Mowi China and JD.com to Launch New Fresh Salmon Products in China

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

Mowi China will launch fresh salmon for the first time to mainland China on JD.com. Leveraging both parties’ extensive consumer insights about the market, Mowi China has worked with China’s largest retailer to launch four brand new salmon offerings during JD’s June 18 anniversary sales festival period.

The products will come directly from Mowi China’s newly established factory in Shanghai – its first ever in mainland China. Chinese consumer demand for salmon has risen significantly in recent years. According to internal data, salmon sales on JD’s platform in 2018 increased by 100% over the previous year, with “salmon” being the most searched term within JD’s fish category. With the factory in Shanghai, Mowi China will offer fresh salmon products to JD.com for the first time.

Mowi China has worked closely with JD.com for this launch of new products in mainland China, benefitting from JD’s unparalleled data-driven insights into Chinese consumers to develop four new, fresh salmon offerings tailored to local tastes and consumption trends.

Working with JD, Mowi China identified evidence of demand for easy-to-cook products in China not being met. To capture this demand, Mowi China has introduced salmon with accompanying sauces (the first two of which are with Sichuan style spicy sauce and classic lemon butter sauce). Sauce paired products are primarily aimed at millennials in large cities who are too busy to cook or lack cooking skills.

Mowi China is also launching frozen salmon cubes aimed at families with young children based on JD’s insights that more families are buying salmon for their children. By removing the skin and bones, the product delivers the full health benefits of salmon, including high levels of omega-3 essential for healthy growth in infants, in a safe-to-eat format while saving precious time for busy parents.

The fourth new product introduced by Mowi China on JD.com is a premium fresh salmon portion farmed and delivered directly from one of Mowi’s overseas farming operations in Norway, Scotland, Chile, Faroe Island and Canada.  The salmon will arrive in China within 72 hours after it is harvested and be processed in Mowi China’s Shanghai factory. Mowi’s integrated value chain together with JD’s world-leading cold chain logistics network is key to providing guaranteed shelf life, freshness and quality for JD customers.

“As Chinese consumers have become busier and more health-conscious, they are welcoming high-quality seafood products that are delicious and quick to prepare,” said Emily Zhang, Commercial Manager of Mowi China. “As we open our first processing facility in mainland China to expand in the hugely promising mainland Chinese market, we are confident that JD’s deep understanding of Chinese consumers and unparalleled logistics network make them the perfect partner for us.”

“With our commitment to providing the freshest, highest quality products possible for our consumers, we are excited to further strengthen our partnership with Mowi China,” said Max Cao, General Manager of Seafood Procurement at JD.com. “Busy and sophisticated JD shoppers will jump at the chance to purchase these delicious, tailor-made new offerings of top quality salmon, with quality and delivery assured by JD’s signature in-house logistics and cold chain network.”

JD Logistics Simplifies the Loyalty Rewards Process for Banks

Posted on by Ling Cao

China CITIC Bank has tapped Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com to be its exclusive delivery provider for gifts sent to China CITIC’s credit and debit cardholders as part of the leading Chinese financial institution’s loyalty points program. The move significantly streamlines the process for China CITIC, cutting average delivery time to customers from 5.5 days to 2.5 days across China, increasing efficiency by more than 100%.

China CITIC works with several different gift suppliers in order to ensure a wide assortment of products for its customers to choose from. Users simply log onto the bank’s “Points Mall” to exchange their loyalty points for a qualifying gift of their choice. In the past, logistics to get gifts into the hands of customers (including choice of delivery provider) were managed by each individual gift supplier. Working with JD Logistics, the gift suppliers now send gifts to the JD warehouse located nearest to them, and JD’s in-house delivery service handles last mile delivery to customers all across the country. JD has also helped China CITIC maximize their brand exposure by creating attractive gift packaging featuring the China CITIC logo.

“We’re honored that China CITIC Bank has entrusted JD with the delivery of gifts to their most loyal cardholders,” said Wei Tang, Head of Key Account Management at JD Logistics. “Leveraging over a decade of experience in logistics, from warehousing down to last mile delivery to the customer, we are able to help partners in a wide range of industries significantly streamline the fulfillment process, improve efficiency and increase customer satisfaction.”

JD’s partnership with China CITIC Bank is the latest example of its Retail as a Service (RaaS) strategy in the financial services sector. Under RaaS, JD is leveraging its significant experience in logistics, from fulfillment to delivery, as well as technology and other capabilities, in order to enable partners in other industries to improve efficiency and reduce costs.  JD now provides logistics support to 70% of China’s state-owned and joint-stock banks. The company has also previously leveraged its capabilities to increase the efficiency of supply chain and replenishment solutions for offline bookstores and to provide cloud warehouse solutions to small and medium businesses.

Hungarian Sweet Wine Producer Grand Tokaj Chooses JD for China E-Commerce Debut

Posted on by Rachel Liu

Discerning wine connoisseurs on JD.com are now able to sample an exciting range of Hungarian sweet wines, thanks to a new partnership between the Chinese e-commerce giant and leading Hungarian winery Grand Tokaj.

Grand Tokaj’s partnership with JD marks the winery’s first foray into the world of Chinese e-commerce. JD will assist the brand with marketing activities and help customize products for the Chinese market through insights provided by JD’s big data analysis. JD’s self-developed nationwide logistics network will further ensure a majority of customers receive their wine on either the same day or the day after placing their order.

Hungarian government-backed Grand Tokaj is the largest winery in Hungary’s historic Tokaj-Hegyalja Wine Region. The sweetness of wines such as Grand Tokaj’s “Tokaji Aszú” range comes from the region’s usage of partially raisined grapes, a traditional process known as ‘noble rot’ which dates back to 1630.

Grand Tokaj’s products have already been well-received by JD’s customers. 1,000 bottles of the winery’s signature Tokaji Aszú were snapped up within the first 10 hours of the brand’s promotional launch period held from April 17 to 22. The brand’s online store attracted over 400,000 followers on the day of its launch alone, a faster accumulation of fans than any other alcohol brand on JD.com apart from baijiu giant Moutai.

JD’s analysis indicates that over three quarters of Chinese customers prefer wine from abroad, especially women, younger consumers and those living in first and second tier cities.

“JD.com is honored to be Grand Tokaj’s first choice online platform for the introduction of their sophisticated sweet wine to the Chinese market,” said Carol Fung, president of JD FMCG. “The Chinese wine market is burgeoning with potential, and demand for high-quality imported wine is increasing. As China’s leading wine retailer, we are excited to further leverage our resources and bring greater choice to Chinese wine fans thirsty for a unique experience.”

“JD.com has an impressive history of bridging the gap between global wine brands and Chinese consumers, and we’re looking forward seeing the results of this new partnership,” said Gergely Goreczky, CEO of Grand Tokaj. “The introduction of Grand Tokaj products on JD serves as the ideal introduction to Hungary’s rich and varied tradition of wine-making for Chinese consumers. JD’s expertise in online marketing and logistics will ensure that customers receive a superior level of service consistent with the care we put into the making of our wines.”

For the last three years JD.com has consistently ranked as the leading online retailer for alcoholic beverages, and alcohol sales on JD have increased by a factor of ten within the past six years. More than twenty alcohol brands achieved sales of more than 100 million RMB in 2018 on the JD platform, with sales of Moutai surpassing 1 billion RMB.

JD helps alcoholic beverage brands develop in the market through a holistic strategy including CRM solutions, online and offline retail channels and its unique Customer-to-Manufacturer (C2M) initiatives designed to meet the evolving demands of consumers through customized product offerings. In 2017, Rémy Cointreau Group launched a special, smaller-sized cognac bottle on JD.com based on JD’s user behavior analysis. This smaller bottle was developed specifically for JD’s customers, and sold out quickly when it was first launched online during the 2017 Singles’ Day Shopping Festival. By the end of 2018, the product was one of the best-selling items among all Rémy Cointreau Group’s products on JD.com.

JD.com Delivers New Zealand’s First Kiwifruit and Apple Harvests of the Year

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

JD.com, China’s largest retailer, is bringing this year’s first kiwifruit and apple harvests from New Zealand to Chinese consumers, further strengthening its partnerships with market leaders Zespri and Rockit Global Limited.

The horticultural companies’ high-quality kiwifruit and snack-sized apples have already proven enormously popular among JD’s more than 300 million customers, who are increasingly buying imported produce. JD data shows that overseas fruits accounted for the majority of all fruit sales on JD’s platforms in 2018, up from just 20% two years earlier. Those who favor buying imported fruits are usually younger, middle-class consumers with a strong focus on their personal health and nutrition.

In recent years, New Zealand’s fruit exports to China have soared to reach NZ$606 million. On JD, sales of New Zealand-produced fresh food grew by over 80% in 2018.

A JD courier delivered an order of premium kiwifruit to a lucky customer, accompanied by a Zespri representative

A JD courier delivered an order of premium kiwifruit to a lucky customer, accompanied by a Zespri representative

Kiwifruit are the country’s single biggest fruit export worldwide, with China ranked as the top market. The local industry currently supports about 18,000 jobs across New Zealand, including 2,600 kiwifruit growers.

Zespri first set up a flagship store on JD.com in 2017. By expanding its cooperation with JD including selling through 7FRESH, JD’s offline grocery store, the global kiwifruit exporter is able to further leverage the world-class capabilities offered by China’s biggest and most advanced e-commerce cold-chain logistics network.

“JD.com is the ideal partner for Zespri to continue growing our distribution footprint in the country,” said Ivan Kinsella, Head of China Corporate Affairs at Zespri. “Their unparalleled logistics network will ensure that our high-quality kiwifruit always arrive to our Chinese customers in the best condition, giving them a fantastic eating experience.” 

In addition, Rockit Global Limited has just launched an exclusive flagship store for Rockit apples on JD.com. At the beginning of New Zealand’s apple production season, these nutritious fruits have also been introduced to both JD’s online and offline customers.

China is the most important market for Rockit Global Limited. Chinese consumers’ demand for top-quality produce overall continues to rise quickly. According to JD data, college educated millennials account for more than 40% of Rockit apple’s customers in China, with most hailing from Beijing, Guangdong, and Shanghai.

“Rockit Global Limited is thrilled to have joined forces with JD.com,” said Austin Mortimer, CEO of Rockit Global Limited. “With over 300 million customers and same- and next-day delivery ability, JD is undoubtedly the best partner for us bring our premium quality, New Zealand-grown apples to Chinese dining tables.”

As Chinese consumers’ appetites for fresh food grows, JD has leveraged its global reach and outstanding cold-chain logistics expertise to make sure that they can easily buy the highest quality fresh products. The e-commerce giant currently sources items from over 50 countries and regions, offering more than 110,000 imported fresh products to customers. Its nationwide cold chain logistics network covers 300 cities across China.

“We’re very pleased to further our partnerships with Zespri and Rockit Global Limited,” said Xiaozhou Zhou, leader of the fresh fruit team at 7FRESH, JD.com’s fresh food division. “Chinese consumers overwhelmingly favor JD.com as the best place to buy fresh products imported from abroad. We can’t wait to bring more of these healthy and naturally delicious New Zealand fruits to them.”

“We look forward to seeing even more wonderful fresh products from New Zealand find their way onto JD’s platform so that they can easily reach families across China,” said Andrew White, Trade Commissioner from New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. “These fresh brands will complement the wide range of New Zealand products that are already developing a strong following through JD, such as infant formula, honey, health products and even cosmetics.”

JD Business Offering Demystifies Procurement Process

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

China’s largest retailer JD.com is offering enterprises of all sizes an easy way to meet all of their procurement needs. JD Business, JD’s procurement channel for enterprises to buy office supplies and services, MRO (maintenance, repair and operations) product and more, streamlines the procurement process for brands, providing a one-stop shop solution. Working with JD Business has helped companies improve procurement efficiency by 50% on average, decreasing comprehensive procurement costs by 15%. JD currently has more than seven million enterprise clients.

The traditional procurement process is very opaque, and requires having individual relationships with different suppliers to meet each business need. It also often involves leafing through a large book of different suppliers, and then requiring procurement teams to meet with prospective suppliers in person. JD simplifies the process by enabling enterprise customers to access a range of different products from different suppliers on a single platform. Importantly, as China’s trusted retailer for authentic products, JD’s system is designed from the ground up to bring an unprecedented level of transparency to the procurement process.

JD Business offers solutions to suit enterprises of all sizes. For small and medium enterprises, which have an unstable lifecycle and often a lot of movement within the organization, JD Business provides a transparent channel (b.jd.com) for procurement. This means that anyone who comes into the procurement role at a company has a clear record of invoicing and pricing information.

JD also works with more than 5,000 large companies, and can embed JD Business’ service into their existing ERP systems. Over 80% of companies in China on the Fortune 500 list have cooperated with JD Business for their procurement needs. A more recent addition to JD’s enterprise support portfolio is its MRO-specific procurement channel (imall.jd.com). Partners of JD Business cover a wide range of industries and include the likes of Volvo, Siemens and Bosch.

“We have spent several years understanding the needs of enterprise customers, and figuring out how to best serve them,” said Chunzheng Song, Head of JD Business. “Our extensive logistics network, relationships with suppliers and advanced technology put us in a position to meet the demand from businesses of all sizes.”

Volvo and Southwest Cement are recent beneficiaries of working with JD Business. Embedding JD’s procurement platform with Volvo’s supplier relationship management (SRM) system enabled Volvo to decrease its procurement cycle from three weeks to a few days. Working with Southwest Cement, JD leveraged its resources in supply chain and logistics to provide a one-click procurement solution enabling the company to lower procurement costs by 20%.

Volvo Automobile Asia Pacific

In 2018, JD Business signed a cooperation agreement with Volvo Automobile Asia Pacific to become Volvo’s first PunchOut and E-ordering smart procurement partner in the Asia-Pacific region. Embedding JD’s procurement platform with Volvo’s supplier relationship management (SRM) system has enabled real-time transparent flow of procurement management data, and has fully digitalized the procurement system, greatly reducing errors. As a result, Volvo has been able to decrease the procurement cycle from three weeks to a few days.

“Cooperating with JD.com has significantly improved the quality of our procurement visualization, enabling us to make transparent and efficient decisions,” said Hai Li, Vice President of Procurement at Volvo Automobile Asia Pacific. “In particular, the transformation of our procurement process has enabled our indirect procurement to become a value creation center.”

Southwest Cement

Southwest Cement is another of JD’s enterprise clients who has benefitted as a result of transitioning its procurement process. The company’s cement production capacity is about 100 million tons, and its production process requires a lot of industrial materials. In the past, Southwest Cement would procure materials from many different suppliers. JD leveraged its resources in supply chain and logistics to provide a one-click procurement solution enabling the company to buy thousands of products at reasonable prices. As a result of going online with JD, Southwest Cement has been able to lower procurement costs by 20%. In addition, thanks to JD Logistics’ extensive network, it takes just 36 hours for Southwest Cement to get their supplies after placing an order.

“Working with JD has drastically simplified our procurement process,” said Jun Zhang, Head of Supply at Southwest Cement. “In the past, our procurement managers would work with a bunch of individual suppliers to meet all of our procurement needs. This was a very time consuming and labor-intensive process. Now, we are able to get all of the supplies we need from a single place, delivered in record time.”

JD’s Popular Free-Range Chicken Program Helps Farmers, Delights Customers

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

Back in 2016, JD.com turned its hand to revolutionizing a whole new industry: raising chickens.

With the launch of its “Running Chicken” initiative, JD established a free-range chicken farm in China’s economically disadvantaged Wuyi County, in Hebei province. The program has gone on to reduce poverty in one of the country’s historically poorest regions while providing top-quality chicken meat to discerning shoppers on the JD platform. It has been a resounding success, with sales of the free-range chicken products doubling on JD in its first two years.

The 27-hectare “Running Chicken” farm exemplifies JD’s commitment to both giving back to society and providing goods of unmatched quality. By offering interest-free loans to farmers, the program has helped nearly 500 families in the area earn thousands of RMB per year, improving their quality of life and helping to remove Wuyi County from China’s national poverty list. Professional breeders hired by JD take the lead in tending to the chickens, while local farmers are offered part-time jobs maintaining farms and growing vegetables, fruit and grain for chicken feed.

Chickens raised on the JD farm also provide a more ethical and healthier choice for consumers in an industry dominated by “battery farms,” where animals spend their lives caged in windowless sheds. Free-roaming chickens spend at least 50 percent of their time outdoors, so they can exercise in fresh air and sunshine and interact with other chickens. Studies have shown that free-range chicken meat can have lower levels of harmful cholesterol and saturated fat and higher levels of beneficial omega -3 acids, beta-carotene and vitamins A, B and E.

JD fits each chicken with a specially designed pedometer, with the aim of having each bird take one million steps during the rearing process. The company uses blockchain technology for maximum quality assurance and full traceability. Since early 2018, JD customers have been able to review details about the rearing process for every chicken they buy. A scan of the QR code on the poultry’s packaging allows buyers to view detailed information on sourcing, feeding intervals and more. The chickens are delivered via JD’s self-operated logistics network, which covers 99% of China’s population and offers same and next-day delivery to most customers.

“We are thrilled to see the ‘Running Chicken’ initiative find so much success with consumers just two years after its launch,” said Xiaowen Liu, key projects lead, fresh food sourcing, JD.com. “The project showcases how e-commerce can benefit society as a whole by alleviating poverty while bringing high-quality, safer, and better tasting produce to consumers.”

Following the chicken project’s initial success, JD has expanded its philanthropic reach and range of premium produce by launching two similar farm-to-table initiatives: “Swimming Duck” in Jiangsu Province and “Flying Pigeon” in Hebei Province. Since 2012 JD has also opened more than 200 Poverty Alleviation Local Specialty Malls on JD.com covering 25 provinces. The malls help promote and market local agricultural products on a national scale, both benefitting disadvantaged farmers and providing access to more locally-sourced products for consumers.

Learn more about JD’s running chicken initiative by watching the below video:

Source: CIPG

JD.com Self-developed Blockchain Framework Now Open to Businesses

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

JD.com has announced the opening of JD Chain to businesses, providing them with access to a state-of-the-art underlying blockchain framework. This follows JD’s earlier launch of a new blockchain technology open platform, the JD Blockchain Open Platform, which enables businesses to leverage pre-built APIs in their own businesses. Through JD Chain, companies can now build their own solutions from the ground up, starting from the underlying architecture, specifically tailored to meet the unique needs of their individual businesses, without relying on pre-built APIs.

The opening of JD Chain will be further complemented by the launch of the JD Chain Open Source Community. This new platform aims to promote greater discussions and pooling of resources among blockchain developers and enterprise users regarding the application of cutting-edge blockchain technologies.

Leveraging JD Chain to build individualized, state-of-the-art blockchain solutions will empower businesses to become far more efficient, flexible and secure. JD Chain helps improve the performance of five key technologies of blockchain including data ledger, consensus protocols, cryptographic algorithms, data storage and APIs. JD Chain can reach more than 10,000 transactions per second (TPS), and reduce the time required for the research and development of blockchain solutions and lower the threshold costs for using these technologies.

To meet the performance requirements of a range of different business applications, JD Chain has designed a technical architecture that spans three layers, including gateway service, consensus service and data ledger. Companies are able to access these functionalities through a simple, easy-to-use toolkit.

JD Chain has designed a technical architecture that spans three layers, including gateway service, consensus service and data ledger. Companies are able to access these functionalities through a simple, easy-to-use toolkit.

“JD has long been a trailblazer in pushing the bounds of blockchain’s potential to transform global commerce,” said Xinlei Zhai, head of blockchain at JD.com. “Through JD Chain and the JD Chain Open Source Community, we are empowering enterprises to leverage the vast technological resources at our disposal to develop their own blockchain solutions, creating greater security, efficiency and transparency across all of their operations.”

As a pioneer in the utilization of blockchain technologies, JD continues to invest in the growth of its expanding blockchain ecosystem. The company recognizes the huge potential of these technologies to introduce heightened transparency to the supply chain and enhance the consumer experience, providing JD’s customers with peace of mind about the quality and authenticity of their purchases. To date, JD has already implemented blockchain tracing for more than 700 brands and 50,000 SKUs on its platform.

JD previously launched a blockchain technology-based JD Medicine Opening Tracing Solution to provide more visibility into China’s pharmaceutical supply chains. The new offering builds upon JD’s strong track record in supply chain transparency, giving consumers unprecedented access to reliable tracing information and assuring them that the medicines they buy are genuine.

JD.com and ARCore by Google Launch Augmented Reality Contest

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

JD.com, China’s largest retailer, is hosting the JD-AR & ARCore by Google Innovative Consumer Application Competition in China. The competition will invite AR software developers from around the world to compete to create innovative augmented reality (AR) applications for the retail industry. ARCore by Google is the exclusive technology partner for the competition.

Developers will solve real-life problems put forth by the competition’s partner brands, including Walmart, Mead Johnson, and JD.com’s retail experience shops, among others. The goal is to explore how AR can be used to attract and retain both online and offline customers, and to optimize omnichannel targeted marketing in different retail scenarios.

Top teams are eligible for investments in their projects by VCs, as well as membership in the JD-AR Alliance, which provides unified resources and standards to advance the development of AR technology for the retail sector, official certification from ARCore by Google, exposure to investors and brands, and the opportunity to have their solutions implemented into JD’s primary apps.

“JD is pleased to partner with ARCore by Google to connect the world’s most talented AR developers with leading retail brands to develop new innovative solutions,” said Tony Tan, head of AR/VR at JD.com. “We look forward to seeing how the solutions resulting from this contest will be rolled out in actual retail scenarios to further enhance the customer experience.”

“Partnering with JD.com is an exciting opportunity for ARCore to expand our presence in this dynamic market,” said Carrie Shiung, Google AR/VR China Country Lead. “China is increasingly becoming a world leader in advanced fields such as AR, and this competition will allow us to discover new talent in the growing AR industry. This will add to the diverse offerings available on ARCore and help revolutionize the businesses of our partner brands.”

JD.com has led the way in China by deploying AR in both offline and online retail environments, through services including JD’s AR Shopping and AR Marketing, which leverage ARCore by Google, as well as JD’s AR Fitting Room, AR Styling Station. AR is key to JD’s Boundaryless Retail strategy – enabling consumers to buy whatever they want, wherever and whenever they want it. Through AR, customers are able to better understand how products will look before having purchased them. For example, using JD’s AR Styling Station function, customers can virtually test makeup and other beauty-related items. 70% of people who purchased colored contact lenses on JD during the company’s June 18 anniversary sales period last year used the AR Styling Station function prior to making their purchases.

JD also works with its partner brands to offer unique AR games and other experiences, which help increase engagement and improve understanding of the brands’ stories, thus helping brands reach more customers. For example, Chinese spirit brand, Jiangxiaobai, partnered with JD to create an AR marketing campaign where consumers scan specially labeled bottles of Jiangxiaobai on the JD app in order access a game where they test their bartending skills and have a chance to win coupons. JD’s AR products have already been utilized in sales and marketing campaigns by more than 200 brands on the JD platform, helping drive customer traffic, with conversion rates increasing 9.6% and product return rates decreasing 7.5% on average.

Applications for the AR contest will be accepted from April 2 to May 25, 2019. Contestants can apply via http://ar.jd.com/arpages/competition.html or contact arcorecontest@gmail.com for more information.