by Yuchuan Wang
JD.com reported a record-breaking Singles Day Grand Promotion on November 12, 2021, with transaction volume totaling RMB 349.1 billion yuan at the midnight of November 11, ending the 11-day promotion that started from 8pm on October 31. Transaction volume of 31 brands surpassed RMB 1 billion yuan with Apple surpassed RMB 10 billion yuan.
Compared with previous years when the Singles Day promotion started at midnight on November 1, this year JD kicked off the 2021 sales 4 hours ahead of time at 8 pm on October 31, allowing consumers to place orders without having to pull an all-nighter.
Despite strong sales and continued growth, JD is also prioritizing other areas of growth.
For example, on Nov. 11, Japanese retailer MUJI and JD.com’s SEVEN FRESH jointly launched a fresh food complex in Shanghai. Featuring a MUJI store and a fresh food supermarket, it spans an area of over 4,000 square meters, and will offer a wide range of meal solutions to consumers. The complex marks the first appearance of JD.com’s innovative fresh food supermarket chain SEVEN FRESH in Shanghai.
Lijun Xin, CEO of JD Retail, says that, “While the external audience may be more concerned about the sales figures, we are paying more attention to the stronger and upward force of the industry.”
SEVEN FRESH and MUJI’s fresh food complex is located in Ruihongtiandi shopping mall in Hongkou district, Shanghai
High-quality consumption
This Singles Day has been joined by the most merchants and brands in JD’s history, especially in the fashion category. Over 6,000 new apparel brands joined JD’s Singles Day this year, such as Victoria’s Secret, Peace Bird and Bosideng. In the first 10 minutes after the final sales spike started at 8 pm on Nov. 10, sales of 600 apparel brands increased 8 times YOY. Among the consumers of apparel products, the number of Gen-Z consumers was 3 times that of last year. Transaction volume of luxury products in the first 10 minutes increased 180% YOY. RIMOWA, the luxury luggage brand, saw a YOY increase of 3 times in terms of transaction volume in the first two hours.
Sales of beauty brands also surged on JD. In the first 4 hours, the transaction volume of over 20 brands including Helena Rubinstein and L’OCCITANE increased 100% on a year-on-year basis.
In the first 4 hours, transaction volume of 100 brands in the home appliances category, including Haier, LG and more, exceeded those of the whole day of November 11 last year. In the first 10 minutes, transaction volume of Xiaomi, Huawei, Samsung and many other mobile phone brands increased 4 times YOY. Transaction volume of iPhones surpassed RMB 100 million yuan in 2 seconds.
Pet consumption continues to boom. Transaction volume of nutrition products for pets increased 12 times in the first 10 minutes. Additionally, since the launch of JD Health Pet Hospital, a total of 3,000 veterinarians have joined the service team. As of 10:00am on Nov. 11, the online consultation service for cats increased 230% on a monthly basis and consultation for dogs increased 200%.
Growth from lower-tier markets
Users from lower-tier markets accounts for 77% of all users for JD’s Singles Day Grand Promotion this year. The company has seen rapid growth of consumption from these markets in the categories of home appliances, medicine and home decoration. For example, transaction volume of dishwashers and sweeping robots increased 2 to 3 times, with some smart home appliances even increasing 5 to 10 times.
The 15,000 JD Home Appliance stores nationwide that mainly target lower-tier markets saw their 2-hour transaction volume across all stores surpass that of the whole day on November 10 last year.
During this Singles Day, JD also officially launched a smart supply chain center in Wugong county in Shaanxi province, covering an area of 36,000 square meters. Integrating functions of procurement, cold-chain warehousing, processing, sorting, packaging and fulfillment, it connects the agricultural industry belts in northwestern China. On the night of November 10, the center processed total 1 millionth order.
JD smart supply chain center in Wugong county
Technology and logistics drive efficiency
This Singles Day, JD provided e-CNY(“数字人民币” in Chinese) red envelopes for users in 11 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Dalian, Xi’an, Chengdu and more, in collaboration with China Construction Bank (CCB). Users located in these cities who have never opened an e-CNY account, can search “e-CNY” on JD’s app to get access to the activity page. The red envelopes can be used on JD’s e-commerce app to purchase first-party products. According to JD Technology, over 100,000 customers used e-CNY on JD’s app during the promotion period.
JD Logistics ensures that remote areas can enjoy the same standard of service as in big cities. Since the beginning of 2021, JD Logistics has newly opened nine Asia No.1 logistics parks, which are among its 1,200+ warehouse network nationwide. The addition of logistics parks powered by automation technologies further expands JD’s rapid delivery service to more locations, enabling the company to deliver JD’s retail orders within 24 hours in 93% counties and 84% villages in China.
Autonomous delivery vehicles guarantee contactless delivery during COVID-19 breakouts. During this Singles Day, JD Logistics applied nearly 400 autonomous delivery vehicles in more than 25 cities in China, delivering 200% more orders comparing with the same period last year.
JD’s autonomous deliver vehicle
The 2021 Singles Day is also a green one. Through the usage of new energy vehicles, solar power system, recyclable packages and more, JD also reduced carbon emissions by 26,000 tons during this Singles Day period compared with last year. For example, recyclable packages were used 11.35 million times during the promotion this year.
