by Yuchuan Wang

On July 15^th, JD Retail signed a strategic partnership with Tencent Games’ King Pro League (KPL) e-sports tournaments for Honor of Kings, China’s most popular game. The opening of the game’s 2020 World Champion Cup kicked off on the same day.

The partnership will focus on the development of the tournaments itself, and also involve extensive collaboration in event promotion, user expansion, fan interaction, and more.

 

Right: James Shao, Vice President, JD.com; Head of Marketing, JD Retail The game’s 2019 annual tournament livestreams were viewed over 24 billion times – 6.7 times total number of views of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. According to the 2020 China’s E-Sports Industry Report by iResearch, nearly half of e-sports users are under the age of 22. KPL’s massive traffic will provide a key scenario for JD to expand its young user base and new customer conversion. Leveraging JD’s extensive strengths in retail and marketing, it will help increase commercial value for both the game and its sponsors.

As China’s largest retailer for computer and digital products, this is not JD’s for foray into the e-sports industry. In 2017, JD launched JD Gaming (JDG) which has become one of China’s top e-sports organizations. With KPL partnership, JD further strengthens its reach in the gaming industry.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

by Yuchuan Wang

On July 14^th, iResearch, China’s leading consulting company, released the 2020 China Post-Epidemic Insight Report on Retail Consumption. The report analyzed the long-term impacts of COVID-19 on the consumption market: consumers will have higher trust of retail model platforms; there is a transformation from smaller basket size but high frequency to bigger basket size but medium frequency for online consumption; and consumer behavior is influencing the online retail landscape.

The report shows that over 23% users changed their preference of channels buying daily goods, medical care and fresh products. Overall, users tend to favor JD and PDD more. The preference for Tmall has remained the same while Taobao has declined. JD has become Chinese consumers’ first choice for fresh and medical care products.

iResearch also finds that users have significantly raised their frequency in using e-commerce platforms after the epidemic outbreak. Among all platforms, the growth rate of high-frequency users on JD is the fastest. The number of users who use JD three or more times a week on average increased 3.0%, with a growth rate of 16.7%. The number of people who use JD twice and once a week increased 2.3% and 1.7% respectively.

According to iResearch, from the epidemic outbreak to the 618 promotion, the growth rate of the number of unique devices and users’ effective spending of time on e-commerce has gone from slow to fast, reflecting 618’s role in driving post-epidemic consumption. Among major platforms, the growth rates of JD in both areas are higher than the industry average.

In addition, 38% of users indicated they would choose JD as the priority platform for the 618 promotion. Consumers care most about discounts and delivery service for big promotions like 618.

The report also shows that daily goods, consumer electronics and home appliances, home products are most important to consumers during 618. In these categories, more consumers choose JD as their shopping platform than other platforms.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

by Rachel Liu

This April, JD initiated the new brand promotion program to support the development of new brands on JD, and first tested the program during this 618 Grand Promotion. Ten beauty brands joined the testing, including makeup brand colorkey, makeup tool brand AMORTALS, skincare brand FARMACY, and male skin care brand JACB, and saw rapid sales increases.

The program aims to provide solutions for new brands that  entered the market and e-commerce recently, while providing new and niche brands to customers. Brand who join the program can enjoy support on marketing resources and operation trainings to increase sales, promote repeat sales, and boost store followers and new customers.

Data shows that China is the second largest beauty market in the world, reaching approximately RMB 500 billion yuan in 2019. Since June 2019, the sales increase of beauty products in China surpassed 12%. In particular, skincare, makeup and male makeup all saw strong increases.

In the future, the program will integrate more brands from home furnishing, sports and apparel, hoping to support the development of more new brands on JD.

 

(liuchang61@jd.com)

by Ella Kidron

On July 13^th, Manu Atelier’s official first party flagship store on JD.com opened. It is the brand’s first store in China, online or offline. The Turkish leather goods brand’s bags have been frequently spotted on the arm of Kate Middleton, Gigi Hadid, Sarah Jessica Parker and more.

Manu Atelier was founded in 2014 by sisters Merve and Beste Manastir. They inherited craftsmanship from their father, Adnan Manastir, one of Turkey’s oldest artisans, who is said to have created leather goods by hand at his atelier in Istanbul since he was eleven years old. The Manu Atelier brand combines high-end leather with pure handicraft to bring a chic and modern twist. A small arrow logo makes the brands products instantly recognizable.

The beloved Cylinder series, the Mini Cylinder series, the Jackie series, the Carmen Series and the Ruched Demi series of bags will all be made available on JD. As the brand is not just about bags, but also does phenomenal shoes, the lace-up duck boots series, Chae ankle boots series and duck pumps series will also be available to Chinese consumers.

Manu Atelier adds to the list of nearly 200 luxury brands to have joined JD.com this year. The brand’s products will be delivered via JD Luxury Express, providing consumers a chance to not just get their hands on the latest “it bag”, but also brings a ceremonial experience to the purchase.

 

(ella@jd.com)

by Rachel Liu

Over 400 JD Computer and Digital stores around China are building a “One-hour Delivery Circle” for customers. When customers order digital products, they can make orders through JDDJ (JD Daojia, a local on-demand retail platform under Dada Group), and enjoy one-hour delivery service.

On July 13^th, HP’s OMEN 6 gaming laptop was launched exclusively on JD, and a customer in Shanxi province was able to receive the laptop in 21 minutes after ordering, as the product was launched on JD and in a JD Computer and Digital store nearby his office. Hundreds of JD Computer and Digital stores in 110 cities joined in the launch.

With the establishment of the “One-Hour Delivery” Circle, JD hopes to fully integrate online and offline, bringing fast and convenient shopping experience to customers.

 

(liuchang61@jd.com)

by Rachel Liu

On July 15^th, Japanese fashion jewelry brand AHKAH launched a flagship store on JD, choosing JD as the first online platform to partner with in China.

AHKAH, founded in 1997, enjoys very high popularity in Japan. It’s thiran heart series has sold well both in and outside of Japan. In addition to this iconic series, JD’s buyers also selected products that meets Chinese customers’ preferences based on JD’s big data, including the fairy tale collection, fil rouge series, première étoile series, and more.

The addition of AHKAH brings more fashion choices to JD’s female customers in different ages, and further expands JD Luxury’s jewelry brand group. “Online shopping is such a popular trend now. We hope to a bring better experience for our customers with the opening of our online store,” said Lei Tu, Board Director & President of Greater China at AHKAH: “JD is one of the most influential e-commerce platforms in China, and its commitment to authenticity has been recognized by Chinese consumers. We believe we can deliver both our products and our brands’ aesthetic to more Chinese consumers through working with JD.”

 

(liuchang61@jd.com)