Delvaux Embarks on Its First E-commerce Journey in China with JD.com

by Hui Zhang

Delvaux, the world’s oldest fine leather goods house, announces its first official online flagship store in China, in partnership with JD.com, and the online flagship store will open on March 5th.

Founded in Brussels, Belgium in 1829, Delvaux is renowned over for its innovative savoir-faire, outstanding leather craftsmanship and rich heritage. By offering an exclusive online e-commerce service, Delvaux will provide its clients in China with a new, premium experience.

“We are always looking for opportunities to create exceptional experiences for our clients and strive to offer a service that is in a class of its own”, says Delvaux CEO Marco Probst.  “JD is unique in offering both a guarantee of authenticity and a commitment to premium service, and we look forward to consolidating this partnership as we open ourselves to the opportunities of e-commerce in China.”

Kevin Jiang, president of International Business at JD Fashion and Lifestyle, adds, “We are delighted to partner with this beautiful, heritage Belgian brand to provide an astounding range of premium luxury leather goods to the Chinese people and to deliver them in a way that no one else can. Delvaux’s selection of JD as partner of choice for this historic milestone is a strong statement of trust in us.”

Since launching its luxury business in 2017, JD has established partnerships with over 200 luxury brands from across the world. Its white glove delivery service, JD Luxury Express, offers a highly personalized, intimate and innovative offline element to the e-commerce experience.

 

(zhanghui36@jd.com)

JD and Colour Life Build Smart Community Hand-in-Hand

by Yuchuan Wang and Ling Cao

At Shenzhen’s Lijingcheng residential compound, starting from late February, JD’s autonomous delivery robots are providing contact-free delivery service to residential customers for the first time.

This is part of JD’s initiative to leverage robots to help aid the frontlines since the outbreak of COVID-19. Lijingcheng is managed by Shenzhen-based property management company, Colour Life.

The compound, 230,000 square meters in area, houses over 10,000 residents. It was put under quarantine during the epidemic, requiring residents to pick up their parcels at the gate of the compound. Through the JD and Colour Life collaboration, JD’s robots help improve on the situation by entering the compound and automatically delivering parcels to residents along a predetermined route. Once arriving, the robot will send a message or call customers to alert them to pick up their parcels. Customers can then simply scan a QR code or enter a four-digit code. All completed within 30 seconds, the process is faster, more convenient, and safer, in terms of avoiding human-to-human contact.

In early February, JD.com partnered with Colour Life to help the company launch a smart community epidemic management platform on its app and WeChat account. The platform enables residents from over 15 million families in over 2,000 of Colour Life’s residential compounds get real-time access to epidemic information including a map of real-time confirmed cases nationwide.

Real-time epidemic information

The platform also integrates JD Health’s Internet hospital which can provide residents with online medical consultation services with real doctors. Services such as online prescription filling and delivery are also offered to help residents avoid going out while receiving adequate medical services as needed.

Users can also purchase protective equipment and daily necessities such as fruits and vegetables through the epidemic management platform. Additional services provided by JD such as paying utility bills, express delivery and financial management products are also embedded within the platform.

In the future, Colour Life and JD.com will collaborate further and apply advanced technologies to build smart communities, providing a better life experience for residents across the country.

(Colour Life is a JD.com invested company since 2019.)

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com; ling.cao@jd.com)

JD E-Space Resumes Operations in Chongqing

by Ella Kidron

On March 2nd, JD E-Space in Chongqing officially resumed operations. The store has seen steady customer flow and high conversion rates so far. With the COVID-19 outbreak, the store temporarily suspended operations in late January until March 2nd.

Small household appliances, computers and digital products and mobile phones are among the best-selling products at E-Space in the last few days. Although E-Space is an omnichannel model which offers the ability for consumers to order within the store via JD’s app with a single click and then have it delivered home, most consumers choose to take small products home during this period. In particular, computers, printers and projectors are extremely popular, particularly as children are doing school remotely and many office professionals are still working from home, with some printers even selling out. In addition, gaming-specific computers have been very popular.

“After we re-opened, many customers came into the store to shop. We didn’t do any advertising of the re-opening besides posts on our own WeChat and Weibo accounts, showing that consumers are following the store closely,” said Xuefei Li, general manager of operations at JD E-Space.

 

JD E-Space in Chongqing officially resumed operations

 

To protect its employees and customers, the store has strict safety measures in place. Employees are required to satisfy the required 14-day observation-at-home period before coming back to work, and when they do, masks are required at all times and they receive daily temperature checks. Customers must also wear masks at all times within the store and have their temperatures checked before they can enter the store.

 

To protect its employees and customers, the store has strict safety measures in place.

 

Although E-Space is branded as an experience store, it has proven that in this period of time, it can also serve as a place to conveniently satisfy immediate consumer needs. Customers may not be “experiencing” all that the store has to offer at the moment, but that hasn’t stopped them from shopping. Li said, “We’ve seen high conversion rates in the last few days. Most customers come in with a clear idea of what they want to buy.”

JD E-Space, the 50,000 square meter mega experience store operated by JD.com made its debut on Singles Day (November 11th) 2019. It enables consumers to try virtually anything within the store, and provides experiences from driving go-karts, to taking baking classes and even taking the washing machine for a spin with real clothes.

(ella@jd.com)

JD.com Chairman and CEO Richard Liu: JD’s Anti-Coronavirus Fight

On March 2, JD.com announced fourth quarter and full year 2019 earnings. In his opening remarks during the earnings call, Richard Liu, Chairman and CEO of JD.com, highlighted what the company is doing to ensure the safety and livelihood of people in China during COVID-19. The earnings press release can be found here: http://ir.jd.com/news-releases/news-release-details/jdcom-announces-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2019-results

Richard’s opening remarks from the earnings call are below, in full:

 

Hello everyone. This is Richard.

Since day one of the coronavirus outbreak, we have done our utmost to help people in Wuhan and throughout China, contributing as much aid as possible. We are in a unique position with our superior supply chain, logistics and technology, and we feel a strong sense of responsibility to provide robust support.

Let me take a few moments to introduce specifically what we have been doing and its significance.

Just before the Chinese New Year, we put together a team specifically tasked with leading our efforts in addressing the epidemic. This team had a four-fold mission: donate protective equipment and medical supplies; establish a dedicated express route to transport relief supplies to assist Hubei province; provide support to people in heavily affected areas; and offer supportive policies to merchants on our platform.

JD took immediate action in donating critically needed medical supplies to hospitals and charity organizations in Wuhan, including a large amount of face masks and protective medical materials that were in urgent demand but short in supply. In addition to ensuring timely supply and delivery of daily necessities for unmet needs, JD Logistics opened a dedicated channel for relief materials across the country to assist Wuhan. As of now, we have transported over 50 million items of medical emergency materials.

To respond to the urgent needs for prevention and controls requested by Hubei’s government, JD Logistics applied our advanced supply chain technology and experience and built the supply chain management platform to help manage emergency supplies and ensure their delivery to the frontlines in Hubei. At the same time, JD’s next generation technologies, such as AI, big data and IoT have been quickly deployed into a dozen emergency and epidemic prevention solutions to support the work of the local governments and enterprises.

Ensuring the health and safety of our employees is always our top priority. All of JD’s frontline employees were provided with masks, disinfectants and other protective equipment immediately after the outbreak.

Beyond employee care, we offer 30,000 doctors through our health business, JD Health. JD health launched free 24/7 online medical consultation and psychological counselling services to people across China. Regarding our merchants, we have offered a series of supportive policies including subsidies, fee reductions or waivers and others benefits to help them at this time.

When SARS occurred 17 years ago, JD was a very small company. But, we personally experienced then just how devastating epidemic situations can be to both businesses and peoples’ lives. That’s why today we will do everything we can within our power to serve our customers and support society. We sincerely hope the epidemic will be over soon. But, regardless of circumstances, we will always seek to improve the service experience for our customers and create value for our partners.

This is a brief summary of how we are doing our part to provide aid during the epidemic.

There’s one more thing that I’d like to draw your attention to. Today, we have announced that our CFO, Sidney Huang, will retire this coming September. Though this will come as news to you, it’s something we’ve been planning carefully and are in a perfect position to action this year. Just a few words about Sidney. His professional expertise, integrity, humility and fairness have all earned him respect from myself and from others throughout the company since he joined us in 2013. Along the way, he has overcome countless challenges and witnessed many of JD’s most important milestones, including our successful IPO in the US and the remarkable expansion of our business. On behalf of JD, I would like to sincerely thank Sidney for his hard work for the past 6 and a half years and wish him and his family all the best. Sandy Xu, whom some of you may have met already, is appointed to be Sidney’s successor. Sandy is a seasoned leader with impressive credentials. Combined with her broad international perspective, I am confident that she will be a great CFO for JD going forward.

Thank you. Now, I’d like to turn it over to Sidney.

JD Makes 15 Million Masks Exclusively Available to Hubei Customers

by Hui Zhang

JD Health together with Sinopharm Group Hubei will make 15 million masks exclusively available to customers in Hubei province to help address the mask shortage situation since the outbreak of COVID-19.

The first batch of 15 million masks went on sale on March 3. In order to ensure that more people can access masks, each consumer is entitled to buy four packs of masks (200 masks in total), and the price is as low as 1.98 yuan each. The orders can be delivered to all cities and counties in Hubei.

15 million masks exclusively available to customers in Hubei

Since mid-January, JD Health has donated one million masks and 60,000 medical and epidemic prevention supplies, including disinfectant, medical gloves and more to major hospitals and related institutions in Hubei province.

JD Health has also launched a new online platform to connect chronic disease patients in Hubei with pharmaceutical companies and pharmacies. The platform provides timely information on where they can get the drugs they need, online or offline. So far, the platform has already received over 17,000 requests for help from patients in Hubei, and 80% of the patients registered on the platform have successfully received the drugs they need.

 

(zhanghui36@jd.com)

JD Logistics Awarded Digital Transformation Solution Provider from SCMR

by Brad Burgess

JD Logistics is awarded “Digital Transformation Solution Provider” by Supply Chain Management Review (SCMR), a leading global supply chain industry media. Winners were notified on March 2nd, with an in-person award ceremony to take place in Chicago on April 28 during the NextGen Technology Supply Chain Conference sponsored by SCMR.

JD Logistics was selected for the Digital Transformation category primarily because of its strategy of opening up its services to third parties, a key part of its Open Platform Digital Supply Chain (OPDS)

JD Logistics was selected for the Digital Transformation category primarily because of its strategy of opening up its services to third parties

OPDS was launched during JD Logistics’ annual 2019 Global Smart Supply Chain Summit. The goal of the platform is the enable players of all shapes and sizes to reap the benefits of an agile supply chain regardless of whether or not they have the resources to operate their own supply chain and logistics departments.

JD Logistics advocates for agile supply chains, confident that this is an inseparable part of a successful future-facing business.

Zhenhui Wang, CEO of JD Logistics has said that an open supply chain will “enableveryone, not just the world’s smartest or most technologically advanced companies to participate.” It is this spirit of inclusivity, enshrined within a dynamic framework, that will drive innovation for all.

The NextGen Technology Supply Chain Conference will “recognize companies leading the way in new technologies.” Award categories include AI, Robotics, Analytics, Blockchain, and Digital Transformation.

 

(brad@jd.com)

Lei Xu: JD Has A Significant Role to Stabilize the Market

by Rachel Liu and Tracy Yang

During the company’s earnings conference call on March 2nd, Lei Xu, CEO of JD Retail,  pointed out that JD has played a significant role in stabilizing the market, especially in the supply of fresh produce and health-related products.

 

Rapid increase of new customers

According to JD’s latest financial results, since September 2019, the company saw 28 million net additional customers. This is the company’s biggest quarterly net addition for the past three years. Impressively, 70% of new customers in Q4 came from lower-tier markets. JD has been providing premium products and service to customers all over the country, and as more and more lower-tier cities customers are experiencing online shopping, many of them tend to go to JD for the products they want. Some lower-tier market customers have more disposable income than customers in 1st and 2nd tier cities, and they demand high quality products. For other customers, JD has also been working with quality manufacturers to provide them with affordable products.

A key to attracting new customers is providing them with products that meet their specific demands. JD’s C2M (Consumer-to-Manufacturer) initiative that helps brands tailor their products also made further progress in Q4. During the Singles Day Shopping Festival in 2019, sales of tailored personal computers increased by over 490%.

 

Growth of social e-commerce platform orders

Social e-commerce is playing an increasingly important role in customers’ daily shopping behaviors, and JD’s social e-commerce also grew rapidly in Q4 2019. For example, the Jingxi platform that mainly targets lower-tier markets saw orders exceed one million per day before the epidemic outbreak. On the customer profile of social e-commerce platform consumers, Xu said, their shopping habits tend towards more social interactions. They are more impulsive in shopping decisions and have a very high conversion rate. The attraction of new customers to social e-commerce and a focus on their entire consumer lifecycle will be a key focus of JD from now on.

JD has also collaborated with manufacturers from over 100 industrial belts to expand its products base. The industrial belts will be mainly supply suitable products for social e-commerce customers, and JD Logistics will be closely involved to fulfill the whole supply chain.

 

Competitive advantage

The breakout of COVID-19 in China in the beginning of 2020 has largely impacted Chinese people’s daily lives and the development of many industries. During the epidemic, JD’s self-built supply chain and logistics infrastructure have supported the successful delivery of donations and daily necessities to people in Wuhan and all over the country. As a result, more customers are turning to JD for their demands. More new users are being more active and making repeated purchases on JD. “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,” said Xu. “In the future, we will leverage our operation abilities with these existing and new users to improve their experience and increase their stickiness.”

Brand partners and merchants recognize the advantages of JD’s business model and looking for deeper collaboration. JD has been actively working with them to stock their products in its warehouses and develop omnichannel solutions to get their products into customers’ hands more easily. Deepening of cooperation with first party partners also extends to advertising. “As we leverage the advantages of our self-operated model, we have seen strong advertising demand from our first-party partners too,” said Xu. The company has also worked closely with merchants to support their warehousing and stocking, which has enabled the first-party business to perform strongly during the epidemic.

 

(liuchang61@jd.com; tracy.yang@jd.com)

In Line of Fire: A Driver at JD and His Wife in Wuhan

by Ling Cao

“You can do it! Our son and I will be here for you when you return!” Bo Ye, a JD Logistics driver, sent a WeChat message to his wife, Yanping Gao, the head ICU nurse at the Maternal & Child Health Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous region, is volunteering in Wuhan.

Since Chinese New Year at the end of January, Bo and Yanping have been 1,000 kilometers apart from each other. Yet, both of them are working on the frontlines to aid the fight against COVID-19. While Yanping is in the epicenter of Wuhan, Bo is working in logistics at Nanning, capital of Guangxi, to ensure delivery of daily necessities and medical materials.

January 25: On the Chinese New Year’s Day, Yanping gave Bo a quick call to inform him that she decided to enlist to help the people of Wuhan. Bo expressed that he fully supports her decision, and then decided to return from his hometown Chongzuo, about 120km away, to Nanning, the next day.

January 26: Bo returned to Nanning, while Yanping stayed at her hospital working through the night.

January 27: Yanping quickly packed while Bo drove her to the hospital for departure with the medical team to Wuhan. When Bo returned from the hospital alone, he couldn’t help but ask himself how they will make it apart during the Chinese New Year holiday. That same night, Yanping – who is among the 137 members of the Guangxi medical aid support team – arrived in Wuhan.

January 28: While Yanping prepared to provide medical aid to the people of Wuhan, Bo returned to work, transporting medical donations to and from warehouses. He said, “No matter what it is, there will be someone to offer support when it arrives.”

January 31: The medical aid support team is divided into three groups to manage three areas: two in public ward and one in ICU. A nurse with over a decade of experience, Yanping said, “I have more experiences dealing with more medical equipment when working at ICU in the past, let me do that.”

Bo met Yanping years ago through her father’s work. The couple married in 2013, and had their first son in 2014. In 2015, when JD.com built a warehouse in Nanning, Bo – an experienced driver hoping building his future in logistics industry – decided to work as a driver at JD.

Bo calls Yanping every night to connect with her. They didn’t want their son to worry about his mother, and so decided to not tell him about her staying in Wuhan. Their son, who is with his grandmother in Qinzhou, about 100km south of Nanning, figured it out and sent mom an encouraging video to continue her fight in Wuhan.

Bo and Yanping were moved by their son’s message. Their hope is very simple: to conquer the epidemic and reunite as early as possible.

 

(ling.cao@jd.com)