by Vivian Yang

The Consumption and Industry Development Research Institute of JD.com released a report on May 5^th titled “Consumption Trends of Spring/Summer Fashion”, which examined the sales data of apparel and beauty products on the platform in March and April and revealed the power of “economics of beauty” in driving market vitality.

Trend 1: Functional Cosmetic and Skincare Products

Facemasks, serums, lipsticks, perfumes and other makeup products have been deemed a basic need by consumers. Sales data in the past two months showed that facemasks, lotion/face cream, facial cleansing, skincare packages/gift boxes and facial essence account for 17.5, 12.4, 10.7, 8.2 and 7.3 percent of the overall sales of beauty products respectively. The fastest-growing products are sunscreen, makeup removers and facemasks with month-over-month growth rates reaching 184, 48 and 43 percent respectively. Hydration, moisturizing and repair are the most needed functions among these categories.

High-end and big-name brands continue to win consumers’ hearts while emerging brands are providing them more price and efficacy choices. Basic products can hardly satisfy users’ needs now. For example, they expect sunscreen products to also be waterproof and moisturizing; and whitening face powders to help control shine and set makeup for long wear.

Trend 2: Comfortable Men’s Wear and Stylish Women’s Wear

Data from the report showed that men’s Polo shirts, short pants, T-shirts, sports suits, and clothes for middle-aged and senior men increased 680, 506, 359 , 191, and 189 percent month over month respectively. For women’s wear, T-shirts, designers’/trending brands, chiffon blouses, Qun Kua (a traditional Chinese wedding costume “秀禾服”) and short pants have grown by 502, 279, 276, 245, and 242 percent month over month.

Meanwhile, clothing accessories that help show personality are favored among Chinese consumers, such as the sales of fisherman’s hats, stylish belts, sun hats, decorative glasses and sunglasses increased 695, 471, 428, 308 and 270 percent respectively.

Trend 3: Healthiness Nourishes Beauty from Within

In the category of daily healthcare products, razors, electric toothbrushes, massagers and hair dryers are the top-selling products, accounting for 18.4, 15.7, 13.8 and 12.0 percent of sales respectively. Blackhead removers, water flossers, massagers, massage chairs and electric razors are the fastest growing products, with growth rates of 84, 56 , 54, 51 and 49 percent.

In terms of the shopping preferences among different age groups of people on beauty-related products, the report pointed out that people aged between 16 to 25 showed the strongest interest in face-oriented beauty products, while the age group between 26 to 35 paid more attention on their personal health as they enter into family life, and people aged 46 and above prefer to spend more on quality clothing with comfortable designs.

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

by Doris Liu

JD Worldwide, JD.com’s cross-border e-commerce business, started to offer authentication services to its first- and third-party stores from May 6 by marking the authenticated products as “Appraised Genuine Products”.

Jointly developed by JD Worldwide, China Certification & Inspection Group (CCIG), Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine (CAIQ), Cosmetics Technology Center under CAIQ Beijing and more, the service enables authentication professionals from the state-certified institutions to authenticate products at the site of the bonded warehouse before they are available online for sale.

When stores choose this service, it means only goods that have been authenticated and confirmed as genuine will have an “Appraised Genuine Product” page on JD.com’s App and authorized to be sold with a physical anti-counterfeit sticker or hang tag on the product.

By scanning the QR code on the anti-counterfeit label with JD’s App, customers are able to view the authenticity and evaluation report as well as the video recorded during the authenticity process.

To ensure a high accuracy level of authentication and enhance customers’ shopping experiences, JD Worldwide also set up a genuine goods library that constantly collects information of authentic goods from different regions and batches. The library, which includes nearly 600,000 products at the moment, can be iterated and supplemented with authentication methods and details of products’ supply chain channels to further support the authenticity professionals’ work and optimize the product supply chain of JD Worldwide.

In the context of consumption upgrading, JD Worldwide is always devoted to creating a more reliable shopping experience of imported products, building a bridge of trust between consumers and brands. In the future, it will continue to improve the authenticity services to push forward the healthy development of the cross-border e-commerce.

Any international brand interested in building their business with JD in China can apply via https://www.jd.hk/cooperation_en or by emailing worldwide@jd.com.

(liujun215@jd.com)

by Mengyang He

JD Auto, JD.com’s omni-channel automotive business, announced its development plans for 2022, reiterating its commitment in China’s automotive aftermarket.

According to data from the Traffic Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Public Security of China, the ownership of vehicles in China saw a YOY increase of 7.5 percent, reaching 302 million in 2021. The automotive maintenance market is of critical importance to China’s automotive aftermarket, and is expected to grow by 10.3 percent in 2022.

Yong Tang, general manager of JD Auto Service, JD Auto’s standardized chain store for automotive maintenance, revealed that “first, JD Auto will provide a better access for consumers through brand upgrading; second, it will build five talent training centers across China to better empower the physical stores staff; third, it will enhance the supply chain by upgrading JD Auto’s private brand Jing’antu and place stricter requirements and control on dealers; fourth, it will initiate the shop-in-shop business model and promote innovative businesses such as insurance to generate more profits; and finally, JD Auto aims to reach the profit target by optimizing the selection of products and standardization of stores, and through over 500 trainings and store incentives throughout the year.”

Additionally, JD Auto will further strengthen the partnership with vocational schools to train future talents in the automotive aftermarket and provide them with professional opportunities.

As JD Auto’s standardized chain store for automotive maintenance, JD Auto Service is now operating over 1,400 stores in 163 cities across China and has been serving over 10 million customer-times.

(hemengyang5@jd.com)

by Doris Liu

JD Fashion and Lifestyle business has been upgraded to a new format called “The J Shop” with deep integration of commodity and service capabilities in omni-channel retailing covering the categories of apparel, lifestyle, cosmetics, sports, luxury fashion, watches and more.

The online channel of The J Shop, officially available on JD’s App from May 9, mainly focuses on young consumption groups. It provides exclusive online scenarios complementing a fashionable lifestyle with a redesigned browsing visual experience, quality service and interactive shopping experience. Based on JD’s digital intelligent social supply chain and product quality control ability, The J Shop has set strict standards for the selected products to guarantee a superior shopping experience.

Furthermore, the online channel brings together the world’s top brands, most popular products, limited editions, as well as gift sets and C2M (Consumer to Manufacturer) products.

As planned, selected collection stores with multiple themes will also be launched soon in some of China’s key cities, so that The J Shop can integrate online and offline consumption and experience together with one-stop solutions.

The model is expected to further expand growth space for JD’s business partners with the convergence of e-commerce and stores, which would prompt the industry to develop in a healthier manner.

“We also hope to work with more partners and professionals to create more growth value of the industry and jointly drive the development of online and offline retail to a higher quality,” said Carol Fung, a Senior Vice President of JD.com and President of JD Fashion and Lifestyle business group.

At present, consumers’ shopping needs have been upgraded from a simple product demand to a comprehensive and diversified lifestyle choice. The J Shop, as an open ecosystem, will bring in more categories and brands in the future to serve the omni-channel model, which also aligns with JD’s commitment of being “a new type of real economy enterprise” that possesses digital and technological capabilities.

(liujun215@jd.com)

by Xiaoqian Han

Celine, a luxury fashion brand under the LVMH group, launched an official flagship store on JD.com on May 6, providing a full range of items of handbags, garments, accessories, perfumes, shoes, and jewelry. The Celine 520 capsule handbag series and 2022 spring and summer collections are also available on this store.

The web design of this store is simple and concise, with the functions of browsing items in 3D and synchronizing delivery and offline pickup addresses. With the approaching 618 festival and other promotion events, it will also offer special delivery services such as offline pickup at a nearby store and exclusive gift cards delivered in the package.

This store will launch new collections and items on a regular basis in order to suit the individualized and diverse needs of customers. Users can also purchase products for men on the flagship store, in addition to women’s items.

To date, JD.com has gathered more than 300 flagship stores of major fashion and lifestyle brands, covering jewelry, clothing, luggage, shoes, and home furnishing. More than 20 brands under the LVMH Group such as BERLUTI, DIOR, LOEWE, Bulgari, and Givenchy, have formed an in-depth partnership with JD.com. Celine’s flagship store on JD.com will enable consumers with more options to shop for fashion items online.

(hanxiaoqian3@jd.com)