JD.com was listed in the Top 50 Kantar BrandZ Chinese Global Brand Builders 2022 ranking by Google and Kantar on July 27. For the fifth year in a row, JD.com made the list and ranked No.44 this year, coming in as runner-up in the e-commerce sector.
In line with its mission of becoming “the most trusted enterprise in the world”, JD.com relies on offshore infrastructure, effective global supply chain solutions and technical innovations to empower its international business and global partners, setting up a new benchmark for Chinese products and services.
JD.com operates retail businesses in Southeast Asia and Europe, serving local consumer markets and cross-border trade by utilizing global supply chain capabilities and technical strength.
JD.com also actively assists more Chinese brands in entering the global market in addition to working to realize its own goal of brand globalization; and utilizes the integrated supply chain’s capacity to create a trusting relationship between Chinese brand merchants and international customers. JD.com has collaborated strategically with brands like Xiaomi, TCL, Haier, Hisense, and many other Chinese big names in exploring international markets.
The Kantar BrandZ China Global Brand list, which began in 2017, uses brand power scores as a measure of overseas consumers’ perception of Chinese brands and their ability to drive market share growth. In order to determine the final Top 50 brands, the study polled more than 1.17 million consumers in 11 locations around the world and compared 383 candidate brands across 18 categories with brands in the local markets.
JD.com’s logistics arm JD Logistics (JDL) and the Green Supply Chain Professional Committee of the All-China Environment Federation jointly released action guidelines on July 27 for achieving a more sustainable and low-carbon supply chain.
The Supply Chain Decarbonization Initiative, proposed at the second Sustainable Consumption Forum, which is part of the CICPE (China International Consumption Products Expo) held in Haikou, capital of Hainan province, is based on the belief that setting up a unified standard for calculating carbon emissions is the foundation of decarbonization to ensure accurate, fair and comparable results among companies. By focusing on technology and application, companies can achieve life-cycle carbon reduction goals through designing more sustainable products and services. Also, the initiative encourages the companies involved in the industry chain to share a common goal during collaboration to slow and eventually stop global warming. Previously, JDT has already committed to reducing carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2030 (starting from 2019).
“The ‘Supply Chain Decarbonization Initiative’ not only enables companies with relatively small carbon footprints to have the same significant impact globally, but also eases the cost investment for companies and provides a way for consumers to reduce carbon emissions by dispersing the decarbonization cost along the value chain,” said Wenming Zhe, head of the smart logistics park innovation department at JD Logistics.
In addition, JDL also announced that it will officially join the Global Sustainable Consumption Initiative with the commitment of always fulfilling “responsible supply chain” and promoting end-to-end green and integrated supply chain together with upstream and downstream partners as well as consumers.
As a leading supply chain solution and logistics service provider in China, JDL helps its partners cope with external uncertainties and promote high-quality development based on an agile, stable and sustainable supply chain, noted Yanping Su, Deputy General Manager of JD Logistics’ Southern China Branch, during the forum held on the sideline of the second China International Consumer Products Expo (CICPE).
The Global Sustainable Consumption Initiative was proposed a year ago at the first CICPE by China Sustainability Tribune together with companies that actively push forward green consumption. It advocates companies to provide sustainable products and services, conveying the concept of sustainability to customers and foster a sustainable consumption culture, etc. As of now, 12 renowned domestic and overseas companies and brands have taken part in the proposal.
The French luxury makeup brand Christian Louboutin Beauty opened its flagship store on JD.com on July 29.
Christian Louboutin Beauty is a luxury makeup brand under the PUIG Group. To some extent, the attributes of Christian Louboutin’s beauty products are reflected in the aspects of its clothing and footwear, which are distinguished by fun and creativity. With the approaching of Chinese Valentine’s Day “Qi Xi”, which occurs on August 4 this year, JD.com is introducing consumers to more beauty brands.
Christian Louboutin Beauty’s flagship store brings consumers a full line of goods such as lip, fragrance, eye shadow and pencils, cosmetic powder, mascara, etc. Nearly 100 classic products, new products, and Chinese Valentine’s Day limited gift boxes are available for consumers.
During the Chinese Valentine’s Day festival, the flagship store of Christian Louboutin will offer lipstick gift boxes, fragrance gift boxes, and make-up gift boxes to consumers to cater to consumers’ various needs. Additionally, JD.com has also introduced a specialized letter-carved service for beauty cosmetics, which can provide nearly 20 items at the Christian Louboutin Beauty flagship store.
According to JD.com’s data, the number of luxury beauty brands participating in this promotion on Chinese Valentine’s Day in 2022 has doubled from the previous year. For a long time, JD’s strong logistics and policy of zero-tolerance toward counterfeit goods have benefited its 580 million customers.
To date, JD Luxury is home to more than 300 luxury brands, covering such categories as bags, apparel, footwear, jewelry, and watches, among others. The number is expected to keep growing thanks to JD’s efficient ecosystem that enables both brands and customers to enjoy a premiere experience in online shopping.
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.
