on JD increased over 50% compared with the week prior to the launch.

The new Galaxy Note20 is equipped with an S Pen that offers groundbreaking low latency. It also enables users to transform handwriting into text, and save and sync notes across devices including mobile, tablet and PC. Its high-quality screen, professional photography capabilities and new signature color mystic bronze have received great response from customers.

 

(liuchang61@jd.com)