JD.com Ranks No.3 on FORTUNE China’s Most Admired Companies 2022

Posted on by Vivian Yang

by Vivian Yang

FORTUNE magazine released the list of China’s Most Admired Companies 2022 on December 27, with JD.com ranking No.3 among the Top 50 All-Stars List, behind food giant COFCO Group and the automaker BYD; and scoring No.1 on the industry list.

According to FORTUNE’s Chinese edition, the annual ranking is produced based on the editing team’s weighed calculation of surveys among 42,117 Chinese business executives who were asked to evaluate an array of companies’ attributes of reputation such as quality of management, ability to attract and retain talented people, quality of products and service, social responsibility to the community and the environment, and more.

The annual list is “a measurement of companies’ soft power,” said the publication in the announcement, recognizing these companies’ resilience in rising to recent years’ “pressure tests” with their core technologies and firm strategic execution. More importantly, these companies have never given up on making a positive social impact despite external difficulties, according to the publication.

FORTUNE highlighted JD’s performance in fulfilling its social responsibilities and inclusive employee care plans, which helped the company’s ranking jump 14 positions from No.17 in 2021 to No.3 this year.

In March of this year, JD went above and beyond to transport essential living necessities to Shanghai by truck, ship and airplane as the city went through COVID quarantines. Thanks to the company’s proprietary logistics system, JD.com could respond rapidly on products and warehouses coordination, and mobilized 5,000 frontline staff from around the country to Shanghai to meet the soaring demand – an average of 1.5 million daily orders during the peak period. It is estimated that by June 1, JD had transported more than 15,000 tons of living supplies to Shanghai, and in the first half of 2022, the company allocated RMB 2 billion yuan in ensuring supplies in COVID-stricken regions and waiving operating costs for merchants on its platform.

JD Logistics couriers departed from Harbin to support Beijing 

In December, Beijing became China’s first large city to withstand an infection surge as most of anti-COVID restrictions have been  lifted. JD.com once again swiftly dispatched more than 1,000 couriers from 16 provinces to the city, all of who played an important role to help ensure delivery efficiency. JD Health, JD.com’s health business affiliate, spared no efforts in providing and donating medicines and anti-COVID materials, leveraging its telemedicine platform to offer medical advice, drug use guidance and more to help alleviate strain on hospitals.

JD Health’s doctors provide 24/7 online medical consultations 

In terms of employee support, JD.com announced in November that it would transition outsourced staff of Deppon Logistics, a company JD acquired this March, to become Deppon’s full-time employees, who can now equally enjoy the benefits of the company’s medical insurance and pension fund. Moreover, JD.com will put in RMB 10 billion yuan to set up a housing fund for its grass-roots employees including all staff of logistics, customer service and other functions. Among all of JD’s frontline staff, 80 percent are from rural areas.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

Posted in ESG

JD Health Expands Digital Efforts in Supporting the Surge of COVID Patients in China

Posted on by Vivian Yang

by Tong Shen and Vivian Yang

As China continues to lift anti-COVID restrictions, JD Health has been stepping up efforts to support people coping with infections and the recovery process, by leveraging its digital capacities.

24/7 online medical consultation

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 provides timely and convenient support to patients during a time when infections are surging and has worked closely with local governments such as Beijing to alleviate strain on offline hospitals.

COVID-19 medicine mutual-aid platform

To facilitate information sharing about COVID medicines as demand soars, on December 24, JD Health launched the “COVID-19 Medicine Mutual-Aid Platform” to enable consumers all over China to efficiently exchange messages on medicine availability. Individual medicine owners can put up their spare medicine information for needed people. Drug stores can also post notes and split their stock of medicine products in order to allocate the items to more requesters. In the meantime, JD Health is providing free online consultation to guide people’s safe use of medications.

Pages of JD Health’s COVID-19 Medicine Mutual Aid Platform

COVID recovery medical examination services

JD Health cooperated with several medical checkup institutions to offer post-COVID medical checkup packages which help monitor risks of myocarditis, liver and kidney damage, gastric mucous membrane damage, and more. To meet the needs of people who face travel difficulties, JD Health also worked with its partners to provide home services for medical checkups and online medical report interpretation services.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

Biggest SEVEN FRESH Store in South China Opens

Posted on by Vivian Yang

by Tong Shen

SEVEN FRESH  opened its largest one-stop shopping experience center in South China on December 24. Located in Shenzhen, Guangdong province. With a total area of 3,500 square meters, the location will serve customers in 154 surrounding residential communities, with a capacity to meet the daily needs of over 80,000 residents in the neighborhood.

The new SEVEN FRESH store in Shenzhen, Guangdong province

The innovative integration of JD’s cross-category supply chain capability ensures that products can be stocked within 48 hours, from the origin to the shelves. As a result, consumers are able to purchase fresh ingredients from all over the world in SEVEN FRESH, such as beef from Australia, 4J-grade Chilean cherries, and forearm-length mantis shrimp.


Forearm-length mantis shrimp being sold in SEVEN FRESH store

In addition to offering international products, the new store’s food and beverage selection also offers a significant range of local specialties with distinctive characteristics and flavors, catering to the tastes of local residents.

Juema Pork, the most popular local specialty being sold in SEVEN FRESH store

Meanwhile, the number of baked food offerings in the new store has also increased, with 70% exclusively created by SEVEN FRESH baking masters catering to Chinese tastes. In order to produce baked food with superior taste, most of the raw materials are imported products, such as butter from New Zealand and flour from France.

The new SEVEN FRESH store in Shenzhen, Guangzhou province

The new SEVEN FRESH store features a lot of design upgrades and service innovations, which have been made to enhance consumers’ one-stop shopping experience. The overall design, environmental color scheme, lighting system, acoustic system and section division are all specially designed.

 

(press@jd.com)

JD.com’s CEO Lei Xu Named Among Most Influential Chinese Entrepreneurs of 2022

Posted on by Vivian Yang

by Vivian Yang

Lei Xu, CEO of JD.com, was named one of the 25 most influential Chinese entrepreneurs in 2022 by CHINA ENTREPRENEUR magazine, a leading Chinese business publication focusing on reporting and building the country’s community of entrepreneurs.

“Since becoming the CEO of JD.com this April, Xu led the company to focus on its strengths, and improve operating quality and efficiency, while strategically investing in long-term innovation,” said the publication in the announcement on December 12.

As a real “doer” – the theme of the publication’s 2022 nomination – Xu is widely recognized for his down-to-earth spirit in helping the company navigate a challenging time. He has been driving the company to be increasingly “heavy” by exploring technology and service on supply chain, and positioning JD.com as a new type of real economy enterprise, noted the magazine.

“We all wish our enterprise to be built to last, to become a century-old brand,” said Xu in his interview with CHINA ENTREPRENEUR. “This is undoubtedly a marathon, and the only way to complete it through (economic) cycles and against complex uncertainties, is to stay on target and keep running.”

On many occasions in the past year, Xu has expressed his views that China’s economy has cycles that do not cancel its development momentum. JD’s core business focus is on the retail sector and has strong capability to ride out the cycles. Over the years JD.com has been building a solid infrastructure across three networks, including that of products, warehouses, and cloud technology. Coupled with a responsible supply chain, this safeguards the company’s smooth development despite external headwinds.

“Throughout JD’s 19 years of history, we have never dwelt long over short-term and local gains or losses. Our core logic of business is clear, i.e. our business model and strategic positioning have always revolved around customers and business partners,” said Xu in an earnings call in 2021.

The magazine also noticed Xu’s optimism during JD’s latest earnings call this November,  when he commented that “the sign of economic recovery is in sight and JD is ready for it.”

Xu was promoted from President to CEO in April 2022. Richard Liu, the founder and Chairman of JD.com, is dedicated to the company’s long-term strategies, cultivating young talents and initiatives on rural revitalization.

Previously, Xu headed JD Retail for about four years as CEO, a role in which he demonstrated excellent management skills and delivered high-quality business growth under the philosophy of “trust-based and customer-centered value creation.” During this period from 2018 to 2021, JD’s annual active users grew from 300 to 570 million, and full-year net revenue nearly doubled from RMB 461 billion to 951.6 billion yuan.

A decade ago, Xu took the lead in transforming JD’s wireless business into JD App, bringing the company into the mobile era. Xu was also the key person in conceiving the idea of JD618 Grand Promotion, and in bringing the shopping festival to life.

Beyond his professional life, Xu is not shy to show his personality as a genuine Beijinger who speaks from his heart. He is also a rock-and-roll enthusiast and a lover of fashion brands and soccer, all of which make him a magnet for many fans, added the report.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

JD Logistics Operates Auto Parts Warehouses for SGMW

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

JD Logistics announced on December 26 that it has entered a partnership with SGMW (SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile), in which the automobile company has transferred the operation of its four auto parts warehouses in China to JD Logistics.

Leveraging JD Logistics’ supply chain ability, the new partnership will optimize delivery lead time to SGMW’s 4S shops from twice a week to six times a week, with next-day delivery being a standard service for SGMW’s clients.

JD Logistics will help SGMW accurately plan the inventory, reduce storage redundancy, and improve efficiency of fund utilization. Its experience in serving industry clients will help SGMW drive fulfillment rate and increase sales.

A representative from SGMW expressed that the company hopes to bring more digital and smart technologies into its supply chain management through the partnership with JD Logistics. The two parties will also explore pre-production logistics and vehicle transportation, according to JD Logistics.

The latest collaboration marks a deepening of a partnership that started in 2019 between the two companies in integrated supply chain for auto parts. As a leading technology-driven supply chain solutions and logistics services provider, JD Logistics now provides tailored supply chain solutions for industries including FMCG, home appliance, apparel, 3C, automotive, fresh produce and more. In the third quarter of 2022, JD Logistics’ revenue from external customers increased to approximately RMB 24.9 billion yuan, accounting for nearly 70 percent of total revenue for the quarter.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

Ochama Delivers Selected Frozen Foods to Customers in France

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

Starting from December 15, customers in France may order frozen foods from Ochama, JD.com’s B2C omni-channel retail brand in Europe, and pick up at approximately 20 locations all over Paris, with no delivery fee.

Leveraging JD Logistics’ local warehouse in Paris, Ochama will first offer selected frozen food items including seafood, cured meat, dumplings, steamed buns and more.

In September, Ochama began expanding its service to France by launching third-party pick-up points in collaboration with local stores. Approximately 20 shops have joined as third-party pick-up points in Paris, and the total number of Ochama’s pick-up points in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium has reached more than 120, where fresh and frozen products are also provided. The adoption of pick-up points not only brings additional earnings for the shops, but also enables customers to arrange their time more flexibly, avoiding the need to plan ahead or wait for delivery.

As a leader in retail and logistics, JD.com’s automated warehousing and global supply chain sourcing ability helps Ochama offer quality products with competitive prices. It is now providing a one-stop shopping experience for both food and non-food products such as home appliances, home living, electronics, fashion and more products.

Ochama’s highly automated warehouse in the Netherlands

Through pick-up and doorstep delivery services, Ochama is currently available in nine countries, namely Spain, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Luxembourg, in addition to the above mentioned four countries.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

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)