JD Pet Health Claps with US Brand Zesty Paws to Explore China’s Pet Market

Posted on by Vivian Yang

by Vivian Yang

JD Pet Health, the pet care business under JD.com, and Zesty Paws, a US leading multi-condition pet supplement brand under H&H Group, have reached a ground-breaking cooperation agreement on cross-border sales in China.

The cooperation marks the top-rated US pet supplement brand entering Chinese market, with JD Pet Health being its first Chinese retail partner.

“We will continue to explore cooperation in the aspects of marketing, pet health education and more,” said Wenbo Tong, general manager of JD Pet Health. “The cooperation will be conducive to providing more science-based and targeted pet care products and services for pets and pet parents in China.”

Lately rebranded in November, JD Pet Health consolidated health products and medical services for pets as two core businesses to form a closed-loop, all-in-one pet care solution with both online and offline resources for Chinese users.

Founded in 2015, Zesty Paws offers a prime line of high-quality supplements for cats and dogs, represented by its bright-orange-bottle-packed star products, such as the Mobility Bites soft chews for dogs, Calming Bites for cats and more. It is currently the #1 best-selling multi-condition pet supplement brand online in the US, with successes in e-commerce channels like Amazon.com and Chewy.com.

This November, Zesty Paws made its debut in China during the fifth China International Import Expo that was held November 5 to 10 in Shanghai.

Data from the 2021 White Paper on China’s Pet Industry showed that China’s urban pet (dogs and cats) population has exceeded 112 million, boosting the consumption market scale to RMB 249 billion yuan by 2021, up 20.6 percent from 2020. With more Gen-Z consumers becoming pet parents, the growing market is eager for greater inspirations and innovations to make sure China’s fur-babies are healthy and happy.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

JD.com Dispatches Over 1,000 Couriers from Nationwide to Ensure Last-mile Delivery in Beijing

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

Over a thousand JD Logistics couriers arrived in Beijing from across China on December 14, to support last-mile delivery in country’s capital city as Covid cases and e-tail fulfillment needs have surged over the past few weeks.

According to the State Post Bureau of China, 4.3 billion parcels were collected from December 1 to 12, with a year-on-year increase of 5.6 percent. The company expects another several hundred couriers to arrive in Beijing this week.

JD Logistics provides employees with sufficient PPE, antigen testing kits, Covid insurance and more. The company has also launched an online consultation channel and hotline for employees to consult on Covid medications and other emergency medical needs. Strict disinfection is mandated for logistics sites, devices, vehicles and goods.

Approximately 100 autonomous vehicles are also joining efforts to offer contact-less last-mile delivery, managing the transition between compounds and delivery stations, and also delivering medicines overnight in collaboration with JD Health. Dada is also making efforts in optimizing delivery capacity by recruiting and activating more crowd-sourcing riders by giving incentives and additional allowances.

Last week, JD Health announced the launch of its “online anti-Covid clinic” offering 24/7 medical consultations in order to help people deal with the spike of infections. Within a week, more than one million users have sought medical advice from this clinic. In addition to Covid-related medicines, JD Health also ensures sufficient storage of medicines for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, respiratory, digestive, endocrine and other chronic diseases.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

JD.com Enters the 2023 Finalist of Gartner Power of the Profession Supply Chain Awards

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

JD.com was selected as a finalist for Process or Technology Innovation of the Year by Gartner Power of the Profession™ Supply Chain Awards 2023, for its explainable and intelligent forecasting technology. Among the other finalists are AB InBev, Microsoft Corporation, MTN Group and Schneider Electric.

Forecasting is essential to supply chain planning for any sales team, which helps solve problems including inventory backlog, backorders and more. As a retailer with over 580 million active customers, JD.com’s smart supply chain manages over ten million SKUs a day across China nationwide, and is influenced by multiple factors such as promotions, marketing campaigns, holidays, weather, seasons and more. Under these circumstances, sales people should fully understand the forecasting results and the impact of each factor to make better supply chain decisions.

JD’s forecasting technology combines explainable AI technology with forecasting algorithms that provide visibility of forecasting components and drivers. With the new technology, the forecasting result is no longer just a number, now comprising considerable information about the factors driving the result. For example, during a big promotion, the forecasting system can clearly show the sales breakdown driven by the promotion, so that business teams can better understand the forecasting logic for better inventory preparation.

“In this way, the forecasting system becomes a white box, and is no longer a ‘stranger’ to business teams, but a trusted ‘assistant’ that helps them provide accurate insights for future planning and improve their working efficiency,” said Curtis Liu, vice president of JD.com and head of JD-Y.

So far, the technology has been applied to millions of SKUs on JD.com, and is available for best-selling, long-tail, seasonal and a lot more supplying scenarios. As of September 30, 2022, JD.com’s turnover days were only 31.7, a leading performance compared with peers at its same scale.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

JD Health Opens 24/7 Online Anti-COVID Consultations as Virus Controls Loosen

Posted on by Vivian Yang

by Vivian Yang

As China further relaxed its COVID rules this Wednesday, JD Health introduced its “online anti-COVID clinic” to offer 24/7 medical consultations. With an average responding time of less than 30 seconds, the telemedicine service is expected to provide much-needed assistance for people to deal with the spike of infections.

Local governments like Guangzhou and others have advised mild COVID patients and asymptomatic carriers to rest at home and prioritize internet hospitals or nearby preliminary-level clinics before going to hospitals.

In response to the latest anti-COVID policies, JD Health’s online doctors are geared up to work around the clock to provide users with a range of customized health consultations whenever and wherever they need, ranging from personal and family virus prevention solutions, advice on chronic diseases management, recovery plans, to psychological counseling and more.

A number of renowned doctors have been invited for livestream sessions on JD Health to help the public better handle a variety of health challenges in this time of COVID outbreaks, such as guidance for cardio-cerebrovascular patients’ home-stay health management, prevention of respiratory diseases in winter, effective ways to cope with anxiety and depressions, and so on.

COVID-related testing kits and medications are in high demand in the past week. JD Health’s data showed that sales of medicines for cold, fever, cough, and anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory drugs increased 18 times compared with the same period in October. Transaction volume of antigen self-test kits rose 344 percent week over week.

In addition to COVID-related medicines, JD Health’s pharmacy department also ensures sufficient storage of medicines for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, respiratory, digestive, endocrine and other chronic diseases, and conducts real-time monitoring on product demand to safeguard timely supplies and stable prices.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

JD Fresh Welcomes First Shipment of Chilean Cherries in Shanghai to Kick Off Season 2022/23

Posted on by Vivian Yang

by Vivian Yang

On December 9, JD Fresh, the fresh produce business of JD.com, joined hands with Chilean Fruits Exporters Association (ASOEX) to host a ceremony at the Bund in Shanghai to celebrate the arrival of the first ship transporting cherries of Garces Fruit, Chile’s largest cherry grower and exporter, and to officially unveil JD’s nationwide promotional campaign.

This 2022/23 season of Chilean cherries has kicked off in China, ushering in an annual highlight for both markets and the industry, as data shows that China accounts for over 90 percent of all Chilean cherry exports with an estimated value of $3 billion to be reached in the coming season. Plump, juicy and red in color, cherries are viewed by Chinese people as a festive and auspicious gift during the traditional Chinese New Year, which will fall on January 22nd in 2023.

A LED show reading “cherry shopping on JD.com” was illuminated on a landmark building at the Bund at 8.p.m. during the ceremony.

Close partnership aiming at over 20% sales growth

Chie’s Minister of Agriculture Esteban Valenzuela sent a congratulatory remark via video for JD Fresh’s cherry season opening and in recognition of the close cooperation between Chilean and Chinese partners.  Gonzalo Figueroa, Consul General of the Republic of Chile in Shanghai attended the ceremony and stressed the importance of the trade of cherries which has achieved great success commercially and beyond. He described this kick-off ceremony as “one more step for the friendship between Chile and China.”

Esteban Valenzuela, Chile’s Minister of Agriculture congratulated JD Fresh’s cherry season opening

Yang Yuan, general manager of JD.com’s public affairs in eastern China region, noted that thanks to JD’s capabilities in product quality control, global supply chain and cold-chain logistics, JD Fresh has become the largest and best-selling retail channel in China for Chilean cherries. Yuan is optimistic that JD Fresh will achieve over 20 percent sales growth during this new season’s promotion while supporting its partners to strengthen their brands in the Chinese market.

Gonzalo Figueroa, Consul General of the Republic of Chile in Shanghai  

A number of leading Chinese fruit importers and distributors were present at the event. Their strong partnership with JD Fresh was acknowledged with honors including the “Golden Quality Award” to Yi Du Cherries; “Best Cherries Supplier Awards” to Yu Qian Group, Jin Guo Group, Ai Ze Group and Jia Ze Group; and the “Rising Brand Awards” to Garces Fruit and JoyVio Group. Meanwhile, two cherry producers San Francisco lo Garces Spa and Copefrut S.A. have been designated as JD Fresh’s global farm partners.

Better cherry-shopping experience for Chinese consumers

JD Fresh announced three improvement measures at the event, targeting fruit quality, price and customer service.

On the produce side, JD Fresh has been collaborating with leading fruit companies on direct sourcing of cherries from Chile and co-designing standards throughout the supply chain to ensure collection of prime berries, with respect to their appearance, size, sugar degree, and hardness; and also picking, packaging, transportation, storage and other shipping processes. Royal Dawn and Santina are two early high-quality cherry varieties that Garces Fruit prepared to cater to Chinese consumers, and took up 48.1 percent and 38.4 percent respectively on the first ship transporting cherries. JD Fresh is one of the company’s prioritized channels to introduce a variety of cherries in China.

In a bid to offer even better prices for more high-quality imported cherries to Chinese consumers, JD Fresh has taken more precise measures to control ocean freight and make dynamic price adjustments in the Chinese market, so as to let more people enjoy “cherry freedom,” a popular term on Chinese social media people use to self-identify when they are wealthy enough to purchase pricey cherries without a second thought. During JD Fresh’s pre-sale period, consumers can enjoy an RMB 220 yuan discount on every RMB 299 yuan spent on certain cherry products.

A charted ship transporting cherries  for JD Fresh to depart from the port in Chile

Regarding customer service, JD Fresh aims to accelerate the cherry delivery speed to customers’ doorsteps by working closely with its industrial partners in every step of the journey from custom clearance, warehousing to last-mile delivery. Moreover, in case of any packaging or quality problems found in the fresh foods ordered on JD Fresh, the company has standard after-sales services in place to ensure that consumers will receive immediate compensation without the need to return the products.

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

JD.com’s Ochama Expands Pick Up Points to 120+ with Physical Stores in Europe

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

JD.com’s B2C omni-channel retail brand in Europe, Ochama, announced that it has launched another 26 pick-up points in Germany, Belgium, France and the Netherlands in the past two weeks, making the retailer’s pick-up point network reaching to 120+ locations in above countries. Thanks to the newly added points, customers in Germany and Belgium are now able to enjoy fresh and frozen foods offered by Ochama just like customers in the Netherlands, where Ochama was born.

By expanding pick-up points, more consumers are able to enjoy an even simpler and easier shopping experience at Ochama. “Leveraging JD.com’s automated warehousing and global supply chain sourcing ability, Ochama can offer quality products with competitive prices across a full range of categories,” said Lei Ling, an executive at Ochama. “Pick-up points raise the fulfillment efficiency to as fast as the next day, and enable customers to get the things they need when they need them the most, avoiding the additional work to plan ahead or stay at home waiting for delivery.”

New customers who register in offline pick-ups can get a 30-Euro coupon

Since May, Ochama has been scaling up its business in Europe through collaboration with third party offline channels, including opening pick-up points in Blokker stores, a leading Dutch non-food retailer. Partnered stores can earn commission income via fulfilling pick-up orders, and access additional traffic directed from the Ochama webshop and app.

In late November, Ochama joined hands with local SMEs and launched two upgraded co-branded pick-up points in Delft and Rotterdam in the Netherlands, providing both branding and decoration support, and hardware and software upgrades. By implementing digital advertising screens that can take orders for Ochama products and display joint campaigns, digital marketing is made possible for stores.

Currently, Ochama operates a 20,000 sqm warehouse in the Netherlands, powered by an AGV goods-to-people automation system that elevates picking efficiency to three times the efficiency of a traditional picking approach. Offering a one-stop shopping experience for foods, fresh and frozen products, home appliances, home living, electronics, fashion and more, Ochama provides both pick-up service and doorstep delivery. Its delivery service is now available in nearly 10 countries in Europe including Spain and Italy.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

JD Logistics Partners with Poland’s Largest Retail Chain Biedronka

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Xinyi Guan and Yuchuan Wang

JD Logistics and Biedronka, the largest retail chain in Poland, announced about jointly forming a partnership in which the Polish grocery giant will leverage JD Logistics’ warehousing and distribution capability in the country to fulfill its online orders and expand its online business.

Managing over 1,500 warehouses in China and overseas, JD Logistics specializes in offering end-to-end integrated supply chain services to its clients. Its 15,000 sqm warehouse in Poland has been customized to fulfill all of Biedronka’s online orders, and to enable speedy delivery within as fast as 24 hours. This is made possible by JD’s warehouse management system, which manages inventory on the SKU level and elevates the outbound and inventory accuracy rate to 99.5 percent, a leading performance of the industry.

“JD Logistics is honored to cooperate with Biedronka,” said Zhong Zhang, a senior director of JD Logistics Europe. “Our strong end-to-end supply chain capabilities and experiences in omni-channel fulfillment will help boost Biedronka’s online business transformation.”

“E-commerce logistics demands deep expertise and we are glad to have JD Logistics as a powerful partner in our online retail development,” said Jakub Knauer, logistics projects manager at Biedronka. “Together we were able to build a landscape of integrated IT systems for efficient inventory, and outbound and inbound management. JD Logistics’ services have enabled us to efficiently fulfill online orders, even in the face of 17-fold increase in the daily number of orders.”

JD Logistics is a leading technology-driven supply chain solutions and logistics services provider, and is an affiliate of e-commerce retailer JD.com. Currently, JD Logistics’ international business operates approximately 90 bonded warehouses, international direct mail warehouses and overseas warehouses, covering an aggregate GFA of approximately 900,000 square meters with an over 70 percent increase year-over-year.

Jeronimo Martins Polska S.A. is the owner of Biedronka – the largest retail chain in Poland, which has been serving the Polish market for 27 years. As of the end of the third quarter of 2022, the chain has 3,304 stores located in more than 1,100 towns and cities.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

Three Ways JD Health Works with UNAIDS to Prevent AIDS in China

Posted on by Vivian Yang

by Vivian Yang

In the lead-up to the 35th World AIDS Day on December 1, JD Health joined hands with UNAIDS China to carry out equipment donations, an expert’s livestream and dedicated promotion of anti-AIDS services via its platforms.

Under JD Health’s coordination, more than 10,000 pieces of HIV testing tools and protection kits were donated to Beijing Love Without Borders, an NGO that supports local communities’ work to end AIDS. Eight companies including Gu Xiao Jia, Wondfo, Accu News, Wellday, Jissbon, Leeswell, AiD, and LifeStyles participated in the donation activity.

At the same time, JD Health set up a theme portal on its App from November 30 to December 2 to promote public awareness of HIV/AIDS. On December 1, Dr. Wu Zunyou, the chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control & Prevention was invited for a livestream on the platform to convey AIDS-related knowledge.

During the sharing session, Dr. Wu pointed out that ordering HIV testing products and medications through e-commerce and receiving online medical consultations and psychological counseling via telemedicine methods at anytime and anywhere can significantly enhance people’s access to help for AIDS prevention and treatment, while offering greater relief and privacy protection.

Products for both Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) and Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) with clear guidance can be easily accessed on JD Health’s App, and medicines are delivered to users’ doorsteps in a timely manner, along with dedicated telemedicine consultation services from physicians for customized support.

According to data from China’s National Health Committee, there were 129,000 new positive HIV  cases found in China in 2021, with 97.9 percent caused by sexual transmission, which continue to be the main challenge for society in fighting the disease.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)