JD.com-Developed Omnichannel Agricultural Products Wholesale Trading Platform Sees Transaction Boom amid COVID-19

Posted on by Vivian Yang

by Vivian Yang

China’s first omni-channel agricultural products wholesale trading platform “Yinongpi (亿农批)”, jointly created by JD.com and Dili Group, one of China’s leading operators of agricultural produce wholesale markets, has grossed nearly RMB 200 million yuan of transaction volume in the past nine months since launching in September 2021, according to JD.com.

The platform supports both remote and on-site transactions for agricultural products, a set of digitalized functions such as sales and inventory management, price index monitoring, food safety tracing system and other tools, as well as logistics, insurance and financial services, which are much needed in recent months to ensure timely fresh produce supplies as multiple regions in China face COVID-19 disruptions.

Yinongpi, JD’s omni-channel agricultural products wholesale trading platform

“As a result of the epidemic, we have fewer offline clients this year, but through Yinongpi, many clients reached us online,” said Jinyu Li, from the Jinyuxiangyun vegetable wholesales company, which was an early user of Yinongpi. “Under the help of the platform, our sales for produce in the first quarter achieved 30 percent year-on-year growth, including beans, cabbages, potatoes, onions and other vegetables.”

The first project based on Yinongpi platform was launched in Shouguang of Shangdong province, China’s largest vegetable production base, under a collaboration with Dili Group since last September. Thanks to the transparency the platform provides in the entire trading process, traders’ operating efficiency has been greatly improved, transaction cost lowered, and market regulators are able to carry out more timely supervision work to further safeguard the overall transaction process. Daily average transaction volume in Shouguang exceeded RMB 3 million yuan on the platform in the past nine months.

Yi Zhao, head of the omni-channel ecosystem development department under JD Super said that JD will continue to deepen cooperation with the agricultural products logistics park in Shouguang and to move all of the transactions in the park onto Yinongpi. At the same time, the platform will expand its services in food origin tracing, big data analysis, park management, financial and logistics support.

Meanwhile, Tengzhou, another county of Shangdong province that is famous for its potato production with over 2 million tons of yearly output, is leveraging Yinongpi to upgrade its supply chain and expand sales channels, not only in big Chinese cities but also to foreign markets such as Malaysia, Australia and other countries. This project between Tengzhou and JD.com officially launched in May of this year, is expected to achieve an annual output value of more than RMB 5 billion yuan in the near future.

  production base in Tengzhu, Shandong province

“Yinongpi is a meaningful attempt for the agricultural products wholesales sector’s transformation, and will play an active role in exploring new potential in agricultural development,” Zhao added. “Under China’s drive for rural revitalization and digital economy, we hope the growth of the platform will create both industrial and social value.”

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

JD.com Kicks Off Annual 618 Grand Promotion with Preferential Benefits for US Merchants Launched Through Shopify Partnership

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

JD.com today announced the kick-off of its annual 618 Grand Promotion, which originally was to celebrate the company’s birthday and now has turned into China’s largest mid-year shopping festival. Running from May 23 to June 20, the promotion will offer preferential benefits for US merchants launched through the company’s partnership with Shopify.

In addition to waiving deposit and platform fees, JD will provide various supporting resources for key account merchants including exclusive traffic, special promotional activities and participation in JD Worldwide’s “Overseas Direct Purchase” campaign. Items identified as potential best-sellers will be listed in the cross-border marketplace’s “selected product pool” for additional exposure. JD will also provide special coupons and a variety of newcomer rights to first-time shoppers buying from Shopify merchants.

“We are delighted to kick off this year’s 618 Grand Promotion along with providing preferential benefits for brands and merchants on Shopify,” said Zachary Gidwitz, head of the JD and Shopify Partnership. “This partnership provides an exclusive and trusted gateway for US merchants and independent brands who want to unlock the multi-trillion dollar e-commerce market in China. The largest mid-year shopping festival in China, 618, will be a crucial opportunity for their first showing.”

“618 is one of the biggest shopping festivals of the year, and presents the ideal stage for our merchants to showcase high-quality products to JD’s 580 million customers in China as part of our strategic partnership,” said George Xue, Country Head and Director, Shopify Greater China.“ With global cross-border commerce and China’s e-commerce market – the world’s largest – continuing to expand, we look forward to creating more opportunities for  US and China merchants to reach new audiences and thrive.”

“Since launching on JD, ColourPop has seen a month-on-month growth rate of 550% in sales,” said James Du, General Manager of US beauty product platform ColourPop. “Thanks to the one-stop solution provided by the partnership between JD.com and Shopify, which alleviates our worries about establishing business in a new market, we are looking forward to witnessing a sales surge by participating in 618 Grand Promotion for the first time.”

Early in January, JD.com and Shopify announced the collaboration to give independent brands in the US a simple, trusted way to access consumers in China. With this collaboration, JD.com has open an accelerated channel for brands on Shopify to list products through JD Worldwide, the company’s cross-border e-commerce marketplace. JD.com’s global-reach supply chain network also provides end-to-end fulfillment service from the US to China, leveraging JD.com’s US-China cargo flights, US warehouses and 1,400+ warehouses and 200,000+ delivery personnel in China.

Download “The Future of Cross-border E-commerce in China: A Guide for Global Brands” white paper presented by JD.com, Shopify and Jing Daily here.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

JD.com Invested Over RMB 40 Billion to Provide Users With Omni-Channel Supply Chain Service

Posted on by Xiaoqian Han

by Xiaoqian Han

JD.com held the kickoff event for its 618 Grand Promotion under the theme of “Responsible Supply Chain”on May 20th. “JD.com has always been devoted to delivering an ‘authentic products and delivered today’ experience for consumers,” said Chen Lin, vice president of JD.com and head of JD Retail, at the event.

JD Retail has invested more than RMB 40 billion yuan on user services alone in the past two years, in addition to logistics and consumption services. JD.com’s “Omni-channel supply chain service” is now ranked first in ensuring a seamless and frictionless experience guarantee in four dimensions: whenever you want to buy, wherever you want to buy, how you want to buy, and whatever you want to buy.

To fulfill consumers’ needs, JD.com provides a 24-hour full-time companionship service and has also established an exclusive advising service and after-sales team in 3C home appliances, maternity and child, medicine, sports, beauty, pets, and other categories

Regarding how to buy, JD.com forms a full-process assurance for users, including pre-sales, in-sales, and after-sales services. In the vein of what to buy, JD.com has 25 unique services that exceed user expectations, including JD 3C home appliances, JD Sports, JD SEVEN FRESH supermarkets, JD Auto, JD health, and other omnichannel capabilities.

For a long time, JD.com’s well-known services have won the trust of consumers. In particular, JD pioneered 44 services in the sector, such as “price protection”, and 25 services that are unique in the retail industry, including those below:

  • JD 3C Home Appliances: The 30-day price guarantee and 180-day only replacement services are based on omnichannel capabilities, which will provide a superior service experience both online and offline.
  • JD International and JD Sports established a long-term agreement with China Certification and Inspection Group and other authoritative identification agencies in various regions, and jointly launched the “Authentic Identification” service.
  • JD Auto introduced “free tire installation, three-year warranty” and “compensation for purchasing pricey oil, and free traceability of genuine products” as assurance service.
  • JD Health launched new service products such as expert online, nighttime quick diagnosis, and pharmacy outpatient clinic to meet the needs of users.

In addition, in order to improve third-party merchants’ consumption experiences, JD 618 Grand Promotion will also launch a “free door-to-door replacement” service for third-party merchants to reduce replacement and return costs. Consumers can conveniently enjoy a free door-to-door replacement experience in as fast as 3 hours.

 

(hanxiaoqian3@jd.com)

JD.com Opens First Overseas Service Centers in the US

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

On May 18, JD.com announced the opening of two US service centers located in Los Angeles and New Jersey, providing aftersales and maintenance services for electronics and appliances. It marks the first time for the company’s logistics business to launch such service centers in the overseas market.

With the support of the company’s air cargo lines from China to the US and self-operated warehouses in the country, the newly launched service centers will provide local brands and cross-border merchants end-to-end supply chain logistics services.

JD’s overseas warehouse and service center in Los Angeles

The services provided will range from technical support, customer service, quality inspection, maintenance and onsite technical support among many others in the field of aftersales services, covering a wide range of products including home appliances, electronics, smart gadgets and more.

Xiujie Che, head of JD Overseas Service Center said that the company is planning to launch a European service center in Poland within this year. LEQI is a leading smart scooter brand that has 2 million users globally, with sales across channels including Amazon, eBay, a self-owned independent website, B2B and cross-border. Since collaborating with JD’s service center in the US at the beginning of this year, the average repair time for each scooter from receiving the product to sending back to the customer has been shortened to less than 72 hours, saving more than half the time previously spent using a third-party service provider.

In 2021, JD Logistics opened automated warehouses in six countries including the UK, the US, Australia, and the Netherlands, with a total number of bonded and overseas warehouses reaching nearly 80. Its global supply chain network now reaches over 220 countries and regions.

 

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

Four “J Shop” Stores Unveiled to Enhance Fashion and Lifestyle Omni-channel Retailing

Posted on by Doris Liu

by Doris Liu

The J Shop, a recent upgrade of JD.com’s Fashion and Lifestyle business, opened its pilot physical stores for the first time in four Chinese cities on May 20, further enhancing its omni-channel retailing with a seamless customer experience.

Integrating JD’s businesses in apparel, lifestyle, cosmetics, sports, luxury fashion and watches, the J Shop is making full use of JD’s commodity and service capabilities to adapt to customers’ own shopping routines across both online and offline stores.

The first four pilot physical stores, located in Xi’an, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Yinchuan respectively, present a fresh consumption scenario, as well as product updates with higher efficiency and turnover rate, and possibilities of more diversified marketing and operation strategies.

As a selected collection store, a business format highlighted by JD in the field of fashion and lifestyle, the 335-square-meter store in Xi’an displays about 300 brands of selected products, covering 150 categories of goods including cosmetics, kitchenware, home textiles and more.

Empowered by JD’s smart social supply chain, the shopping experience in the Xi’an J Store is consistent regardless of online or offline purchases. Customers in the store can make a purchase immediately, or scan the corresponding electronic label on the product and buy online with same- or next-day delivery.

It also set up a livestreaming studio inside the store to cater to consumer needs. By linking both online and offline business, the studio enables customers to not only watch the livestream on the scene, but also join the livestream, creating a more comprehensive shopping experience.

The other three stores are jointly developed by JD and Italian luxury retailer COSCIA. Featuring the themes of luxury, designer brands, affordable luxury and lifestyle, they offer nearly 2,000 selected products.

With COSCIA’s operational advantages as a chain store, JD hopes to jointly explore a new model of digital omni-channel open ecosystem, and also looks forward to working with COSCIA to drive the development of online and offline retail to a higher quality, said Carol Fung, Senior Vice President of JD.com and President of JD Fashion and Lifestyle business group.

As the 618 Grand Promotion approaches, merchants are active and engaged to prepare their sales. The J Shop is ready to provide a one-stop solution with full-scenario and omni-channel approaches, increasing presence and sales opportunities for brands and products across all channels.

 

(liujun215@jd.com)

JD Commits to Inclusive Employment Through “Sunshine Angel Initiative”

Posted on by Mengyang He

by Mengyang He

JD recently released a music video during China’s 32nd National Disability Day, aiming to recognize their hard work and reaffirm JD’s commitment to inclusive employment through the “Sunshine Angel Initiative” in JD’s customers service centers across China. The music of this video was composed by a band of JD’s employees with disabilities.

One of the band’s lead singers, Saimin Bi, used to be actively involved in volunteer work organized by the China Disabled Persons’ Federation, promoting the employment of people with disabilities. Shenghua Luo, also a lead singer, has taken part in volunteer activities for people with disabilities over 800 person-times. The guitarist Yanming Li made personal donations to 25 families with hopes to brighten their futures. The ocarina player Xinguo Wang has offered financial aid to impoverished children for four years. Jian Li, the drummer, is JD’s 10-year veteran and has helped 80,000 people find their jobs. The keyboard player is Yunhao Li, who received UNICEF’s honorary credential for his continuous support for impoverished children.

Started in 2013, JD’s “Sunshine Angel Initiative” has committed to helping people with disabilities better integrate into society, encouraging them to chase their dreams, and raising awareness of this community.

Inclusive opportunities are at the heart of JD’s employment principles. JD Retail’s customer service center set up a designated department to recruit people with disabilities. According to JD’s data, 186 employees with disabilities hired by JD worked in the customers service centers in China’s southern cities of Suqian (Jiangsu province), Yangzhou (Jiangsu province), and Chengdu (Sichuan province) in 2021.

 

(hemengyang5@jd.com)

Posted in ESG

JD.com’s Green Impact Initiative to Offer One Million Green-labeled Products

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

JD.com today announced the launch of its “Green Impact Initiative” to promote sustainable consumption throughout the supply chain. Starting from this year’s 618 Grand Promotion, China’s largest mid-year shopping festival, approximately one million different kinds of products on JD.com will be selected to be green-labeled, helping Chinese consumers find and buy green products more easily.

The program will be officially launched on JD’s app on May 31, in collaboration with global partners including P&G, JOMOO, L’Oréal, CHERY, PurCotton, Nestlé, Panasonic, Abbott, etc., and China Association of Small and Medium Enterprise. By purchasing these labeled products, customers are able to collect green credits and redeem for green products, coupons and peripheral products including digital collectibles through a newly established green account system integrated in JD’s app.

JD Green Impact Initiative in collaboration with global partners

“JD’s products and services can be accessed by our customers almost anytime and anywhere, but this is not enough,” said Chen Lin, vice president of JD.com and head of platform business of JD Retail. “Only by making every node on the supply chain low-carbon, such as creation, marketing, circulation, and fulfillment, can we lead sustainable green consumption.”

JD.com selects and labels products based on certification, function, usage scenario and packaging materials. The labeled products will include those certified by national and international standards, advocating for refill and less packaging, adopting sustainable materials, with zero waste, as well as low-carbon transportation products including BEVs, sustainable fashion and furnishing products, and energy efficient appliances.

The delivery boxes for products under the Green Impact Initiative are reusable, and can be transformed into DIY pet houses and storage boxes.

On June 5, World Environment Day, JD will hold a grand marketing campaign to promote the initiative to its over 580 millions of customers.

JD.com launched the green supply chain program “Green Stream Initiative” in 2017. Through the initiative, over 2 billion carton boxes can be saved annually by innovating packaging materials and standards with more than 200,000 brands and merchants. The company is committed to reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 on the basis of 2019 emissions, and building the largest rooftop photovoltaic (PV) power generation ecosystem with partners by 2030.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

JD.com Kicks off 618 Grand Promotion Advocating “Responsible Supply Chain”

Posted on by Vivian Yang

by Vivian Yang

JD.com will kick off 618 Grand Promotion 2022 on May 23 under the theme of “Responsible Supply Chain”, the company said today at an online press conference. The pre-sale period will last until May 31.

“Our understanding of supply chain has been evolving and pivoting on responsibilities that will not only create value for business, but also for industries and society,” said Lijun Xin, CEO of JD Retail at the press conference.

Lijun Xin, CEO of JD Retail at JD618 press conference 2022

During a time of uncertainties with COVID resurgences and supply chain disruptions in China since this year, JD.com has come forward to fully leverage its self-operated supply chain to deliver everyday goods and services to people in urgent need, and support its merchants’ operations by all means to stabilize the market at fair price. Its unique and resilient supply chain capability has been increasingly visible and trusted by its customers, merchants and the Chinese public.

The annual mid-year shopping festival will officially start at 8 p.m. on May 31, and last until June 20, offering an array of innovative service upgrades and green consumption promotions for people to have even better shopping experiences.

The “2+4” definition of a responsible supply chain

A responsible supply chain, by JD’s definition, is a combination of two capabilities, namely the infrastructure represented by its nationwide warehouse networks and other modernized logistics facilities, and the ability to efficiently integrate and synergize all the resources. These capabilities should always support four use cases for the benefit of society: navigating major social events, promoting a greener environment, boosting consumption and driving industrial progress.

From daily service to emergency relief, JD’s responsible supply chain is ready to adapt at any needed time. Take the recent COVID lockdown in Shanghai for example. In about a month’s time, JD has supplied more than 80,000 tons of essential goods to the city against all odds. In doing so, JD summoned over 4,000 frontline couriers and sorters around the country to Shanghai and rushed to build over 1,600 contactless community supply stations to carry out local services.

To date, JD is operating nearly 1,400 warehouses and 43 “Asian No.1” intelligent logistics parks across China, a highly collaborative system that ensures about 90 percent of its online orders to be delivered the same or next day, including to rural China, reaching 93 percent of counties and 84 percent of townships nationwide.

JD’s nationwide logistics network covering 14,000 warehouses and more

Customer service and omni-channel upgrade

With 185 basic services and over a hundred shopping guarantees in place, this year’s 618 Grand Promotion will create an encircling protection service for customers whenever and wherever they shop with JD. It is estimated that in the past two years, JD has invested more than RMB 40 billion yuan in improving customer service. Popular services include price protection, cross-category trade-in service, replace-rather-than-repair service, and free online vet consultations, among others.

Omni-channel continues to gain momentum, providing customers with more shopping choices and convenience. During the shopping festival, consumers in Beijing, Shenzhen, and Changsha, among other cities, can fetch coupons on JD and shop offline in millions of brick-and-mortar stores. JD’s on-demand retail service, known as “Shop Now”, has been connected with more than 150,000 offline retailers including Walmart stores, Apple authorized resellers, SEPHORA and more, offering a wide variety of products to be delivered to customers’ doorsteps within an hour and even minutes.

The J Shop, launched on May 9th, is JD’s latest innovation of omni-channel retail in its marketplace fashion and lifestyle categories. The shop appears in JD’s App as a chic online department store offering apparel, cosmetics, sports, luxury, and other fashion products ranging from the world’s top brands, trending designs, and limited editions to C2M (Consumer to Manufacturer) models. The program’s offline selected collection stores are coming soon in several big cities ahead of June 18th, and will integrate consumption insights from online with premium shopping experiences and services in the real world.

The J Shop debut in JD App

Greener shopping and inclusive growth

During the press conference, JD also announced the launch of the “Green Impact Initiative,” by which nearly one million sorts of eco-friendly products will be screened out and labeled green on its platform, guiding JD’s over 580 million active users to shop greener. These products range from energy-saving home appliances, sustainable fashion goods, zero waste goods, and products that support refills, less packaging or low-carbon travel such as electric cars and more. Shoppers for these products will be rewarded JD’s green credits that can be used to apply discounts to other green-labeled products.

A poster on JD’s Green Impact Initiative 

The initiative scales new heights for JD’s current sustainability efforts including its green supply chain program known as the “Green Stream Initiative” which implements low-carbon practices spanning the merchandises circulation process on the supply side from warehousing, transportation, packaging to recycling, while the Green Impact Initiative will further enable the company to unleash its potential to drive responsible consumption on the demand side.

JD’s Green Impact Initiative is co-launched with brand partners at the JD618 press conference 

Furthermore, high-quality agricultural products will have more prominent exposure at this year’s campaign in a bid to support farmers and agricultural development. It is estimated that over 200 industrial belts will participate in this year’s 618 Grand Promotion, directly and indirectly creating tens of millions of job opportunities, which is of special significance as the economy faces headwinds due to the epidemic impact.

One slogan of this year’s campaign is “Supporting people from cities and villages to have a vibrant life with our responsible supply chain,” which reflects JD’s aspiration to leverage the 618 Grand Promotion to bring better prospects for its customers, merchants, brands, SMEs, offline stores, farmers and more.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)