JD has teamed up with Legendary Pictures ahead of the upcoming Chinese release of “Pacific Rim Uprising,” the follow up to the box office hit, “Pacific Rim.” JD’s own mascot Joy has been reimagined as “Gipsy Joy,” who will join forces with heroic PPDC jaeger, Gipsy Avenger in a micro movie released today. This is the fourth “Mission Red Series” micro movie JD’s Joy has appeared in to celebrate the launch of a film in China. JD previously released micro movies for Lego, Transformers and most recently Justice League.
Directed by Steven S. DeKnight who is making his film directorial debut, “Pacific Rim: Uprising” stars John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Cailee Spaeny, Adria Arjona and Jing Tian. The film also features Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day and Burn Gorman who are reprising their original roles. The film is scheduled for release on March 23.
In addition to the micro movie, JD is also holding a special sales promotion day for “Pacific Rim” movie-themed merchandise on its platform a day ahead of the film’s release, to be known as “Uprising Day.” The JD.com homepage will be transformed with a “Pacific Rim” design and 1,000 limited edition Gipsy Joy action figures will be available for sale during the promotion.
DeKnight said, “We’re excited to partner with JD to drum up momentum for the film ahead of the release in China among its nearly 300 million customers and its brand partners.”
See a short clip of DeKnight introducing the Gipsy Joy action figure here:
JD.com, China’s largest retailer, is extending its smart home platform, Alpha, to the auto industry, making it possible for drivers to control smart home devices and make e-commerce purchases directly from their cars. Through a partnership just inked, Geely’s 2018 Boyue SUV will be the first model to include JD’s Alpha-powered connected car solution. The solution leverages JD’s capabilities in AI, IoT and big data to provide users with access to services including location services, smart reminders, vehicle management, data analysis, voice control and other smart services. The 2018 Boyue SUVs that integrate JD’s technology will support the control of over 1,000 smart home appliances and devices such as smart air purifiers, air conditioners, lighting, and speakers.
The cooperation with Geely marks JD’s official entrance into the connected car market. The opening of JD’s Alpha platform to Geely and other partners will enable users to control various aspects of their car remotely and also open up on-board e-commerce capabilities. Once a car has access to JD’s Alpha platform, the car owner will be able to remotely check the status of the car, and even turn on the heat or air conditioning while still inside the house. In addition, JD will integrate a one-click e-commerce experience for vehicle owners to easily and conveniently buy auto supplies and other essentials directly from the screens in their cars on the drive home.
JD.com Vice President Dr. Kefeng Li said, “This partnership will bring unprecedented convenience to car drivers. As we continue to push the limits of retail, online and offline, by integrating new smart solutions and products, our advanced technology is making it easier and more convenient for our users to shop wherever and whenever they choose. In extending Alpha to cars, the sky is the limit in terms of other connected services we can offer drivers in the future. We look forward to continuing to work with our partners to realize this vision.”
JD has recently made several significant upgrades to its Alpha platform. Towards the end of last year, the company launched the JD Smart TV Screen Alliance to enable consumers to enjoy its convenient and personalized e-commerce experience right from their TV screens. Other products leveraging JD’s smart services platform include refrigerators, speakers, and smart home appliances such as air conditioners and air purifiers. The company also debuted its JD DingDong Play, China’s first large-display assistant, at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show. JD DingDong Play, which features an Intel Atom® processor, is the first home personal assistant device to leverage facial recognition.
JD is taking advantage of its superior e-commerce capabilities and offline resources to expand into China’s rapidly growing automotive aftermarket for car parts and services. Recent trends show that Chinese consumers are increasingly embracing JDs omni-channel service that guarantees authentic auto parts online, with services provided through JD’s network of trusted offline stores.
As JD continues to develop its auto business, the company has built partnerships with top brands; ‘4S’ stores, which provide comprehensive automotive services including sales, service, spare parts and surveys and customer feedback; and other third party stores to provide a true omni-channel service. Currently, JD has partnerships with over 30,000 authorized offline stores. This strong omni-channel network is an important advantage for JD, which can recommend the nearest offline store within its network for installation or repairs to customers who have bought car parts online. JD’s network of high-quality stores ensures authenticity and reliability from end to end.
Committed to bringing its customers the highest quality products, JD has forged strategic partnerships with world-class auto parts brands such as Continental Tires, Goodyear and Shell, and top battery brand VARTA. JD’s partnership with Goodyear launched this past December will allow customers to purchase Goodyear tires on JD.com and have them installed offline, providing a seamless omni-channel experience.
Starting this month, JD.com and VARTA launched a quick installation service. The program enables users to buy VARTA car batteries through JD.com, and have them delivered to be installed within 30 minutes in several tier-1 and 2 cities across China by leveraging VARTA’s tremendous offline store network.
JD’s partnership with Shell includes a Shell flagship store on JD.com launched in January as well as deeper cooperation in direct sales including offering tailored products, collaboration on marketing, automotive aftermarket service and delivery for Shell products.
“JD.com has developed a strong network of high-quality offline stores, and we’re excited to be able provide a superior omni-channel solution covering the entire auto parts purchasing process,” said Yishen Tang, General Manager of JD’s auto accessories department. “As a growing number of Chinese consumers seek the convenience of purchasing auto parts online, JD is ideally positioned to provide them with the most seamless purchasing and service experience. Our recent partnerships with world-class auto parts brands are clear indications of their confidence in us to provide their customers with a premium end to end experience.”
According to industry projections, annual e-commerce sales in China’s automotive aftermarket are expected to reach RMB 100 billion by 2020. Today, auto related services is the fastest growing category within JD’s auto business, a testament to the convenience and peace of mind that JD’s omni-channel model provides consumers.
In recent years, JD has made great strides in developing its auto business. JD’s 2017 Singles Day sales event saw a staggering rise in sales compared to the previous Singles Day shopping period, with orders for JD’s signature “Product + Service” bundles increasing by 500 fold. Tires proved especially popular, with sales volume increasing by 256% over the previous year. The sales volume of Continental Tires alone increased 380% year-on-year.
Imagine placing an order on your commute to work and having it arrive at your doorstep before you even return home. This is an experience JD.com customers get every day. In fact, China’s largest retailer can deliver over 90% of all orders same- or next-day as standard – a level of service no other company globally is able to provide. Underpinning this delivery speed is some of the world’s most advanced logistics and smart supply chain management technologies. Using capabilities such as data mining, natural language processing, image recognition and machine learning to better understand, anticipate and plan for changes in demand in real-time, JD is at the forefront of e-commerce supply chain innovation. This enables the company to provide truly differentiated and personalized customer service.
JD has implemented auto-replenishment for the majority of everyday household products sold on its platform. The company is also using its smart supply chain capabilities to help its partners. By working with JD, Nestle was able to increase its available online inventory from 73 to 95%, contributing to an RMB30 million increase in annual sales of Nestle products on JD.
Now, JD.com is launching an initiative to promote the development of next-generation smart supply chain technologies.
JD’s recently launched Global Supply Chain Innovation Center (GSIC), is designed as an international hub for smart supply chain research and innovation. The Center will bring together global industry experts, companies, universities and other institutions, and will serve as a platform to share resources, expertise, insights, and technologies, and to work together on research projects focused on new technologies and processes, empowering more enterprises with smart supply chain capabilities. The GSIC will operate across six key international regions – China, Silicon Valley and Chicago in the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia.
Commenting on the launch, Yu Yongli, head of JD.com’s JD Y business unit, which is focused on smart supply chain innovation, said, “JD.com has built up an incredible wealth of expertise and experience in supply chain management, including cutting-edge technologies like AI, big data, blockchain and Internet of Things. By sharing our resources with leading experts from academia and business, and supporting R&D of emerging technologies, we will empower the GSIC to develop the next generation of smart supply chain infrastructure. These technologies both enhance our own business and enable companies around the world.”
The GSIC will be overseen by an expert committee consisting of esteemed academics in supply chain innovation and management who will be responsible for guiding R&D efforts at the Center and will serve as mentors and advisors. Hau L. Lee, a member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and the Thoma Professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, who will serve as the chairman for the GSIC, will lead the GSIC. Other key members of the expert committee include:
● David Simchi-Levi – Professor at MIT; Supply Chain Designer for “Mars on Earth” Project; Former Chief Scientist at ILOG (IBM)
● Xiande Zhao – JD.com Chair of Operations and Supply Chain Management; Professor at CEIBS
● Yinyu Ye – K. T. Li Chair Professor at Stanford University; Winner of the John von Neumann Theory Prize
● Michiel Steeman – Professor of Supply Chain Finance at the Windesheim University of Applied Sciences; Founder and Chairman of the Supply Chain Finance Community
● Benoit Montreuil – Coca-Cola Material Handling & Distribution Chair; Professor and Co-Director, Supply Chain & Logistics Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology
JD also announced its inaugural operations research algorithm competition, which aims to bring together global experts in the field to foster supply chain innovation. The competition is expected to be launched later this year.
Weeks after opening its first office in Australia to support Australian exporters selling to China, JD.com today announced a new partnership with InterAgri, a leading exporter of Australian meat products, to bring premium Pure Black Angus Beef products to Chinese consumers for the first time. JD and InterAgri are also working on a blockchain-enabled traceability system that will provide consumers with even greater transparency on where their beef comes from and how it has been managed at every step of the production process. Following a successful collaboration with Chinese domestic meat producer Kerchin, the project with InterAgri is JD’s latest smart supply chain project that leverages blockchain technology to bring confidence to consumers.
Pure Black Angus Beef is sourced from HW Greenham & Sons Pty Ltd (Greenham), a sixth-generation Australian business exporting the highest quality, sought-after Australian meat from cattle grown in south eastern Australia – mainly Victoria, Tasmania and the lush south eastern corner of South Australia, where the temperate climate is ideal for high quality beef production. When the blockchain system is implemented later this Spring, it will enable consumers to track each piece of Pure Black Angus Beef right back to the farm in Australia where it was produced. Consumers will be able to access a wide range of information, including details of animals, such as where and how the animal was raised, and how the meat was processed and transported.
This focus on quality is a key differentiator for JD.com in China, where consumers are increasingly focused on product authenticity and safety. As part of its smart supply chain initiative, which leverages technology to bring efficiency and transparency to the supply chain, JD is already implementing blockchain tracing technology in several areas of its business. At the end of last year, JD, Walmart, IBM, and Tsinghua University National Engineering Laboratory for E-Commerce Technologies launched the Blockchain Food Safety Alliance, which is designed to enhance food tracking, traceability and safety in China to achieve greater transparency across the food supply chain.
Commenting on the latest partnership, Chen Zhang, JD.com’s CTO, said, “We’re excited to partner with InterAgri to deliver this level of transparency to our 266 million customer base. We’re increasingly implementing blockchain-enabled traceability solutions to give consumers confidence that they are buying safe, reliable products for their families. Consumers in China don’t just want quality imported products, they want to know that they can trust how and where their food is sourced, and blockchain helps us deliver this peace of mind.”
The launch of Pure Black Angus Beef on JD.com comes as consumer demand for premium-quality imported fresh food is soaring. In 2016, China imported $737.3 million of Australian beef according to Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), but demand for beef is expected to continue growing rapidly. MLA estimates that in 2020 China will consume 82.2 million tonnes of beef, versus just 74 million tonnes this year, while research by Rabobank suggests that imported beef will account for up to 20% of consumption in 2020.
Adrian McCorkell, Director of InterAgri, said, “The demand for premium Australian beef in China has exploded over the last few years, but we are still just scratching the surface of the addressable market. By partnering with JD.com, and tapping into its reputation for quality and ability to bring fresh food to the doorsteps of hundreds of millions of potential consumers, we’re unlocking a huge opportunity for Australian beef exporters to fulfil future generations of consumers in China.”
Fresh food is now one of the fastest growing categories on JD’s platform, and the company now offers tens of thousands of fresh products from over 2,000 global partners. Every day, tens of millions of consumers around China do their grocery shopping on JD.com rather than in a brick-and-mortar store, and get their purchases delivered to their doorsteps.
To make this possible, JD runs China’s largest cold chain logistics network – the only one in the world that is operated in-house by a large-scale e-commerce company, down to the last mile. In fact, JD’s logistics technology is so advanced that consumers can monitor the location, and even the temperature, of their fresh food deliveries in real time via the JD mobile app.
JD.com, China’s largest retailer, has launched new AR/VR makeup features to help customers test multiple cosmetics on their own faces at once with real makeup effects, such as matte and pearl lip color finishes, before buying.
The new feature, JD’s “AR Styling Station,” an upgrade from its previous AR makeup platform, was launched at the company’s annual “Butterfly Festival” in Beijing where leading beauty and fashion brands showcase the latest products and industry trends to potential consumers. The festival is marked by a ceremony attended by leading global brands including L’Oreal, SK-II, Maybelline, and Olay, as well as Chinese celebrities.
Using the JD mobile app, which is the most popular way for JD’s over 266 million customers to shop, consumers can virtually “try on” products including lipstick, blush, colored contact lenses and eyebrow pencils.
Testing makeup has been a pain point for many online consumers given that it’s difficult to judge just by looking at photos of products whether or not they will actually work when customers try them on their own faces. JD’s AR technology not only solves this problem, but also has added features which enable potential customers to share their photos with friends. This in turn helps drive customer traffic and increase conversion rates for brands.
The launch of AR Styling Station is part of JD’s broader effort to create cutting-edge and personalized shopping functions for digital-savvy consumers. The technology, which was developed with the help of makeup industry experts, gives consumers the “hands-on” feel of the offline makeup testing with the convenience of online shopping.
“Through AR/VR we’re able to give customers the interactive experience they get in-store, while offering the convenience of having their favorite products just clicks away from arriving at their doorstep,” said Carol Fung, President of JD FMCG. “As more customers flock to JD for their beauty needs, we’re excited to work with our brand partners to use new technology to make the customer experience more personalized and interactive.”
For the past few years, China has surpassed Japan to become the world’s second largest market in for cosmetics products, just after the U.S. Business intelligence firm L2inc predicts that China will become the largest market for cosmetics products by 2020. Meanwhile, with quality of life improving in China, mid- to high-end cosmetics are becoming increasingly popular.
In the last two years, JD has seen an increase in consumers purchasing international beauty brands, particularly as younger consumers are looking for higher-end beauty products. In 2017, the average number of new customers who made high-end beauty purchases increased more than ten times the number a year earlier.
To capture the burgeoning online market for high quality international products, JD has launched sales of a growing list of famous global brands on its platfrom, including SK-II, L’Oreal, Clarins, Aveeno, Avene, Marionnaud and The History of Whoo, among many others in 2017. French brands such as L’Oreal proved the most popular skincare brands among consumers in 2017, while Japanese skincare and makeup brands such as SK-II showed the greatest increase in sales from the previous year.
JD will introduce about 200 more high-end beauty brands to Chinese customers in 2018. Since the start of the year, Biotherm, Helena Rubinstein, philosophy and Jurlique have already launched stores with JD.
JD.com, China’s largest retailer online or offline, has launched a new accelerator, AI Catapult, for the development of artificial intelligence and blockchain technologies.
Beginning in March, AI Catapult, which is part of JD’s AI program, will partner with innovative blockchain startups to build new businesses and create and test real-world applications of their technologies at scale. Participating startups will have the opportunity to work with a wide variety of operational teams within JD which, in addition to being the largest retailer in its home market, also operates the largest nationwide last-mile logistics network.
JD.com is already a world leader in commercial AI applications developed by its engineers in China and at its rapidly expanding Silicon Valley lab. These solutions are deployed in JD’s drones, robotics, automation technology, smart supply chain, marketing and customer service applications that are among the world’s most advanced.
The company also leads in the use of blockchain technology in supply chains and for product safety, through a supply chain transparency initiative that enables tracing for products back to their origin. Through AI Catapult, the company hopes to deploy these and related technologies even more widely and in more areas that will increase efficiencies and delight customers.
AI Catapult, which will be based in Beijing, starts with an inaugural roster of companies that have already made advances in their field. They include the Chinese fintech pioneer, Bankorous; Australia’s cryptocurrency leader CanYa; Bluezelle, the blockchain-powered database service based in Singapore; London-based Nuggets, the e-commerce payments and ID platform built on blockchain; and Devery, a blockchain powered, open-source, product verification protocol.
These and future members of AI Catapult will benefit from JD’s and each other’s expertise as well as the unique opportunity to implement their cutting-edge technologies across JD’s various business functions. JD, which has over 266 million customers, also expects to invest in the growth of the AI and blockchain ecosystem through future commercial, strategic and research partnerships.
“JD is in a unique position to explore the potential of AI and blockchain in global commerce,” said Bowen Zhou, Vice President of JD.com’s AI Platform and Research Division. “We are excited to work with some of the world’s most innovative startups to explore ways we can scale these cutting edge technologies for the future of retail and other industries, as well.”
AI Catapult will also help JD’s AI research division find new ways to use AI to improve blockchain technology, with a particular focus in areas including scalability, security, privacy, efficiency and energy consumption that will bring not only business benefits, but positive social impact as well.
Companies interested in joining the AI Catapult accelerator should contact: AIPlus@JD.com
From luxury British couture and tea, to chocolate, beauty products, home appliances and other items, UK products have gained popularity in China in recent years. To meet this growing demand, JD.com, China’s largest retailer, has announced plans to sell ￡2 billion of UK goods to Chinese consumers in the next two-to-three years.
The agreement signed today between JD.com and the British Government’s Department of International Trade (DIT) is focused on making it easier for British companies to access the China market via JD.
“Many British brands recognise the huge potential of China’s enormous e-commerce market,” said Richard Burn, Director-General of DIT China. “JD truly understands what Chinese consumers want and has the resources to help British brands ensure success in the region. We’re looking forward to working with JD to bring more British brands to China in the future.”
Prime Minister Theresa May, who is on her first official state visit to China since becoming Prime Minister, met with JD Chairman and CEO Richard Liu at the Residence of the British Ambassador to China. Among the topics Liu and May discussed were JD’s plans to help more UK brands reach JD’s more than 266 million customers.
The number of UK brands on JD has doubled over the last two years, with sales in 2017 growing 100% year-on-year. World famous brands Dyson, Clarks, Johnnie Walker and Lipton are among the most popular with JD consumers. Over the past three years, Dyson sales on JD have increased by more than 60 fold.
“We’re pleased to be working with DIT to make it easier and more convenient for British brands to enter the Chinese market,” said Winston Cheng, President of International at JD.com. “We’ve seen rapid growth in demand for British products from our consumers in recent years, and will look to showcase the ‘Best of Britain’ on our platform even more through this agreement.”
In order to promote even greater sales of British goods, JD will launch special campaigns for seasonal products and undertake other activities to give brands more opportunities to reach Chinese consumers. JD will kick off with a 24-hour “Celebrate Britain” sales promotion for UK products this April to introduce the “Best of Britain” to Chinese customers.
JD has already made a big push into Britain’s renowned fashion industry. Last June, JD partnered with the UK’s Farfetch, the leading global e-commerce platform for the fashion industry, to bring more niche brands from around the world to Chinese consumers. This past fall, the company sponsored shows at London Fashion Week and also partnered with the British Fashion Council (BFC)/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund to help the BFC deepen its engagement with the Chinese market.
JD also counts eclectic British couture house Alexander McQueen as an early adopter of its exclusive luxury platform TOPLIFE. Alexander McQueen’s presence on TOPLIFE will allow the house to engage with a larger local clientele, while maintaining its creative expression and unique brand identity.
