JD Pet announced its “Five S Pet Caring Plan” on July 23rd at “The One Pet Show” in Hangzhou, focusing on five key service upgrades that make it a breeze for pet owners to find better pet food, products and medical support for their furry friends.
The five “S” stands for the following aspects respectively, most of which are trailblazing in the industry.
Safe food recommendation: JD Pet introduced a 3-in-1 quality label for pet staple food in combination with the standards from the U.S. European and Chinese feed control authorities, giving prominence to the best quality products on the platform. So far more than 400 pet staple food products from over 40 brands have been certified under this system.
Savings with 30-day price protection: For JD Pet’s self-operated products with the “30-day price guarantee” tag, consumers can claim the price difference correspondingly throughout the year, with no need to wait for the price protection privilege that is usually only offered during big sales.
Simple selectionof the most suitable food: JD Pet is the first platform of its kind that offers a cross comparison tool for users to choose pet food. Factors included in the comparisons range from nutrition elements such as protein, fat, calcium, phosphorus and others, net weight, shelf life, service commitment, products ratings, positive comment rates and more. So far the tool has covered 120,000 kinds of baked, freeze-dried, fresh raw and other staple foods for easy comparison.
Stress-free product return procedure: For food products on JD Pet that are marked with “worry-free taste”, if pets do not agree with the new food within 15 days after receiving the order and the remaining food amount is still over 80 percent, the buyers can request a refund or change of products with no extra fee. So far over 8,000 kinds of products from more than 200 brands including Myfoodie, Orijen, Royal and more have participated in this program.
Service of 24/7 online pet health consultation: In addition to offering pet products, JD Pet created a dedicated team of vets to provide 24/7 free online consultation service. Customers can inquire about all kinds of pet care related questions on a daily basis in a timely manner. With a simple click on the App, pet owners can talk to certified vets on the platform to be guided on using the right products for treatment or advice on when it is necessary to go to an offline hospital.
According to the White Paper on Pet Consumption Trend in China 2021 released by JD.com and iResearch Consulting, China’s pet consumption market is developing rapidly with the size nearing 300 billion yuan by 2020. JD.com started business cultivation in this field across the industrial chain since 2019 and by now JD Pet has developed a partnership with more than 3000 + merchants in the pet industry and is serving more than 10 million pet owners.
Max Mara partnered with JD to launch an official flagship store on July 28, introducing its ready-to-wear garments such as the classic 101801, Manuela and Teddy Bear coats as well as other clothing from its autumn/winter 2022 collection.
Notably, a white oversized cotton T-shirt with contrasting lettering print “Fashion equals Max Mara” from the brand’s latest collection was released exclusively online via JD Luxury. The T-shirt’s rock ‘n’ roll aesthetic combined with unisex style interprets the feminist fashion of Max Mara.
“Max Mara’s cooperation with JD is a crucial complement to the brand matrix of our high-end women’s apparel category. With extensive experience in luxury brand operation, professional and diversified services, JD will tailor solutions to the brand and work together to meet the different fashion needs of female consumers,” said Kevin Jiang, president of International Business at JD Fashion and Lifestyle.
Max Mara has been in pursuit of Italian quality and craftsmanship since 1951, the year Achille Maramotti established the brand, with collections such as Studio, ‘S Max Mara, Cube and Leisure being developed to match modern classic women’s styles. The Max Mara Group operates over 2,600 stores in more than 100 countries and regions.
With a vast pool of over 580 million consumers, as well as JD’s unparalleled logistics and differentiated policy of zero-tolerance towards counterfeit goods, JD Luxury is home to more than 300 luxury brands, covering such categories as bags, apparel, footwear, jewelry, watches, among others. The number is expected to keep growing thanks to JD’s healthy ecosystem that enables both brands and customers to enjoy a bespoke experience in marketing and shopping respectively.
Report provides an overview of on-demand retail’s open platform model for the first time.
A comprehensive practice guide with a development path and successful cases, for retailers and brands who desire to grow in the China market.
Shenzhen, July 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Dada Group (Nasdaq: DADA)’s JDDJ and JD.com’s Shop Now showed up at the “2022 China International Retail Innovation Summit”. On-demand retail, as the megatrend in the retail industry as well as a new growth driver for retailers and brands, was the major topic and arose heated discussions among business leaders today.
At the summit, Dada Group released the “White Paper On Open On-Demand Retail Platform Model” in collaboration with China Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA) and JD.com’s Consumption and Industry Development Research Institute. The White Paper offers a panoramic display of the open platform model of on-demand retail for the first time in the industry.
Seize the Digital Opportunity
Decision makers, digital business leaders, and technology providers of the industry joined the management teams of Dada Group and JD.com to give speeches at the summit to elaborate their insights and predictions on on-demand retail.
Dr. PEI Liang, President of China Chain Store & Franchise Association, demonstrated: “On-demand retail is an important part of omnichannel retail. Not only does it leverage online traffic, but also, through the integration of existing offline resources, it enables the cooperation between platforms and offline retailers to achieve a 1+1>2 effect. Offline stores serve as the terminal for order fulfillment and the terminal for product storage, and, when empowered by the on-demand retail model, their value can be maximized.”
Philip Jiaqi KUAI, Founder, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Chief Executive Officer of Dada Group stated that from long-distance, and short distances to macro-distance, China’s e-commerce has leapfrogged to set one new milestone after another. For offline stores, on-demand retail has greatly broadened the scope of their businesses; for brand owners, on-demand retail has built a digital marketing and operating ecosystem that connects online and offline channels; for consumers, on-demand retail services represent significant improvements in timing, efficiency, and the shopping experience.
HE Huijian, Vice President of JD.com and Dada Group; Head of the Intra-City Business of JD.com believes that the core of retail is efficiency and experience. Emerged from both the supply side and the demand side, on-demand retail is expected to grow into a trillion-dollar market in 3 to 5 years. JDDJ and Shop Now will continue to open our capabilities to the industry to expand the model to various types of offline retailers and brands via digital upgrades, operation optimization, and efficiency improvement, to bring consumers and partners a faster, better and more economical shopping experience.
Summit attendant reads the White Paper
Development path and successful cases
It can be seen from the discussions that the retailers and brand owners have similarities in terms of demands and challenges when adopting on-demand retail, which can be further categorized into two models – self-operated and open platform.
The White Paper finds out that players under the open platform model, are stronger in terms of breadth of product categories offered, as well as technologies deployed to empower the offline retailer partners, and drive the digital transformation of the real economy.
The Report also discussed the development path under the open platform model and some successful cases. It was a valuable guide for merchants who strive to seize the new growth opportunity in the Chinese market. For retailers, what is important to them is omni-channel connection and fulfillment; for brands, their focus is on interaction with the users and marketing.
Based on the number and growth rate of participating stores, the White Paper took Supermarkets, Fashion Styles and Home Appliances, and Consumer Electronics as three major examples to analyze their development paths from striving to thriving.
The focuses for supermarkets are traffic, delivery capabilities, and data integration from multiple channels. The traffic largely determines the potential size of the business, the delivery capabilities are correlated with order fulfillment, and integrating data and adopting automated management is the key to improving efficiency.
As for Fashion Style and Home appliances, besides traffic, the level of digitalization greatly determines how well the retailers and brands manage their stores and inventories.
Turning to Consumer Electronics, the products are with a high price tag, a long life cycle, and a low level of transparency, so the consumers depend more on the shopping guide and after-sale service. Integrating marketing approaches and services on- and offline will better satisfy customers’ expectations and become the key brand differentiators in the industry.
As the pioneers and leaders in on-demand retail, JD.com and JDDJ cooperated with various well-known partners such as Walmart, Vivo, and Unilever, and accumulated experiences and insights from the past 8 years’ practices. As the key driver for offline retailers and brands’ omni-channel growth, the cooperation with JD.com and JDDJ in on-demand retail has been recognized by partners.
Xiaojing Christina ZHU, President and Chief Executive Officer of Walmart China, says: “China is one of the largest, fastest-growing and most competitive consumer markets in the world. We expect on-demand retail to remain hugely popular here in the foreseeable future because it enhances the shopping experience for customers and fits modern lifestyles. As a leading omni-channel retailer with a ‘Customer First’ mindset, Walmart China continues to innovate with our partners around digitalization and end-to-end efficiency. We look forward to offering more value and a seamless shopping experience so that our customers can save money and live better.”
“Thanks to on-demand retail, the penetration rate, and sales share in categories such as healthcare, maternal and infant, are continuing to grow,” weighs Katy CHEN, Managing Director of Kimberly-Clark China, “on-demand retail has become a channel that Kimberly-Clark attaches great importance to, we hope to further optimize and improve our performance through cooperation and innovation, to promote and lead the development of personal care and hygiene products in the on-demand retail market.”
Based on the successful cases, the White Paper provides a methodological sum-up dubbed “On-demand ACE”, suggesting a route to success in on-demand retail. ACE represents the ability, creativity, and experiences required for a merchant’s development in early, evolving, and breakthrough phases.
About Dada Group
Dada Group is a leading platform for local on-demand retail and delivery in China. It operates JDDJ, one of China’s largest local on-demand retail platforms for retailers and brand owners, and Dada Now, a leading local on-demand delivery platform open to merchants and individual senders across various industries and product categories. The company’s two platforms are inter-connected and mutually beneficial. The Dada Now platform enables an improved delivery experience for participants on the JDDJ platform through its readily accessible fulfillment solutions and strong on-demand delivery infrastructure. Meanwhile, the vast volume of on-demand delivery orders from the JDDJ platform increases order volume and density for the Dada Now platform. In June 2020, Dada Group began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market, under the ticker symbol “DADA”.
About China Chain Store & Franchise Association
China Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA) is the official representative of retailing & franchise industry in China. Currently, there are over 1200 enterprise members with over 460,000 outlets, including domestic & foreign-invested retailers, franchisers, suppliers, and relevant organizations. The total sale of CCFA retail members (franchise and food service not included) was 4.5 trillion CNY in 2020, accounting for 11.6% of the entire social consumables retail sales. CCFA functions include: participating in policy making and coordination, safeguarding the interests of industry and members, providing a series of professional training and industry information and data for members, and establishing platforms for exchange and cooperation.
JD Luxury has attracted more than 300 big brands to cater to the appetite of Chinese consumers for all things luxury. As JD’s annual Luxury Shopping Festival kicked off on July 25, some 50,000 new products went on sale with a full range of categories from the world’s top brands.
The pandemic has accelerated China’s digitalization as the stay-at-home economy thrives. The luxury market in China was forecasted to grow by 36 percent year-on-year (YOY) in 2021, with some brands seeing a 70 percent surge, according to the China Luxury Report 2021 released by Bain & Company, a global management consulting firm. In addition, luxury brands have become more open-minded in terms of digital engagement, leading to a growth of online and offline personal luxury goods sales in China to 56 and 30 percent respectively, according to the report.
According to Bain & Company, China is expected to become the world’s largest luxury market by 2025.
To be more flexible to adapt to the uncertainties brought by the pandemic, while also connecting with millennials and Gen Z consumers, brands have to act in an open and inclusive manner. JD, with its robust supply chain capabilities and omni-channel advantages, has been chosen by more and more key brands to help accelerate their own digital transformation.
Brand Matrix
With over 300 official flagship stores of luxury and premium brands, JD is now the first company to collaborate comprehensively with nine top-tier fashion brands under the French luxury conglomerate LVMH, after Fendi joined JD Luxury recently following Louis Vuitton, Dior, Bvlgari, Celine, Loewe, Givenchy, Berluti and Rimowa.
The Kering-owned jewelry house Qeelin, Swiss luxury watch and jewelry brand Chopard, and Hermès’ shoe brand John Lobb have launched their flagship stores on JD.com. Other sought-after luxury brands such as Burberry, Salvatore Ferragamo, Delvaux, Prada, Zegna, Tod’s and Bally are also featured on JD Luxury, a luxury fashion-dedicated platform under the J Shop, JD’s upgrade of its Fashion and Lifestyle business.
To match consumers’ demand of refined lifestyle in all aspects, JD also introduced a roster of flagship stores for high-end products like Tom Dixon homeware, Christofle silverware, collectible luxury piece BE@RBRICK, the Canadian luxury outerwear brand Moose Knuckles and so on.
The growing number of luxury brands on JD indicates that JD’s healthy ecosystem has won trust from the industry; meanwhile, JD’s strong reputation for offering an authenticity guarantee is also deeply rooted among over 580 million active users.
Innovative Modes
As a global gathering place for the world’s premier brands, JD Luxury has rolled out diversified and innovative models for the digital layout and customized operation of these brands, which enhances consumers’ shopping experience down to the details, while ensuring a full and unified expression of each brand image.
Luxury brands on JD are able to access multiple options for efficient on-demand operation solutions. The DTC (Direct to Consumer) model of JD’s mini program scheme through JD’s App, adopted by brands such as Louis Vuitton and Fendi, customize and optimize functions to make product suggestions more relevant with recommended outfits to inspire everyday fashion.
JD’s self-operation of the omni-channel retail model enables Prada, Zegna, Maison Margiela and more to seamlessly manage the inventory of online and offline stores – customers can select products that are available in physical stores through JD’s official flagship store, and opt to place orders online and then pick up in the brick-and-mortar store, which enhances a more hybrid customer experience.
Other models are also open for brands with a wider selection of merchandise and scenarios, including JD’s self-operation with brands’ official authorization; the marketplace model; and the newly launched vendor-managed inventory (VMI) model, which allows luxury brand to run the store with independent operation, while also enjoying the warehousing and logistics services offered by JD Logistics.
Additionally, the J Shop offers physical stores. To date, three of them have been jointly developed by JD and Italian luxury retailer COSCIA, located in Chengdu, Shenzhen and Yinchuan. Featuring the themes of luxury, designer brands, light luxury and lifestyle, the stores offer nearly 2,000 selected products covering bags, apparel, footwear, watches, etc.
Customer First
Luxury brands sell more than products; they also focus on creating highly personalized and multi-dimensional experiences for luxury consumers, with supreme customer service, accessibility and convenience across all touch points.
JD Luxury recently launched a Plus Luxury membership program, in which members can receive coupons for top brands as well as premium services such as high-end laundry and exclusive VIP offline events.
Furthermore, services that are markedly specialized and tailored to individual clients smoothly replicate and enrich the in-store shopping experience such as one-on-one online customer service, engraving service, the self-operated same-day delivery, and JD Luxury Express, which offers a white-glove delivery service by specially-trained JD employees.
Creative marketing strategies are also important to appeal to more luxury buyers. For instance, the 3D shopping solution supported by VR technology is sometimes adopted in JD’s stores. Moreover, Tory Burch’s first digital collectible will be released jointly with JD during the Luxury Shopping Festival this year, which will be concluded on July 31, while MCM will launch an in-store interactive game.
Tory Burch to launch its digital collectible on JD.comMCM’s in-store interactive game
With Chinese Valentine’s Day “Qi Xi” (July 7 on Chinese lunar calendar, which falls on August 4 this year) around the corner, JD is joining hands with top brands to organize a crossover campaign, featuring Hennessy X Emporio Armani, Boss X Xiaomi, Alienware X Stone Island, etc.
With the engagement of various business lines, JD.com joined the second China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) in Haikou, Hainan province on July 25 under the theme of “Share open opportunities, Co-create a better life”. As the largest expo of its kind in the Asia Pacific region, CICPE provided domestic and international brands and merchants with abundant business opportunities.
“Through the CICPE, JD.com looks forward to working with global partners to achieve high-quality growth, facilitate the integration of digital technology and real economy, ensure the supply chain and operation, and enhance consumption experience,” noted Lijun Xin, CEO of JD Retail.
The J Shop, a recent upgrade of JD.com’s Fashion and Lifestyle business, brought over 40 domestic and international brands together to the expo, including beauty and skincare brands such as SK-II, Shiseido, L’Occitane, jewelry and accessory brands such as Philippe Ferrandis, fashion and clothing brands like havaianas, and many international brands including Tissot, Emile Chouriet, Anessa, L’Oréal and more.
JD Retail also brought an array of digital products, such as Nintendo Switch, GoPro, XGimi, Pico, as well as numerous FMCG products, including Ferrero Rocher, Kinder Chocolate, Nongfu Spring, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestlé, Fonterra, etc.
According to the “2022 Import Consumption Trend Report” released by JD.com’s Consumption and Industry Development Research Institute on July 25, the number of SKUs for international products grew by 51 percent YOY in the first half of 2022. During JD’s 618 Grand Promotion, over 400 brands from JD Worldwide, JD.com’s cross-border marketplace, topped a YOY increase of 100 percent.
JD Worldwide, JD’s cross-border e-commerce arm, upgraded its collaboration with Hainan Tourism Investment Duty Free (HTDF) and China National Service Corporation (CNSC) to jointly lead the duty-free industry’s growth. The announcement was made on July 26 at the second China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE) in Haikou, capital of Hainan province.
JD Worldwide is working closely with HTDF, an affiliate of Hainan Tourism Investment Development, and CNSC, a subsidiary of Sinopharm; both are among China’s dominant duty-free license holders. As a result, JD Worldwide continues to promote a global duty-free supply chain system with low cost, high efficiency and an excellent experience. The upgrade further assists the traditional companies to transform digitally around strengthening omni-channel capabilities, fostering a duty-free business ecosystem and marketing operation plans supported by digital intelligence.
After kicking off the duty-free business in 2021, JD Worldwide has partnered with several license holders to launch online duty-free stores, as well as Lagardere Travel Retail, the Joy City shopping mall in Xi’an and local governments to open physical duty-free stores and experience centers.
So far, JD Worldwide has been authorized for duty-free business by 72 international brands, ranging from baby care, cosmetics, food and beverage, home appliances, pets to other categories.
On the Super Day of JD Worldwide during the 618 Grand Promotion last month, the sales volume of duty-free products went up by 10 times year-on-year. The two mini programs of HTDF saw an increase of 95.9 percent in the average transaction value in the first quarter of 2022, compared with that of the fourth quarter in 2021.
The average volume per order in the first quarter of 2022 increased by a significant 95.9 percent sequentially compared to the fourth quarter of 2021.
The duty-free business layout is in line with the master plan of the Hainan Free Trade Port. Based on JD’s “responsible supply chain”, the duty-free retail integrated with cross-border and general trade models can be complementary to each other, bringing more growth momentum for overseas brands.
JD Worldwide also reached cooperation agreements with a series of brands such as French fashion house Balmain and emerging backpack brand Dr.Wilds at the expo in Haikou. In addition, the National Pavilion of Australia was announced, and will be available on JD.com soon to introduce a wide swathe of Aussie products.
JD.com’s Consumption and Industry Development Research Institute released the “2022 Import Consumption Trend Report” on July 25 ahead of the second China International Consumer Products Expo.
Key takeaways:
Consumers are seeking more exquisite and high-end products.
Young people are the major consumers for international products.
Most sales of international products come from first- and second-tier cities.
China’s import business is now more diversified and toward high-end. According to the report, mobile phones, computers, mother and baby products, beauty and skincare products, and home appliances are the most favored by Chinese consumers among all international products. For instance, the sales of mobile phones from overseas brands accounted for over 30 percent of all imported products in 2022.
According to the data from JD’s 618 Grand Promotion ended last month, the presales volume of first-party imported healthcare products mounted by 140 percent YOY, and cross-border food and beverages grew by 100 percent. Many international big names, such as Apple, Dell, HP, Aptamil and Siemens are also well received by consumers.
Sales of H1 2022 (by percentage)
The report also reveals that the top 5 countries for imported products are the US, Japan, France, Germany and Switzerland. Because of international travel restrictions due to Covid, many consumers are now purchasing more products from JD’s national pavilions to stay close to an international experience.
JD has opened 65 national pavilions as of now. The national pavilions of Finland, Singapore, and Cuba were the top 3 in sales during JD’s 618 Grand Promotion this year, during which the French, Hungarian, and Singaporean national pavilions recorded a YOY increase of 194 percent, 147 percent, and 141 percent, respectively.
Young people between 26 and 35 are the major consumers for imported products, accounting for nearly half among all age groups. In addition, consumers between 46 to 55 are seen to have great potential in purchasing power, as their spending on international products increased by 283 percent in 2021 compared with that in 2019.
As for Gen Z consumers, they are more willing to buy watches, glasses, jewelry, and digital products from international brands, whereas senior shoppers favor food, beverages, clothes, and alcoholic products.
Sales Growth Rate (by city size)
In the first half of 2022, consumers from first- and second-tier cities contributed to 55 percent of the sales of international products. However, a rising interest is also seen in rural areas. According to JD’s sales data, the transaction volume of international products generated from rural areas grew by 174 percent in 2021 compared with that in 2019.
By region, the report shows that consumers from Guangdong province, Beijing, Jiangsu province, Shanghai, and Zhejiang province purchased the most international brands, and 20 percent of the sales come from Guangdong province alone.
The flagship store of U.S. fashion brand MICHAEL KORS made its debut on JD.com on July 24, presenting a wide range of merchandise such as bags, apparel, footwear and accessories.
To celebrate the upcoming Chinese Valentine’s Day “Qi Xi” (July 7 on Chinese lunar calendar, which falls on August 4 this year), MICHAEL KORS has introduced a capsule collection filled with modern charm of romance on JD’s Little Magic Cube, a marketing channel to promote new products.
A small-sized crossbody tote bag from its Sinclair collection, which was available for the first time online, other bags from multiple collections such as Karlie, Hudson and Greenwich as well as Kendrick espadrilles and more were recommended in the capsule collection as the gift choices for JD’s customers.
Michael Kors is an award-winning fashion designer of luxury accessories and ready-to-wear apparel. Founded in 1981, the company that bears his name has more than 770 stores in 85 countries and regions. Products from the company are under the signature MICHAEL KORS COLLECTION, MICHAEL Michael Kors and MICHAEL KORS Men’s labels.
With over 300 premium brands, JD Luxury, JD’s dedicated luxury platform, makes its brand matrix grow rapidly to keep up with the needs of customers, while also providing an excellent strategy for the world’s top brands to expand in the Chinese market.
