JD In-Car Delivery Takes Convenience to the Next Level

Posted on by Ling Cao

Chinese customers of the e-commerce giant will be able to experience the company’s blazingly-fast delivery from anywhere they can drive their cars.

JD, which can deliver over 90% of its orders same- or next-day, will debut a new in-car delivery service in partnership with leading electric vehicle company NIO. The new service allows customers to have their purchases dropped off in the trunks of their cars, whether their cars are parked at home, at the office, or in a wide range of other approved areas.

The launch by JD is the first of its kind in China.

JD In-Car Delivery Service will use connected car technology that automatically locates customers’ cars, then enables JD’s delivery personnel to pop the trunk of  the car using a Personal Digital Assistant to the car, deposit the consumer’s order, and lock the trunk again. To maximize security, the device is programmed so only the specifically authorized JD delivery person will be able to open the car trunk, while the entire delivery process can be monitored using in-car cameras.

The offering adds a new, convenient option for consumers with cars who may not be available to accept deliveries in person, such as office workers who park their cars in the company lot during the day, or commuters who leave their cars in their driveways while they are out.

“JD.com is well-known for its unrivaled delivery speeds and for developing innovations in service that make life more convenient for our consumers,” Bing Fu, Head of Planning and Development, JD Logistics.  “Imagine the convenience of finishing work for the day and knowing that your orders are already waiting in your car for you, ready to drive home. You can have the peace of mind that, even when you’re not at home, your JD orders have been stored securely in your trunk. JD In-Car Delivery makes that possible.”

JD’s partner in the effort, NIO, is a pioneer in the development of smart, electric and autonomous vehicles. Its NIO ES8, one of the most anticipated new car models that is expected to be released in China this year, will ship with JD In-Car Delivery Service as a standard option.

Over the coming months JD will be partnering with other leading automakers in China to roll out the new service across connected car models. To utilize in-car delivery, JD consumers who own compatible car models can simply connect their JD account with their account on the automakers’ connected car platforms.

JD.com’s Europe-China Freight Train Takeover Brings the Chinese Market Even Closer to European Producers

Posted on by Ling Cao

JD has a new highly efficient and cost effective answer for merchants looking to get their products from Europe into the hands of consumers in China-space on a freight train dedicated to delivering JD goods. Faster than sea and cheaper than air, the first China Railway Express chock-full of the highest quality, JD-procured European products, has just completed its inaugural journey from Germany to China.

The train left Hamburg, Germany, and traveled the 10,000km to Xi’an, the capital of central China’s Shaanxi province, where JD operates one of its most important distribution hubs for cross-border imports. By sea, the route traditionally favored by European producers to get their goods to China, the journey would have taken twice as long – up to 35 days. The rail route is also 80% cheaper than air transport. While JD has long included rail freight as a transport option from Europe, this is the first time the company utilized an entire train. Many of the products carried on this inaugural journey are expected to be sold during JD’s forthcoming June 18th Global Shopping Festival, one of the most important online sales events of the year in China.

Thanks to this new addition to JD.com’s sophisticated cross-border logistics network, the company can now ship goods from most European markets direct to consumers in China – creating significant cost savings for retailers and suppliers. Since JD handles all customs procedures, retailers and suppliers also benefit from a “one-stop shop” service solution, with JD handling every aspect of the freight process from the train station in Germany to the consumer’s doorstep in China. JD is also building out a transfer center in Hamburg to extend this convenience to more merchants across Europe.

Moreover, the train functions as a ‘mobile warehouse’ – as soon as goods are logged and loaded onto the train in Germany they can immediately be listed for sale on JD.com’s e-commerce platform in China. This means that consumers can place orders for the products even while they’re in transit, shortening wait times for consumers while further reducing warehousing costs and increasing stock management efficiency for brands and retailers.

Liu Han, General Manager of International Supply chain at JD Logistics, said, “At JD, logistics innovation and efficiency is all-important, because we know that speed, cost and choice are what matter most to our suppliers and our consumers. Through our use of a train from Germany to China fully dedicated to carrying goods destined for JD.com, we are dramatically reducing the time to market for European retailers and suppliers, and providing our consumers with even more product choices at cheaper prices. With demand for imported European products soaring on JD, we expect to launch a regular service later this year, and we look forward to seeing this train make many more trips in the months and years ahead.”

The train travels along a network of rail lines connecting East Asia and Europe, and passes through Poland, Belarus, Russia, and Kazakhstan before reaching its destination in China.

JD Brings AR Innovation Offline

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

After developing some of the world’s most advanced AR and 3D technologies, JD is now bringing its online AR capabilities offline. Based on the company’s previously launched AR Styling Station, which enables customers to virtually try on products such as lipstick and blush with real makeup effects, JD’s AR Beauty Mirror will appear in retail giant Walmart and Chinese cosmetics brand Carslan’s brick and mortar stores.

JD.com has been advancing the online shopping experience through AR and 3D technologies, creating multiple interactive experiences to help shoppers find and select products, and create new digital touchpoints for brands with its consumers.

JD’s new offer solves several problems that have long plagued beauty shoppers, including hygiene concerns and tester availability. It also adds convenience, since shoppers no longer have to leave the store with rainbow-stained lips or cheeks from trying too many products on during a single shopping spree. By using JD’s Beauty Mirror, shoppers can try on as many products as their hearts desire (including some of the more bold choices they wouldn’t have dared to try in the past), select the ones they wish to purchase, and walk out of the store looking exactly as they looked when they entered.

JD has already implemented the AR Styling Station with over 60 brands on its platform. The platform’s AR Glasses Try-on feature lets shoppers virtually try glasses on to see if they suit their faces. And JD’s 3D Fitting Room gives shoppers the ability to try on clothes before purchase through a customized avatar matching their hair, faces and body dimensions. The feature has already been implemented for over 3,000 SKUs in the male and female apparel categories.

For brands, the addition of AR features provides them with additional touchpoints with their customers, especially online where they otherwise might not have them. Brands can use interactive AR features such as games to tell the brand story to prospective customers and loyal fans alike.

JD has worked with dozens of brands in AR marketing, including L’Oreal, Maybelline, Max Factor, Budweiser, Tsingtao Beer and TWE, among others. Through AR marketing campaigns, customers are immersed in a brand story or game to build a unique and interactive experience.

Chinese spirit brand Jiangxiaobai has partnered with JD to create an AR marketing campaign and increase sales on JD.com. Consumers who scanned specially labelled bottles of Jiangxiaobai with their JD app would be immersed in a game in which they can play bartender and test their mixology skills, for the change to win coupons to apply to online purchases.

“The AR campaign we created with JD provided a highly energized touch point with our targeted consumers online, offering our brand a valuable opportunity to build relationships with customers and allow them to better understand us as a brand,” said Yan Wang, Director of E-commerce Channel, Jiangxiaobai.

JD is also exploring the use of AR glasses for shopping guides to create a truly immersive, entertaining way to inform consumers on their shopping journeys. The assisted shopping guides would integrate online data from JD to provide personalized and curated experiences in offline stores.

JD continues to advance the use of AR to revolutionize all facets of retail. As an example of its Retail as a Service strategy in action, the company is exploring how to leverage its resources with external partners, including hardware manufacturers and content creators. The company is actively working with Vipshop to apply advanced AR technologies in online fashion. JD will also explore AR and MR (mixed reality) shopping scenarios with Lenovo, leveraging the company’s hardware to enrich the shopping experience.

FENDI’s FF Reloaded Pop-Up Goes Digital on JD’s Toplife

Posted on by Ella Kidron

JD has partnered with FENDI to launch a virtual pop-up store for the brand on the e-commerce leader’s luxury shopping platform TOPLIFE. The pop-up will be dedicated to FENDI’s FF Reloaded Capsule Collection. From May 18th to May 31st, Chinese consumers have the chance to buy their favorite pieces from the collection online through TOPLIFE.

Representing the first collaboration between FENDI and the Chinese luxury e-commerce platform, this project combines the Maison’s heritage and extraordinary creativity, as well as its will to keep an eye on the future with pioneering and innovative initiatives in digital, with TOPLIFE’s carefully-curated platform and sophisticated network.

The result is a top-notch online experience for luxury consumers, granted by TOPLIFE’s advanced technologies, unmatched delivery speed and attention to detail that can match the FENDI luxury in-store shopping experience.

“We’re excited to work with FENDI to bring its highly respected collection to our consumers in China,” said Xia Ding, President of International Fashion at JD.com. “We are proud that FENDI fans will be able to buy this special collection through a truly luxury experience.”

Designed by Karl Lagerfeld in 1965, the FF logo combines FENDI’s luxury authority with an irreverent attitude, establishing the Maison’s logo as a contemporary yet sophisticated icon. The FF logo steals the spotlight in the capsule as the unconventional archival square version, dating back to 1974, dominates streetwear inspired silhouettes from parkas, to hoodies, the signature Rockoko sneakers and accessories including the Kan I, Peekaboo and the Runaway bag. The square logo, updated from the original rectangular version, takes center stage as the graphic pattern features heavily on every item. The collection incorporates the FF logo in the classic tobacco and black colorways and in a new surprising white and black variation.

FENDI adds to the list of leading fashion brands that have recently formed partnerships with JD’s TOPLIFE. The company previously welcomed the likes of Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and recently Oscar de la Renta, among others to TOPLIFE, strengthening its position as the destination of choice for the world’s top luxury brands looking to come online in China.

JD Offers Super Durian Day Promotion as Part of Its Grand Celebration of Thailand

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

For Chinese consumers, few products from Thailand are as iconic and prized as durians, the pungent tropical delicacy known in Asia as the “king of fruits.”

The large, spiky fruit has a sweet, custard-like flesh with a distinct aroma that, while prized by some, has caused durians to be banned in offices and hotels. They’re increasingly popular in China, where a growing number of people enjoy them frozen as an ice cream-like snack—so much so, that the United Nations estimates durian imports in the country have climbed an average of 26 percent year-over-year in the past decade, reaching $1.1 billion in 2016.

To kick off durian season this year, which lasts from May to September, e-commerce giant JD.com is celebrating the popular treat with “Super Durian Day” with special discounts on deliveries of Thai durian to customers’ doorsteps in more than 300 cities in China. More than 115,000 Thai durians were sold on JD in 24 hours during a similar promotion last year, in addition to other durian treats such as durian mooncakes, pastries and ice cream.

JD, which is China’s largest retailer, online or offline, has sold the fruit since 2012. Transaction volume for durians on JD.com grew 11-fold between 2016 and 2017. The company expects to import more than six million Thai durians this year, including an agreement with Queen Frozen Fruit, Thailand’s main frozen durian distributor, to buy a third of Thailand’s frozen durians.

Durians are most popular in first and second-tier Chinese cities like Beijing and Guangzhou, but demand is growing in other regions where the fruit was not previously easily accessible. With its nationwide logistics network, JD has become a primary source for durians in fourth and fifth-tier cities in China. Customers in those regions have more difficulty accessing imported tropical fruits, and make up 45% of JD.com’s durian transaction volume.

Super Durian Day will coincide with the Grand Celebration of Thailand on JD.com, in which the company will cooperate with several Thai companies including Ventry, Mistine and 24shopping, among many others bring Thai products to China.

Australia’s Metcash to Launch Fresh Pantry Store on JD Worldwide

Posted on by Tracy Yang

Starting this week, shoppers on JD Worldwide will be able to purchase a variety of high-quality products from Fresh Pantry, a new e-commerce concept store by Australian wholesaler Metcash, created to bring the best and funkiest Australian and New Zealand products to China. The new store on JD Worldwide marks Fresh Pantry’s first entry into China. The brand currently has two physical stores in Australia with 10 scheduled to open later this year.

The Fresh Pantry brand is focused on providing consumers convenient and healthy options, with its online store offering products mainly in the food, household, baby & maternal, wine and healthcare categories. JD Worldwide shoppers will be able to purchase such high-quality products as popular skincare brands Vasse Virgin and Australian Diaries, both available in the Chinese market for the first time.

The addition of Fresh Pantry to JD Worldwide is only the latest step in JD’s efforts to connect Australian brands with Chinese consumers. JD has already brought a wide range of Australian food, agriculture, dairy and cosmetics products to its platform, and expects that demand for these will increase as Chinese consumers become increasingly health and quality conscious.

“We are very excited to be joining JD.com, China’s largest retailer. With a physical store based in the CBD of Melbourne, the store on JD Worldwide will look to become the pre-eminent platform for Australian and New Zealand products and deliver an authentic Fresh Pantry shopping experience to consumers in China. We believe that JD, with its excellent reputation for authentic products and world class logistics system, is the perfect platform for us.” said Will Zhao, Metcash’s Head of China Operations.

“It is a pleasure for us to welcome Fresh Pantry to JD Worldwide,” said Winston Cheng, JD.com’s President of International. “As Chinese online shoppers grow ever more sophisticated and discerning, they are gravitating to high quality Australian food and healthcare brands. I am confident that Fresh Pantry, with its focus on quality and selection, is an excellent fit for our platform.”

Metcash, Fresh Pantry’s parent brand, already has a strong presence in China. For the entry of the newly launched Fresh Pantry brand into China, Metcash specifically chose JD Worldwide in order to differentiate Fresh Pantry as a premium, specialized offering.

JD.com Expands Luxury White Glove Delivery Service

Posted on by Ling Cao

JD.com, China’s largest retailer, online or offline, is expanding its luxury white glove delivery by popular demand.

The service, JD Luxury Express, launched last year for special deliveries of high-value luxury items sold on JD.com and its luxury goods platform, Toplife. It was previously available, free, for select luxury brands and categories. Starting May 16, customers buying a wider variety of items in categories including sports, health, gifts and bags, will have the option to pay extra fee to enjoy the service as well.

Previously eligible items will continue to be delivered automatically via JD Luxury Express, free of charge.

A survey of JD customers showed 41.5% wanted luxury white glove delivery, especially when buying expensive products or purchasing gifts. Many customers who wanted the service said they would be willing to pay extra for it if their purchases didn’t automatically qualify.

“We created JD Luxury Express to replicate the high-end luxury buying experience in e-commerce. But we see now there is demand for such services beyond that market” said Bing Fu, Head of Strategy, JD Logistics. “As Chinese consumers become more discerning and increasingly turn to JD.com for high-quality, authentic products, it’s natural that many want the added service to go with it.”

JD Luxury Express is a service made possible with the advanced retail infrastructure and technology that unlocks unprecedented efficiencies for the retail industry. With over 300 million customers, JD.com is the only large-scale e-commerce company in the world to operate its logistics in-house, down to the last mile.

The company operates over 515 warehouses, including 14 mega-fulfillment centers, and a nationwide transportation network, delivering over 90% of orders within the same or next day. It is now offering its infrastructure and technology to other shippers as part of a broader strategy to provide Retail as a Service.

JD Luxury Express is now available in nine cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Hangzhou.

JD Fashion Hosts Partners Conference, Launches New International Fashion Brands

Posted on by Ling Cao

JD.com welcomed over 1,100 industry insiders to its partners conference, a B2B conference hosted by the company’s fashion unit, JD Fashion. The event showcased some of the company’s latest advances at the intersection of fashion and technology. Topics of discussion at the conference included technology-powered strategies, smart supply chain, platform operations, creative marketing, and JD’s plans to develop a fashion and technology research center.

JD Fashion announced new partnerships with a number of international brands during the conference, including Polo Ralph Lauren’s children’s footwear line and children’s wear brand MIKI HOUSE, apparel brands such as SAINT JAMES, CISSONNE, LUCKY CHOUETTE and SHESMISS, as well as Swiss watch brand Oris and Spanish jewelry brand TOUS. Other brands will launch on JD soon, including contemporary Italian fashion brand PINKO, handbag and accessory brand Rfactory, and Italian bag brand Salar Milano. Working with JD, brands will be able to access a huge number of Chinese shoppers by showcasing their wares on JD’s uniquely convenient and reliable platform.

Shengli Hu, President of JD Fashion and Lifestyle, said: “It has been a pleasure to convene a conference of so many of our industry peers and share JD Fashion’s vision and exciting innovations. In just a few years, we have welcomed a huge number of top international fashion brands and continue to attract many more. We look forward to continuing to develop JD Fashion as China’s premier online shopping platform for fashion.”

In addition to continuing to welcome more leading brands onto its platform, JD has also expanded its influence in the fashion industry. Last year, JD partnered with the Council of Fashion Designers of America to support the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund dinner. JD has also partnered with the British Fashion Council’s BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund to help more up and coming designers enter the Chinese market.  This year, JD’s President of International Fashion Xia Ding served as the only judge from China on the BFC/Vogue Fashion Fund’s selection committee.