The First JD Franchised Community Fruit Store Opens in Beijing

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

During this year’s 618 Grand Promotion, the first JD franchised fruit store was launched in Beijing’s Huixinbeili (惠新北里) residential compound. The store named Jingxuanhaoguo (京选好果 in Chinese which means “JD’s select of quality fruits”) is the latest community shop model incubated by JD Fresh, JD.com’s fresh food business, to empower traditional mom-and-pop stores.

Mom-and-pop stores often face challenges of quality procurement, transportation and storage. During the pandemic, with a shortage of supply from wholesale markets, many small shops lacked procurement channels. Product offerings and the ability to negotiate good prices are also often restricted due to the limited scale of mom-and-pop operations.

During this year’s 618 Grand Promotion, the first JD franchised fruit store was launched in Beijing’s Huixinbeili (惠新北里) residential compound.

JD’s solution connects small store owners with procurement and transportation resources. Through a purchasing app, they can now order all kinds of global fresh produce and have it delivered within the next day. It not only improves the amount and quality of products provided to consumers but also saves operations costs and human resources. Furthermore, through the program, store owners will also receive guidance on how to run their stores more effectively, benefitting both them and their customers.

“JD helped me upgrade my store down to the design. With the help of JD, my business is getting better and better,” said Liwei Zhao, the shop owner of the first Jingxuanhaoguo.

JD Fresh is helping Zhao to engage with neighbors through community group buying. Consumers can order products via WeChat mini program and pick them up at Zhao’s store. The model is expected to bring more repeat customers to Zhao’s store.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the community has played an important role in ensuring people’s daily life, as movement restrictions have made proximity more relevant. As a result, the “community-based economy” has faced both extraordinary opportunities and challenges.

The Jingxuanhaoguo model is consistent with JD’s overall plan to open up of its capabilities centered on supply chain to empower small and medium enterprises, stall owners and shopkeepers.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

JD Ranked 52nd on 2020 BrandZ™ Top 100 List

Posted on by Ella Kidron

by Ella Kidron

On June 30th, WPP and Kantar released its 2020 BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking. According to the survey, JD saw a 24% increase in brand value, in part attributed to “innovation and agility during hard times” such as COVID-19 earlier in the year. Asian brands made up a quarter of the Top 100 brands on the list this year. JD’s ranking moved up 14 places to No. 52 this year. Alibaba, Tencent, Meituan Dianping and Didi Chuxing ranked 6th, 7th, 54th and 64th respectively.

Kantar mentioned in its release that this year’s survey “showed that innovation and creativity are key drivers of growth as people spend more time online” due to the impacts of COVID. JD acted very early on in the COVID-19 outbreak in China, using its technology and supply chain strengths to ensure availability of and access to emergency medical supplies across China as well as fresh produce. From January to June, JD Health has received over 16 million medical consultations through its free medical consultation services, while JD Logistics has continued to ensure supply, even when cities were locked down and roads were closed.

JD’s ability to respond quickly and flexibly to the epidemic situation in China is a reflection of its underlying supply chain strength and the trusted reputation of the JD brand among both consumers and partners alike. While JD is China’s largest retailer, it is in fact the company’s identity as a supply chain-based technology and services company that has enabled JD to have the response that it has had.

JD Retail CEO Lei Xu explained on the company’s first quarter 2020 earnings call that the trust JD’s response inspired in consumers has kept them coming back. He said: “We see more old customers returning to JD and some inactive users on our platform are becoming more and more active. We are waking them up.” Carol Fung, JD President of FMCG Omnichannel, has also explained that after seeing the booming sales of fresh food in the first quarter as a result of many people turning to online for their produce with wet markets closed, the team wondered if this trend would continue or if demand would normalize. However, because of continued rapid growth of new customers in fresh and frozen of over 100%, sales continued to grow by over 100%.

Now in its 15th year, the BrandZ ranking is conducted by leading consulting firm, Kantar, and commissioned by WPP, a leading media company. According to Kantar, the ranking combines rigorously analyzed market data from Bloomberg with extensive consumer insights from over 3.8 million consumers around the world, covering 17,500+ different brands in 51 markets.

 

(ella@jd.com)

Top Industry Magazine Highlights JD’s Anti-epidemic Efforts

Posted on by Ling Cao

by Ling Cao

JD was highlighted in the June issue of Parcel and Postal Technology International, a London-based leading logistics magazine. The article focused on how major Chinese e-commerce companies like JD cope with challenges posed by COVID-19 by relying on “next-generation tech and community spirit”.

The article highlights that “delivery drivers have become a vital lifeline in the fight against Covid-19, and this could not be more true than for those in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the epidemic.

Jun Fan, head of JD Express at JD Logistics, said in the article, “JD Logistics spared no resources to help livelihoods and transport medical supplies during Covid-19. Our couriers have been on the frontline during the entire epidemic. Ordinarily, they would deliver directly to customers’ doors. However, with the virus, in order to reduce human-to-human contact, we implemented numerous contactless delivery methods.” The article also highlights JD’s application of autonomous delivery robots in Wuhan to support last mile delivery, as well as prioritization of staff safety.

Post and Parcel Technology International also drew attention to the importance of demand prediction and scheduling in the supply chain to quickly adapt to changing needs. “JD scientists detected the path of the epidemic at a very early stage thanks to the integration of the SEIR (susceptible, exposed, infectious, recovered) disease model and demographic data in its supply chain management system. This enabled the company to ensure that medical materials were available to high-risk areas and to determine demand for specific products in specific areas,” writes the article. It quotes Fan: “To reduce delays at the peak, we leveraged our experience in logistics and our technology driven network to do rescheduling that ensured products were delivered in a timely manner.”

Supporting the community is also highlighted in the article as one of JD’s major efforts.  “To cope with demand and instead of relying solely on the stock in JD warehouses, the company used its omnichannel fulfillment platform to calculate which brick and mortar store nearest to the customer had the items in stock, and then sourced the inventory from there instead. This has enabled JD to speed delivery and in some cases products arrived within 15 minutes of the order being made.” To further cope with demand for grocery delivery, JD launched a new service in early February, Mobile Fresh Basket. Fan explains that JD launched the service “to provide a convenient and reliable way for people in Hubei province to get fresh produce that was already around them instead of it having to come from elsewhere.”

Going forward, “JD Logistics is working hard to improve its AI and 5G capabilities in the future. “Bing Fu, JD Logistics head of strategy, affirms in the article, if there is one positive to come out of the pandemic, it is the impact it has had on the implementation of digital solutions. “While COVID-19 is not welcomed, it has promoted the digitization of consumption, which concurrently drives supply chain upgrade. Only by shortening and digitizing the fulfillment process can we increase efficiency and access customers faster with increased precision,” he explains.

This magazine, with its print and online versions, has 21,000 professional readers in 135 countries and regions worldwide.

 

(ling.cao@jd.com)

JD CENTRAL Joins Online Trade Fair in Thailand

Posted on by Martin Li

by Martin Li

JD Central (JDC), the e-commerce joint venture of JD.com in Thailand, has joined the first online version of the country’s annual trade fair.

The Saha Group Fair Online is organized by Saha Group, the consumer goods conglomerate in Thailand. The annual trade fair is popular with Thai consumers because of attractive deals and clearance sales offered by many brands.

In its 24th year, this year the trade fair will be held online between July 2-5 in an effort to reduce human contact during the ongoing COVID-19 epidemic.

Rvisra Chirathivat (R), CMO of JDC, at promotion of the online trade fair.

Rvisra Chirathivat (R), CMO of JDC, at promotion of the online trade fair.

The online trade fair will feature more than 20,000 products from one hundred brands through JD CENTRAL, including beauty products, baby products, household, groceries, services and education.

“To deliver the best value to our customers, JDC will offer lower prices with our unique Share Buy feature through which customers can ask their friends to buy the same product together to get special offers,” said K. Rvisra Chirathivat, CMO of JDC.

In the meanwhile, customers can use JOY PAY app to promote the virtual fair on JD CENTRAL to earn extra income.

“The overall economy has been weak since last year,” Thammarat Chokwatana, executive vice-president of the fashion and beauty marketing arm of Saha Group, was quoted by the Bangkok Post as saying in a report on June 23rd.

“Despite the fourth phase of loosening restrictions from the government, we have to monitor the trading situation month-by-month, and expect relatively weak consumer purchasing power to be prolonged over the next few years, “ said Thammarat.

(bjlihao3@jd.com)

 

 

JD News Roundup Vol. 5

Posted on by Ella Kidron

Company updates

JD’s 618 Grand promotion demonstrates resilience of its consumers and showcases opportunity for international brands: As JD’s 618 Grand Promotion (held June 1-18) came to a close, JD.com announced that it had experienced transaction volume on the platform of over 269.2 billion, during the sales period, up more than 33.6% year on year. 618 was originally exclusively a celebration of JD’s birthday, but has since transformed into the largest mid-year shopping holiday, celebrated not only by other players in e-commerce but offline establishments as well. The key words for this year’s Grand Promotion are international brands, lower-tier cities and livestreaming. A more in-depth look at trends and highlights, including a detailed infographic here: https://jdcorporateblog.com/final-report-of-618-jds-in-depth-analysis-of-rmb-269-2-billion-the-face-value-and-whats-behind-it/

From left to right, JD 618 decorations, HKEX celebration ceremony, and JD’s 618 data screen

JD celebrated its 17th anniversary with a secondary listing on the main board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange under the ticker, 9618.HK. To understand more about JD’s plans for the listing, check out the transcript from JD CEO Lei Xu’s exclusive conversation with Bloomberg: https://jdcorporateblog.com/jd-retail-ceo-lei-xus-interview-with-tom-mackenzie-of-bloomberg-at-jds-headquarters-in-beijing-on-june-15-2020/

On June 12th, at an event at JD’s headquarters, simultaneously broadcasted online, JD President of FMCG Omnichannel Carol Fung shared that even in post-COVID lockdown China, paper products are still surprisingly still in high demand. Fung mentioned that every year, the team identifies products in some categories and sets a sales target of RMB 20 million per day. One of those products is a bag of tissues that Fung’s team shipped over 500,000 boxes of on a single day. More highlights from Fung’s session here: https://jdcorporateblog.com/carol-fung-jd-fmcg-omnichannels-role-in-helping-customers-eat-drink-live-better/

 

COVID-19 related

The last few weeks have seen several COVID-19 cases emerging from an outbreak in Beijing’s Xinfadi wholesale produce market. In order to convenience employees who have to travel around and outside of Beijing, JD has set up designated nucleic acid testing stations for its employees in China’s capital. The move follows JD’s announcement that all of its delivery couriers, truck drivers and cold chain fresh food warehouse employees were undergoing free nucleic acid testing, and underscores the company’s commitment to keep its employees, and by extension customers and partners, safe while the virus still looms. Over 2,000 frontline employees have already completed the testing. JD is the first platform in China to offer online nucleic acid test booking services during COVID-19. Since early on in the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, JD Health has worked with several providers to make booking testing appointments easily available to people in at least 31 cities. The full story here: https://jdcorporateblog.com/jd-establishes-designated-nucleic-acid-testing-center-for-its-employees-in-beijing/

 

Business specific

JD has announced the first fully-integrated smart and flexible production logistics park in Asia. The warehouse in Tianjin’s Wuqing District, the warehouse is most suitable for fulfilling and managing orders spanning multiple categories at a large scale. In another first for Asia, earlier this month, JD also introduced the very first automated storage and retrieval system (AS/RS) for bulky items in Asia’s e-commerce industry. The system located at the company’s highly-automated Asia No. 1 logistics park in Langfang, Hebei province is one of three new highly automated Asia No. 1 parks JD put into operation during this year’s 618 Grand Promotion. More on this here: https://jdcorporateblog.com/jd-opens-first-automated-storage-system-for-bulky-items-in-asias-e-commerce-industry/

JD’s AR shoes try-on feature has officially come online. As a next step, the company is currently working with Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation to develop a function to use AR technology to measure foot size. The function to be released soon will leverage Sony’s ToF (Time-of-Flight) distance measurement technology so that customers can simply use their mobile phones (need to be equipped with a ToF camera) to measure their foot size by scanning the front and side angles of their feet. More on this story here: https://jdcorporateblog.com/jd-com-explores-ar-foot-measurement-tool-for-online-consumers/

JD is supporting the first ever digital London Fashion Week, which will be available free to fashion lovers around the world. JD invited Mr. Hu Bing, the ambassador of London Fashion Week, to have conversations through video interviews with brand partners A-COLDWALL*, Paul Smith and SMYTHSON to bring the latest British fashion insights and products to Chinese customers, and share the brands’ successful cooperation with JD.com. Earlier this year, JD announced its support of the “BFC Foundation Fashion Fund for the Covid Crisis” via its sponsorship of the BFC/GQ Designer Menswear Fund.

Last week’s 618 frenzy at JD in photos: https://jdcorporateblog.com/photo-gallery-this-week-at-jd-june-15-19/

 

(ella@jd.com)

Sales of JD Worldwide Increased 110% Y-O-Y on June 18th

Posted on by Rachel Liu

by Rachel Liu

JD Worldwide, JD’s platform for imported products, has become the No.1 choice for many Chinese customers to buy imported products. On June 18th, sales of JD Worldwide increased 110% y-o-y. Imported pet products increased nearly 400% y-o-y, imported beauty products increased 180% y-o-y, and imported electronics products, maternal and baby products, health care products, fashion products have all increased over 100% y-o-y.

On JD Worldwide’s designated promotion day during the festival, June 14th, sales of JD Worldwide increased over 170% y-o-y. To mark the occasion, JD Worldwide also welcomed Ms. H.E. Clare Fearnley, New Zealand Ambassador to China; Mr. Luis Schmidt and Ms. Natalia Cortés, Chilean Ambassador and Commercial Counsellor of the Chilean Embassy to China via a livestream show to introduce popular products from their home countries to JD customers, which attracted over 7 million viewers.

JD Worldwide also witnessed the sales increase of many international brands. From June 1st to 18th, over 30% countries saw sales of their products more than doubled. JD Worldwide has introduced over 1,000 new brands as of May 2020, and welcomed over 500 stores on third-party platform, including Abbott, Nestlé, as well as international chains such as South Korean department store AKPLAZA and Japanese drugstore Daikoku Cosmetics. During this 618, sales of the stores increased over 100%.

This 618, JD Worldwide introduced 30,000 new international products to JD customers. On June 18th, sales of new products were 15 times that of the average daily sales in May. From June 1st to 18th, sales of over half of the new products increased over 200% compared with same period of May.

The amount of JD Worldwide customers increased most rapidly in lower-tier markets, more than doubling year-over-year. Customers from lower-tier markets like to buy infant milk powders and bone health-related products.

 

(liuchang61@jd.com)

 

JD Establishes Designated Nucleic Acid Testing Center for its Employees in Beijing

Posted on by Ella Kidron

by Ella Kidron

In order to convenience employees who have to travel around and outside of Beijing, JD has set up designated nucleic acid testing stations for its employees in China’s capital. The move follows JD’s announcement that all of its delivery couriers, truck drivers and cold chain fresh food warehouse employees were undergoing free nucleic acid testing, and underscores the company’s commitment to keep its employees, and by extension customers and partners, safe while the virus still looms. Over 2,000 frontline employees have already completed the testing.

Stations are available at JD’s headquarters in Yizhuang, in the south of Beijing, as well as its office in the north near the Olympic stadium. As an added convenience, employees’ family members can enjoy the service if accompanied by a JD employee. The appointment is made in advance internally and employees can purchase the testing online via JD Health at a discount. Business travel-related testing can be reimbursed by company through the standard business trip reimbursement process.

The site for the new testing station at JD Headquarters in Yizhuang

The site for the new testing station at JD Headquarters in Yizhuang

JD is the first platform in China to offer online nucleic acid test booking services during COVID-19. Since early on in the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, JD Health has worked with several providers to make booking testing appointments easily available to people in at least 31 cities. Following the sudden resurgence of COVID-19 at Xinfadi, Beijing’s largest vegetable and seafood wholesale market, demand for nucleic acid testing has surged and online booking has become an essential convenience. On June 13th, the number of users who either followed or browsed the nucleic acid testing booking service on JD Health increased by 385%. On the same day, sales of nucleic acid testing services increased by 460% compared with the day before.

 

(ella@jd.com)

JD’s Cloud Store Solution Helps over 370 Brands during 618

Posted on by Tracy Yang

by Tracy Yang

JD’s social group e-commerce initiative has made good achievements during 618 Grand Promotion. From June 1st to 18th, sales of JD’s social group e-commerce and cloud store solution exceeded RMB 1 billion, an increase of more than 10 times compared with the same period last year. There were more than 1.5 million social groups. JD’s cloud store solution has helped more than 370 brands and empowered more than 100,000 shopping guides.

According to Q1 2020 data, the main drivers of JD’s social group e-commerce initiative are mainly post-70s and 80s married female users in first-, second- and third-tier cities, and most of them are senior white-collar workers with college degrees. These people have a certain degree of spending power and mature social circles.

JD’s social group e-commerce initiative is based on the relationship between people and achieves more connectivity through the social group. Based on this close connection, consumer demand can be more accurately captured and the recommendation of acquaintances also reduces the cost of selection.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, as part of JD’s social e-commerce initiative, JD’s cloud store solution help brands expand their market penetration and find business breakthroughs, and also provides a guarantee for their employees in the offline retail industry.

Liping Ma is a shopping guide at one of Bailisi’s stores, China’s leading home textile brand in Xixiangtang District, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. At the beginning of the year, the shopping mall where the offline store is located closed. As a salesperson who depends on performance commission, the closure of the mall means a reduction in income. To alleviate the pressure on employees, the shopping mall began to actively look for innovative solutions and ultimately chose to work with JD’s cloud store solution and help their employees to transform into “online shopping guides.”

Liping Ma said: “At the end of February and the beginning of March, the company trained us on JD’s cloud store solution. Through the cloud store Mini Program, we can not only do live streaming, but also share links to products in WeChat Moments, allowing customers to place orders online. Our income has gradually increased.” From offline shopping guide to online shopping guide, Liping Ma found a new career path as an omnichannel shopping guide, and she will continue to use JD’s cloud store to work as an online shopping guide in the future.

 

(tracy.yang@jd.com)