by Ella Kidron

When it comes to adult products, COVID-19 may have impacted purchase choices, but certainly hasn’t caused consumer interest to wane.

A report released just ahead of Chinese Valentine’s Day (Qixi七夕, July 7^th on the lunar calendar, falls on July 25^th this year) by the JD Big Data Institute finds that while the pandemic drove a huge increase in demand for contraceptives, it also seems to have stimulated long-distance partners’ desire to make purchases for their counterparts from afar.

Above all, the report underscores that JD’s strong supply chain capabilities, wide range of high quality choices, fast logistics and protection of privacy have taken away some of the traditional embarrassment some consumers of the adult products categories face, and made it more convenient for people to satisfy their needs in this area. Furthermore, JD’s constant delivery, ensured a strong market for adult products brands, even under the pandemic.

JD data shows that from January to June, demand for family planning products increased over 30% YOY, and was roughly equivalent to every person who has bought related products on JD buying 44 condoms and two boxes of emergency contraceptives each. In February, growth of condoms alone increased nearly 50% YOY. Impacted by the pandemic, adult products growth in Hubei province, the epicenter of the pandemic, fell sharply in February this year compared with that of last year, after which it gradually approached the national average and then slowed a tad in June.

As can be seen from the dramatic changes in related search keywords, likely affected by the external environment under COVID-19, the growth of adult toys in 2020 is lower than that of contraceptives and functional medicines. The aircraft cup  / masturbation cup (飞机杯) and vibrator (震动棒) ranked as the top men’s and women’s adult products respectively, followed by simulation dolls (仿真娃娃) and egg vibrators (跳蛋). Lingerie, other adult toys and simulation dolls ranked top three in terms of traffic. Looking deeper into men’s products, it so happens that the largest “doll” merchants are from Wuhan, explaining some of the impact on inflatable / simulation dolls this year.

With the gradual improvement of the COVID-19 situation in the second quarter, JD’s big data analysis found that “remote” orders for condoms and contraceptives demonstrated a significant upward trend since April, with the number of emergency contraceptives purchased reaching 150% in May, compared with the same period last year, perhaps suggesting the reuniting of long-distance lovers following lockdowns and road closures. Overall, emergency contraceptives have increased 53% YOY.

One thing worth noting is that tropical Hainan province, dubbed “China’s Hawaii” saw the fastest year-on-year turnover of adult products on JD in June, increasing 111% YOY and 208% month-on-month. According to Trip.com’s “Interprovincial Travel Recovery Half Month Report”, Hainan’s Sanya firmly topped the list of the most popular destination cities in June, with the number of tourists growing by 210% month-on-month.

Among consumers who have purchased contraceptives on JD, the most frequent feedback is along the lines of, “JD delivers quickly”; “The quality of the imported goods is the same as what you can get at the hospital”; and “Prices are cheaper than the drugstore.”

In 2020, the purchase of masturbation products for the opposite sex by women consumers has increased by about 30%.  Intercity orders increased by about 120%, perhaps suggesting an attempt to ensure their partners’ needs are taken care of even when they are not together. There is a significant increase in purchases by women with higher education backgrounds.

The top 10 brands on JD in terms of turnover in 2020 are: Durex, Okamoto, Wanaike, Jinge, Bililing, Jissbon, Cialis, Mizz zee, Duzihate and Skvakom. From a category perspective turnover is highest in contraceptives, followed by functional medicine and then the sexual interest / adult toys category.

According to an iResearch report, in 2020 the adult toys market will exceed RMB 130 billion yuan in size, and Internet retailing in the space will exceed RMB 60 billion yuan thanks to the privacy and convenience advantages it offers.

(ella@jd.com)

by Ling Cao

“JD MRO will create a digital industry system covering merchandise, service, supply chain, finance, and technology by leveraging our experience in technology and e-commerce operations.” Deming Ding, general manager of JD MRO, JD.com’s B2B subsidiary for industrial maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) products and services, shared at a Hardware Fair held on August 12^th. The Fair gathered over 2,200 enterprises, covering categories in hardware products, power tools, mechanical and electrical products, including JD’s partners.

Compared with consumer products, the MRO products are normally long-tail and non-standard items, making industry digitization challenging. JD has helped solve the industry’s pain points by assisting to set up a leading library of standards of industrial product digitization. JD has also cooperated with over 1,500 hardware brands to combine these standards with products. DELIXI, the leading electrical distribution, industrial control automation, and household electrical company is JD’s important partner in MRO. Its sales has increased 511% y-o-y since joining JD MRO.

JD MRO has also helped enterprises resume production under COVID-19. YZW.cn, the e-commerce platform under China State Construction Engineering Group, is one example. By connecting to JD MRO’s digital purchasing platform, YZW.cn has upgraded its merchandise management and service capabilities.

Ding added, “In the future, JD MRO will work with more brands and manufacturers to accelerate standardization and digitization in the industry.”

(ling.cao@jd.com)

by Ella Kidron

Coach opened a flagship store on JD on August 16^th. The opening of the store marks a further expansion of JD’s partnership with the American brand, following the hugely successful operation of JD’s first-party Coach store.

“We’re thrilled to take the next step in our partnership with Coach,” said Kevin Jiang, President of International Business, JD Fashion and Lifestyle.  “With offerings ranging from entry level to luxury, Coach is one of the most well-known luxury brands in China, and the brand has had consistently had outstanding performance on JD. Furthermore, Coach’s has strong and flexible design and manufacturing capabilities, meeting our rigorous supply chain standards. I’m looking forward to what’s to come in us continuing to work closely together.”

Coach is one of the most well-recognized luxury brands in China. Many consumers in China have fond memories of their exposure to Coach. Several mentioned buying or receiving their first Coach bag, which in most cases was also their first designer bag, as well as stories of upgrading to more premium Coach products as both they, and their lifestyles have matured. Likewise, JD’s consumer base on Coach is very broad, encompassing the younger consumers who select Coach for their starter luxury bag, especially consumers in the lower-tier cities, as well as more affluent consumers who seek the brand’s latest more high-end product lines.

As such, the store on JD is focused on meeting a diverse range of needs at all price points. Collections on offer include the classic Parker, the Tabby, one of the hottest styles this year, and the Hutton series including the China Collection with graffiti style “Rexy” emoticons by artist Guang Yu, as well as the latest fall/winter 2020 offers, a wide range of accessories, and more. In honor of the upcoming Chinese Valentine’s Day, a special floral bag collection is being sold exclusively on JD.

JD has already partnered with nearly 200 luxury brands this year alone. With a longstanding commitment to quality, proven experience in consumer operations, and unmatched supply chain and logistics resources, the company has repeatedly proven to be a clear choice for both brands and consumers in the luxury brands.

(ella@jd.com)

by Ling Cao

Over the last two months, JD’s New Markets, the suppliers of JD’s convenience stores, has cooperated with Cofco Coca-Cola Beverages, the beverage company jointly formed by Cofco and Coca-Cola, and the third party joint warehouse, on two livestream events.

The “1+1+1” models by the three parties has received good performance, which all largely exceeded expectations. The livestreams are held in the joint warehouse, which not only provided small shops with high quality and cost-effective products, but also helped brands and the joint warehouse to accelerate business scale.

Located in Chengdu, Sichuan province, the joint warehouse is mainly for storage of milk and beverages. The first livestream saw good sales performance, hitting RMB 100,000 yuan in sales. Guanze Wang, head of the warehouse said, “Normally daily sales are just over RMB 10,000. With livestream, sales are ten times higher, which is amazing.”

After the first successful trial, the three parties regarded this as an important initiative and quickly decided to devote larger resources to holding a second one.

A representative of Cofco Coca-cola said, “At first it was only a trial. We didn’t realize it would be so successful. Once we saw the value behind this new model, we could get the support of the company.”

JD New Markets team helped the partner and the warehouse team to prepare the livestream

The initiative has resulted in a record over RMB 200,000 yuan in sales.

Wang from the joint warehouse said, “Many brands have come to us after the two livestream events. The new model has increased our income and confidence.”

(ling.cao@jd.com)

by Ella Kidron

On August 16^th, JD and leading travel services provider Trip.com announced a new partnership. According to the agreement, the supply chain for Trip.com’s core products will be connected with the JD platform. The vision for future cooperation includes five core areas, user expansion, sharing of channel resources, full coverage of online and offline travel scenarios, cross-border marketing, and the development of enterprise travel. The goal is to meet all diversified travel-related needs of consumers before, during, and after travel, and jointly create the most reliable and satisfying platform for users.

As the largest retailer in China, JD will bring 8 million enterprise customers and nearly 400 million individual customers to Trip.com. At the same time, the cooperation will help JD continue to promote the diversification of its business, and enrich its supply chain capabilities in travel, given it even more strength to serve domestic and foreign industry brands, urban cultural and tourism industry construction and consumer travel service quality.

Despite significant impacts to tourism under COVID-19, JD has maintained an optimistic attitude towards China’s tourism industry and has continued to promote the development of the sector. In 2019, China saw over 6 billion domestic tourists, with tourism accounting for 11.05% of total GDP. Tourism has become a key expenditure item for national consumption.

JD Travel has always emphasized the concept of “quality travel.” It currently operates across six core business lines: transportation, hotel accommodation, travel and vacation, scenic spot and amusement park, local entertainment and enterprise travel services. In order to meet the needs of individual users, JD Travel integrates a wide range of consumer services and preferential packages. On the enterprise side, JD provides a rich online business travel solution, integrating high quality supplier resources, providing business customers with professional, comprehensive enterprise travel management solutions.

(ella@jd.com)