JD Partners with Schneider to Lead Standardized Product Database

Posted on by Vivian Yang

by Vivian Yang

JD Industrial Supply and Schneider Electric (China) jointly announced on April 26th that 18,000 Schneider products’ data have been entered into JD’s “Mercator” product standardization database for industrial parts and equipment.

“Compared with the traditional sales channels that focus on matchmaking, our collaboration with JD Industrial Supply has extended to the field of co-creating product standardization that does not only support product procurement, but also takes the channel management work and customer service to the next level, giving our brands greater room of imagination for future development,” said a spokesperson of Schneider Electric.

Now Schneider’s “data dictionary” of electrical and automation products in JD’s “Mercator” database has 18,000 product data items from 150 categories and 241 product series covering low and medium-voltage distribution, power supply, refrigeration equipment and more.

Schneider Electric products listed in JD Industrial Supply

The “Mercator” product standardization database, powered by JD’s big data and AI technologies and incorporating expertise from leading brands of the industry, mapped a knowledge graph of industrial supplies through massive data cleaning and knowledge extraction. Founded in September 2020, the database aims to offer a comprehensive system where industrial products can be uniformly standardized and classified, so as to solve the bottleneck issue of lack of consistency and completeness of product information that has been dragging down the whole industry’s digitalization progress.

Enterprise procurers for Schneider’s products can easily define the product parameters in the database with a few clicks, and the system will return with precise product recommendations in no time. Take one energy project bidding event this year for example. It took merely three hours for JD Industrial Supply to finish the sourcing work of 8,000 Schneider products, which demonstrated significant efficiency improvement of resource allocation for large industrial projects.

At the same time, Schneider is benefiting from the database through being able to manage its numerous suppliers and their goods flow. Suppliers only need to tick the boxes in the system to generate pre-set product codes and specifications, and Schneider can always have a clear picture on the whole sales process from sellers to buyers and detailed sales data in multiple dimensions.

“JD Industrial Supply is committed to providing digital and intelligent service for this industry with a special focus on optimizing the composite cost of supply chain and overall service efficiency,” said Wei Wang, general manager of the product and technology department of JD Industrial Supply. “In the future, we hope to replicate this collaboration model with more brand partners, creating greater value for more enterprises by leveraging our supply chain technology and service capabilities.”

In 2021, JD helped Schneider achieve 66 percent sales growth on this platform, which has become one of the latter’s fastest-growing digital channels in the country.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

JD Super and Kimberly-Clark Rush Baby Product Supplies to Shanghai

Posted on by Mengyang He

by Mengyang He

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Shanghai, JD.com’s online supermarket business JD Super formed an emergency response team with the leading American personal care corporation Kimberly-Clark, rushing to allocate 3,000 boxes of diapers to Shanghai in a joint effort to ensure sufficient baby products on the ground. Several brands under Kimberly-Clark all took part in the team, including Kleenex, Huggies, Kotex, etc.

The JD Super and Kimberly-Clark emergency response team took immediate actions by building a makeshift warehouse in Qingpu District, Shanghai and allocating 120,000 bags of milk powder and diapers from across China into the warehouse, which therefore elevated the local delivery efficiency and reduced uncertainties during transportation.

The team also delivered milk powder to Shanghai Children’s Medical Center, which turned into a family-friendly makeshift hospital designed for COVID-19 infected baby patients with their accompanying parents.

Additionally, through this team, Huggies also donated over 53,000 baby diapers, wipes, etc. in 559 boxes to the family-friendly makeshift hospital at the Shanghai New International Expo Center.

With sufficient supplies in stock, JD.com will continue to work with Kimberly-Clark and its affiliated brands to donate and deliver baby formula, diapers, and other baby products to family-friendly makeshift hospitals.

 

(hemengyang5@jd.com)

Gen Z’s Shopping Trends in China: Happiness First, Smart Products and More

Posted on by Doris Liu

by Doris Liu

Ahead of China’s Youth Day on May 4, JD has released a new report examining shopping preferences and trends related to Gen Z consumers, who now account for 19 percent of the country’s total population at 260 million , according to the National Statistics Bureau.

Often referred to as 95s (born after 1995), they are the latest to join the workforce, and will gain more purchasing power in the next decade.

Key findings from the report, released by JD Research Institute for Consumption and Industrial Development, show that this generation holds its own rational consumption ideas, looking to their peers for fashion trends while also holding clear personal preferences.

Top priority

As digital natives, Gen Z grew up with the rise of the Internet, instant messaging, smart devices and other technologies. On average they are  well-educated and have more freedom to develop their personality, hobbies and make their own choices.

Gen Z has also witnessed China’s rapid economic development, leading to a boost of national confidence. At the same time, China’s further integration into globalization enabled Gen Z to have a global perspective, and are not only more diverse but are also willing to embrace diversity.

In such a context, Gen Z has developed unique values. Based on a survey released by Snapchat, 72 percent of Gen Z respondents, when answering the question “How do you achieve your identity and realize your value?”, chose “by seeking fun”; about 60 percent chose “by achieving a goal” and “by keeping fit”; and 56 percent “by making money”.

Consumption preferences

 Good Looks Pay

The consumption upgrade of Gen Z in recent years has escalated from product quality to spiritual satisfaction, meaning that the external look of a product is a crucial part in terms of its market competitiveness.

Since 2022, sales of visually appealing products purchased by Gen Z have increased by 166 percent year-on-year (YOY). In the categories of kitchen and bathroom appliances, home renovation and soft furnishings, baby bedding, outdoor equipment and apparel, sales of products with eye-catching appearance have all increased by more than 10 times.

Smarter is Better

Gen Z shows the highest preference for smart products, with 70 percent higher in preference coefficient compared to the other age groups, which not only promotes industrial upgrading, but also adds momentum to technological innovation.

Smart products of electric vehicles, cameras, shower systems, mobile air conditioners and lighting equipment have preference coefficients close to or higher than 100 percent.

Low-sugar matters

According to the “Generation Z Beverage Consumption Survey Report” released by the Shanghai Consumer Council earlier this year, 41 percent of Gen Z in Shanghai chose beverages with “0 sugar” and 38 percent chose “70 percent off sugar”. Less than 20 percent of Gen Z chose “full sugar” or “30 percent off sugar”.

Besides beverages, the low-sugar trend has expanded to various categories. JD’s data showed that low-sugar products of tea drinks, beer, condiments, vitamin and mineral supplements went up 20 times YOY and low-sugar pharmaceuticals saw an uptake of 14 times YOY.

The Wellness Generation

Gen Z is dedicated to their health and wellness, leading to a rise in consumption in the industries of health care, beauty and anti-aging products among young people.

Wellness consumption has developed into a lifestyle for Gen Z. Sales on JD.com in 2022 showed that health management products have increased nearly 20 times YOY, and health drinks, Chinese medicine services and psychological counseling services have rose more than three times YOY. At the same time, nutritional products such as astaxanthin, seal oil and collagen chondroitin went up by more than 10 times YOY.

Trends for “Guochao”

Guochao, Mandarin for homegrown fashion, gained popularity. The number of “Chinese Style” (国风) enthusiasts exceeded 177 million in 2021, in which the group aged 18-30 accounted for about 70 percent, said a report by Chinese online video site Bilibili Inc.

Red is an auspicious color in Chinese culture. JD’s data showed that Gen Z’s purchase of products with the phrase “Chinese red” included in the product names surged 326 percent in 2022, with personal care and health, and baijiiu, China’s liquor, being the highest-selling categories.

The Lazy Economy

Gen Z is busier with increasing personal disposable income, thus becoming the main demographic of the convenience-based “lazy economy”. They frequently use delivery services and door-to-door services, according to QuestMobile.

Sales of ready meals and vacuum mop combos purchased by Gen Z on JD.com this year have increased by 200 percent and 142 percent respectively, with underwear washing machines up almost 20 times.

The shopping preferences of Gen Z, which used to be considered special and different a few years ago, have become the mainstream of the market today. These digital natives are considered the voice of the internet, and as a result, brands are adjusting product designs, functions, services and marketing methods especially for them. In other words, Gen Z is creating trends, but also guiding the whole consumer market, energizing the process of consumption and upgrading.

 

(liujun215@jd.com)

JD’s Data: Highlights of Third-Party Merchants’ Growth on JD.com

Posted on by Doris Liu

by Doris Liu

As digital and real economies are further integrated in China, JD.com has been devoted to creating more space for the growth of its third-party merchants with its new ecosystem and new business model.

Several key results of the merchants’ growth were highlighted in a recent report released by JD Research Institute for Consumption and Industrial Development:

1. In 2021, the number of product launches on JD.com increased by more than 150 percent year-on-year (YOY), and more than 25,000 brands saw the sales volume of their new products doubled YOY.

In the past five years, the number of the total product categories sold on JD have increased by 83 percent and the new brands by 40 percent. C2M (Customer-to-Manufacturer) products have been more commonly seen, allowing consumers to enjoy the customized products and services that best suit their needs.

2. In the first three months of 2022, the daily sales volume of more than 11,000 stores on JD surged over 10 times YOY.

3. Due to a healthier market environment, the number of merchants in the Fashion and Lifestyle category grew rapidly, with the number of industrial, pharmaceutical, health, agricultural, and apparel stores increasing the highest, reflecting the robust growth potential of expanding product categories.

In 2021, the number of merchants operating in the industrial and pharmaceutical categories grew by more than 170 percent YOY, while the number of merchants in personal care, nutrition and health, agriculture and gardening, and apparel and underwear grew by more than 70 percent YOY.

4. JD’s business ecosystem has attracted and retained customers with higher purchasing power. In the first three months of 2022, the average daily users of JD’s third-party stores grew 84 percent YOY among the group aged 26-45, which is normally regarded as the customers who spend the most per capita with the strongest purchasing power.

5. In the first three months of 2022, the average daily GMV (Gross Merchandise Value) for each third-party store in the categories of skiing , pharmaceuticals, and jade and jewelry went up more than 100 percent.

6. To continuously improve the consumer experience, JD has optimized its after-sales services. In January 2022, the merchants’ after-sales service length was shortened to 50 percent of that in January 2020.

Thanks to JD’s open ecology, the two different models, first-party and third-party merchants, are developing together and making contributions with their respective values.

Many small and medium-sized enterprises have been affected by the pandemic, and are confronted with challenges such as rising production costs and insufficient orders. With its experience in promoting third-party stores, JD.com has made it a top priority to further support and help relieve the pressure for third-party merchants.

Thirty measures benefiting the merchants on JD.com have been announced for the upcoming 618 Grand Promotion, which is China’s largest mid-year shopping festival. Click here to read more about the supportive measures.

 

(liujun215@jd.com)

JD.com to Support SME Merchants and Brace for Opener 618 Grand Promotion

Posted on by Vivian Yang

Vivian Yang

JD Retail pledged to reduce operating burdens for its merchants with emphasis on supportive measures for SME merchants, promising to increase their ROI by no less than 20 percent during the upcoming 618 Grand Promotion, said Lijun Xin, CEO of JD Retail, at a JD’s merchants meeting held on April 26 ahead of the mid-year shopping festival.

Thirty supportive measures for merchants were introduced during the meeting based on “Three Reductions” in terms of operating cost, performance tests, and risks, and “Three Optimizations” for operating rules, efficiency and services.

The announcement comes at a time when China’s retail activities continue to face COVID disruptions and sluggish consumption recovery. JD’s moves aim to foster resilient teamwork with its merchants and help them rebuild confidence for business growth.

“We strive to create a healthier, opener and more orderly ecosystem in which tens of thousands of JD merchants can achieve sustainable development” said Xin. “By enabling these small and medium-sized merchants, we can jointly contribute to stabilizing tens of millions of jobs across their industrial chains,” he added.

The company revealed that in the past four months, its rate reductions for merchants exceeded RMB 200 million yuan.

On top of its advantageous first-party sales model, JD has been making it a priority in recent years to integrate a significant number of third-party merchants on its marketplace. Thanks to this “open ecosystem” strategy, in the past five years, the variety of product categories on JD.com expanded by 83 percent and the amount of new brands increased by 40 percent.

The company will unveil the new version of JD App, v11.0 ahead of 618 Grand Promotion to bring simpler, more transparent and consistent operating experiences for its merchants. Traffic generating policies will be upgraded, covering the areas of searching, marketing, recommendation and advertising, in which small and medium-sized stores and products with special features have greater  exposure.

JD also developed a simplified operating system catered to SME new merchants to facilitate their on-boarding process.

Moreover, merchants will benefit from JD’s integrated supply chain capabilities covering warehousing, delivery service, customer service and after sales service to create a premier shopping experience for their customers in an efficient way. For example, in the past two years, thanks to JD’s product return services including the speedy review and flash refund functions in its APP, merchants’ average after-sales service time has been shortened by 28.25 hours and this January, the duration was further reduced by half year on year.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

JD.com Increases Living Necessity Inventory by 3-5 Times in Beijing

Posted on by Vivian Yang

by Vivian Yang and Yuchuan Wang

As multiple COVID cases have occurred in Beijing since April 24, JD.com has increased inventory of key living necessities by 3-5 times the usual amount to ensure adequate supplies in the capital city. According to the company’s announcement today, local residents’ needs can be sustained for more than three months at fair prices with sufficient stock of product categories ranging from food, fresh produce, products for household disinfection and cleaning, baby and maternity, and personal care, etc.

SEVEN FRESH supermarkets in Beijing on April 25th 

At the same time, JD Logistics has arranged over 1,000 frontline workers to back up the warehousing and delivery work of high-demand goods, especially rice, flour, cooking oil and alike, to maintain smooth operation around the clock.

The company is also supporting Walmart, China Resources Wanjia, Yonghui and other supermarkets, as well as a number of milk, meat, and frozen food brands to quintuple stock and leverage its intra-city on-demand retail network JDDJ to deliver products to consumers in a timely manner. JD’s omni-channel supermarket SEVEN FRESH has tripled its stock from the usual amount as part of the epidemic response mechanism.

JD’s everyday life shopping platform Jingxi mobilized its fruits and vegetable suppliers from Shandong, Henan, Hainan, Yunnan provinces and other partner production bases, and has purchased 1,000 tons of fresh produce from over 500 large farms to ensure supplies to Beijing.

To ensure smooth logistics procedures, JD Logistics has built an emergency response mechanism which covers from warehousing and sorting to transportation and delivery. The company has allocated 2,000 logistics vehicles to expand transportation capacity. Thorough disinfections are performed three times a day at warehouses, sorting centers and delivery stations.

JD’s couriers in service at  Jiuxianqiao area

The company has also explored a delivery model for lockdown neighborhoods with the municipal government and districts. Previously, as part of an effort organized by Jiuxianqiao Sub-district in Beijing’s Chaoyang District, more than 80 JD couriers joined the volunteer team and provided daily necessity delivery services for five locked down communities.

 

(Vivian.yang@jd.com; Yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

Posted in ESG

JD.com Data: China’s Sports Products Consumption

Posted on by Xiaoqian Han

by Xiaoqian Han

The sales of yoga and dance-related products have increased at a remarkable rate in recent months, according to a new trends report released by JD’s Consumption and Industry Development Institute. Yoga stretchers, yoga shoes, dance shoes, yoga balls, and yoga bags all had a year-over-year growth of 868 percent, 816 percent, 700 percent, 110 percent, and 104 percent, respectively.

In addition to yoga and dance, the report also noted that the most popular sports activities for JD’s consumers in the past month include ball-related games, fishing, fitness training, and cycling.

The following are some of the report’s primary takeaways:

  • Specialized training packages are popular
  • Consumers are more likely to workout at home
  • Consumers in North China prefer to workout indoors
  • Products for sports protection are popular among people aged 26 to 35

Ball products and specialized training products

According to the data, badminton, basketball, and table tennis-related products were among the top three sports categories in terms of turnover, possibly because ball sports have a significant social dimension. People can make friends while playing and exercising. At the same time, specialist training devices, such as equipment for strengthening the abdomen and leg muscles and developing arm strength, are quite popular.

Home-use equipments

Exercising at home has become a popular approach to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Consumers prefer to exercise at home, which is why exercise equipment, yoga and dance equipment, and other similar items are in high demand. Additionally, many consumers have acquired a variety of sports accessories that are appropriate for them, such as sports shoes, skirts, underwear, and so on.

Consumers in North China VS northeast

Consumers in different locations have varying fitness needs, according to the report. Consumers in Liaoning, Heilongjiang, and Jilin provinces prefer fitness equipment for home appliances; consumers in Tianjin, Beijing, and other North China provinces prefer ball products for indoor sports; consumers in Ningxia and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions purchased a large number of cycling equipment products for outdoor sightseeing; and consumers in Hunan and Hubei provinces purchased a large number of leisure sports products for fishing. Guangdong, Jiangsu, Beijing, Sichuan, and Shandong are the top five provinces and municipality in China that buy sports equipment.

Sports protective items

Ball sports products are preferred by consumers aged 16-25, fishing products are preferred by consumers aged 26-35, and cycle sports products are preferred by consumers aged 36-45. Consumers between the ages of 16 and 25 prefer to buy sportswear, shoes, and bags, while those between the ages of 26 and 35 tend to buy a lot of sports protection products, according to the report.

 

(hanxiaoqian3@jd.com)

JD Opens the Industry’s First Digital Warehouse for Commodity Trade in Qingdao

Posted on by Doris Liu

by Doris Liu

A digital warehouse platform, the first of its kind in the international commodity trade, warehousing and circulation areas, was launched on April 22 in the coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province, with support from JD Technology (or JDT), creating an ecosystem of digital warehousing, digital trade and digital finance.

JDT, the core platform of JD.com that provides external technology services, has accumulated leading comprehensive capabilities such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, IoT and blockchain. By fully integrating digital intelligence technology with industrial practice, together with JD’s experience in supply-chain financial technology, JDT helped the bulk commodity industry realize industrial and financial digitalization, said Li Bo, a Vice President of JD.com and President of JDT’s financial technology unit.

Along with the launch of the platform, the model of turning a digital warehouse’s Bill of Lading (BOL) into warehouse receipt pledge financing was also put into practice for the first time. On April 20, 200 tons of rubber bulk goods sourced from Vietnam were stored in the digital warehouse after customs clearance. Through the digital warehouse platform, the warehouse side, the trader and the bank could the rubber goods, the goods’ owner and the warehouse in real time, and a loan financing of US$316,000 was issued to the goods’ owner on the second day.

Utilizing IoT technology and the digitization of cargo information as its core, the platform used in Qingdao’s free trade zone builds IoT monitoring and supervision solutions for overall management, warehouse scheduling and cargo safety.

For instance, high-definition monitoring cameras are deployed to capture the outline of the goods; storage, prohibited and dangerous areas are classified by the electronic fence so that an alarm will go off if the outline of the goods changes, or if restricted vehicles and people enter into such areas without permission; and high-sensitive sensors for temperature and humidity are set for certain goods that have strict requirements to achieve intelligent environmental monitoring and to avoid damage caused by environmental changes.

As an important transit base for iron ore, crude oil, rubber, cotton and other bulk commodities in China, the free trade zone in Qingdao has continuously improved its level of trade facilitation and innovated the regulatory model to promote the digital transformation of commodity management. The digital construction will be deepened in the future to make it a smarter free trade zone.

 

(liujun215@jd.com)