On Demand Consumption Solely for Home and Office? Think Again.

Posted on by Ella Kidron

by Ella Kidron

On-demand consumption in China has experienced a shift from households to work places and educational institutions and more, says a white paper by JD.com and leading local on-demand retail and delivery platform, Dada Group, released on Jun. 10. The move is driven by easing lockdowns and an increased focus on connecting people with a wider array of products.

Order locations from most frequent to least frequent are residential communities (74%), supermarket services (9%), office buildings (8%), schools and training centers (3%), hotels (2%), administrative organizations (1%) and hospitals (1%). Other, which makes up 2% of the total has been found to include fairgrounds, tourist hotspots and other recreational spots.

There is also significant demand for 24/7 on-demand services, and those businesses serving late-night (12 pm – 2 am) customers are reaping the benefits from a new wave of customers who want reliable delivery service outside of traditional business hours, according to the report

Another area of expansion is service consumption, which has been steadily increasing in China. Platforms are partnering with brick and mortar stores to offer consumers value-added on-demand services. For example, mobile phone trade-in services are bringing such a convenience straight to consumers’ doorsteps.

JD was an early mover in omni-channel, and its Omni-channel Fulfillment model which integrates inventory between its first party retail e-commerce business and offline stores has made a significant impact in reducing the number of touchpoints required for products to reach consumers. With the introduction and widespread adoption of on-demand, consumers are able to receive items in as fast as 30 minutes after ordering across a range of categories.

 

(ella@jd.com)

JD.com and Xinhua jointly release JD Electronics Consumption Index

Posted on by Ella Kidron

by Ella Kidron

The JD Big Data Research Institute and Xinhua News Agency jointly released an index on demands for electrical appliances and electronic devices on Jun. 9.

The announcement comes as JD.com is in the midst of the nation’s biggest shopping festival, the 618 Grand Promotion (Jun. 1-18). The index is based on the observation that the use of these devices has transitioned from being a means to substitute labor to a means to satisfy additional demands. A lower index score indicates the use of devices to substitute human labor for practical tasks such as steaming food and vacuuming, while a higher index indicates satisfaction of other needs such as entertainment and comfort.

Electronic devices and the extent of their usage are gradually becoming a symbol of people’s happiness in a given area, based on whether they meet basic needs or more luxurious ones. According to the report, the index score for the whole of China is 43.04, revealing that with the continued rise of income and quality of life levels, consumers have higher expectations as they pertain to experiences offered by electronic devices, paying more attention to product quality and being more willing to try and embrace new product categories.

To produce the report, JD selected and calculated the index score for 36 cities in China. This indicates regional differences in terms of consumers’ view on which products satisfy work, production, home, social, entertainment, and other needs. It is easy to assume that in rapidly developing Shenzhen the index score for the first tier city would be high, but that’s not the case. In the fast-paced and competitive [coastal] city, the index is low on the whole, indicating a tendency to use electronics to reduce physical pressure and increase efficiency.

In cities such as Sanya, Hainan province, Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Kunming, Yunnan province, Xining, Qinghai province, and Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the index score is comparatively higher, indicating more widespread use of electronics for everyday life and recreation. Unsurprisingly, Sanya, a popular beach vacation destination in China, has the highest score.

Mobile phones are the clear leaders in terms of category of electronics, confirming the consensus that they are no longer a “nice to have” and are now an essential. Cooking-related electrical appliances generally have the same demand across all cities, while emerging products such as air fryers have high scores reflecting consumers’ attention on a healthy and diversified diet.

JD has been working closely with different brands to meet consumers’ precise demands. The Consumer-to-Manufacturer (C2M) initiative is one way in which the company helps brands and other partners better understand what consumers want and how to tailor to these needs.

 

(ella@jd.com)

JD Upgrades Autonomous Delivery Services for 618 Grand Promotion

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

JD Logistics announced on Jun. 10 that it will upgrade the service of its autonomous delivery vehicles during this year’s 618 Grand Promotion to satisfy consumers’ demands whenever and wherever.

At the same time, 30 new Level-4 autonomous vehicles are being put into use in Changshu, Jiangsu province from today. Last October, JD announced plans to help Changshu transform itself into a smart delivery city. During this 618 sales promotion, daily orders fulfilled in Changshu have been 1.5 times that of last year.

JDs autonomous delivery vehicles

“The manufacturing for these vehicles includes over 50 processes and over 140 checks for quality to ensure its stability,” said Dr. Qi Kong, chief scientist and head of JD’s autonomous driving technology. “It marks an important step for the scalable application of JD’s autonomous delivery vehicles.”

The upgrade covers three aspects:

JD autonomous vehicles will for the first time support “scheduled delivery,” in which customers can designate times for the vehicle to come to their doorsteps. By transforming the vehicles into “mobile stations,” it will provide even more convenient last-mile delivery service to customers.

Besides last-mile, the vehicles will be utilized to transfer goods among different JD delivery stations, to facilitate the parcel surge during the 618 sales period or customers changing their addresses.

JD’s autonomous delivery vehicles will also be applied in more on-demand delivery scenarios. SEVEN FRESH supermarkets in Beijing are already adopting the robots to help deliver fresh produce orders within 3-kilometer radius.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

JD Establishes Tibet’s Largest Smart Logistics Center

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

Over 100 automated ground vehicles (AGVs) were put into use in JD’s 27,000 square-meter logistics center in Lhasa, Tibet on Jun. 9, making it the largest smart warehouse in this autonomous region. Adopting the AGVs doubles warehousing efficiency and will support the sales surge during 618 Grand Promotion, the biggest mid-year shopping festival in the country.

“These AGVs help move goods safely and quickly, greatly speeding up the warehousing in-bound and out-bound processes,” said a warehouse manager.

Technology and automation helps JD Logistics maintain its unique same and next day delivery services even during peak periods such as the ongoing 618 Grand Promotion. By 5 pm on Jun. 1, the number of items which purchased and had already been delivered surpassed that of the entire day of Jun. 1 last year.

JD launched the first delivery station in Tibet in September 2011. In 2017, the company began the establishment of Tibet’s first large-scale e-commerce logistics park and enabling consumers in Lhasa to receive their orders on the same day for the first time.

JD will further develop its logistics infrastructure in the Tibetan region, building more warehouses, transfer and distribution hubs, to serve better local customers and help Tibet’s specialties reach the rest of the nation.

The AGV researched in-house by JD Logistics and applied in the warehouse is used for picking goods. It can recognize QR codes on the floor for route planning as well as automatic obstacle avoidance. The pickers can stay on the working platform and wait for the AGVs to come to them.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

Dada Q1 2021 Earnings: Further Deepen Cooperation with JD.com under Omni-channel Strategy

Posted on by Hui Zhang

by Dada and JD

Dada Group announced its first quarter financial results on June 8th, kicking off 2021 with another strong quarter.

Dada’s total net revenues increased by 52% YOY, exceeding the high end of its guidance. Revenue generated from JDDJ reached 778 million, with a 2-year CAGR of 97%. GMV of JDDJ for the twelve months ended March 31, was RMB 28.1 billion, an increase of 78.9% YOY. And the number of active consumers was 46.1 million.

“We are pleased to kick off 2021 with another strong quarter,” commented Mr. Philip Kuai, Chairman and CEO of Dada. “We are excited to further deepen our cooperation with JD.com under the omni-channel approach. Leveraging JD’s devoted support, we will better fulfill demands for local on-demand retail and its delivery on JD.com, covering various scenarios and categories, and expand our omni-channel cooperation with JD.com. Together with JD.com, we will continue to provide consumers with superior experience, empower retail and brand partners and achieve a win-win cooperation for all.”

JDDJ, the on-demand retail platform, has constantly expanded its geographic coverage, especially in lower-tier cities, and further diversified category coverage to provide consumers with more product offerings in more categories on demand. By the end of the first quarter, JDDJ platform has covered over 1,500 cities and counties, which has more than doubled compared to the same period last year. While flagship supermarket category remains on the fast growth trajectory, JDDJ has made significant progress across many other categories.

On-demand delivery platform Dada Now’s intra-city delivery services to chain merchants continued to grow significantly, with revenue in the first quarter increasing by more than 130% YOY. As more chain merchants choose Dada services, the store penetration for each merchant continues to rise. As of the end of Q1, Dada Now provided support to logistics companies in over 2,700 cities and counties and the platform continued to deepen its cooperation with JD Logistics.

Please find the full version of the financial report here.

 

(press@jd.com)

JD’s Delivery Robots Arrive in Guangzhou for COVID-19 Relief

Posted on by Ling Cao

by Ling Cao

JD’s autonomous delivery vehicles arrived in Guangzhou on June 4 to provide contactless delivery service to districts currently under home quarantine due to new COVID-19 cases. This is the third time JD’s delivery robots have been sent to the frontline for COVID-19 relief efforts, following Wuhan and Shijiazhuang.

“The first robots will be sent to 14 residential compounds in Guanggang (GZ Steel) New Town in Liwan District, ensuring the last-mile delivery for daily necessities,” said Qi Kong, chief scientist and head of autonomous driving at JD Logistics. “Now we are planning for the transportation routes and technology testing.”

During the peak of the pandemic in early 2020, JD quickly allocated the robots in Wuhan for support after just one week of preparation time. The robots traveled over 6,800 kilometers and delivered more than 13,000 packages during that time.

Since starting the program in 2016, JD’s autonomous delivery program has developed from delivery within school campuses to open roads at scale. Powered by the high-level autonomous delivery technology, it can avoid obstacles automatically, recognize traffic lights and drive automatically without assistance from humans.

Last month, JD become one of the first three enterprises in China to obtain road test license plates for autonomous delivery vehicles.

“It will provide more space and opportunities for the industry to grow,” added Kong.

 

(ling.cao@jd.com)

JD Logistics Launches China-U.S. Cargo Flight

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

JD launched its first cargo flight between China and the U.S. on Jun. 7, following the launch of its China-Thailand charter flight on May 28.

“Leveraging JD.com’s e-commerce advantages and the company’s overseas warehouses network, we are building an end-to-end fully self-operated route to facilitate the transport of quality Chinese products to the U.S. and vice versa,” said Stard Huang, president of JD International Logistics.

The route between Nanjing Lukou International Airport and Los Angeles International Airport will be operated three times a week by China Eastern Airlines. By launching front warehouses in Shanghai and Shenzhen, the freight route will be able to deliver products from China’s two major manufacturing regions in eastern and southern China. Currently goods mainly include cross-border e-commerce products such as apparel and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG).

With JD’s U.S. warehouses in California and New Jersey, the flight will be able enable transportation from China to clients in the U.S. as fast as 48 hours, greatly reducing the fulfillment time and further stimulating goods transport between the two countries.

JD’s international logistics business has been working with enterprises to help them shorten cross-border delivery time and build up their global distribution capabilities. The e-commerce and logistics powerhouse targets to build a “double 48” network to deliver from China to the destination country within 48 hours and deliver to the end customer within 48 hours.

JD has 32 bonded warehouses and overseas warehouses, with a total management area of approximately 440,000 square meters as of December 31, 2020. Through cooperation with international and local partners, JD has established international routes covering more than 220 countries and regions.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

P&G and JD Jointly Launch Soccer Field Made from Plastic Bottles

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

Students at Xianlin campus of Nanjing Foreign Language School in Suqian School had a penalty kick competition on a new soccer field made of recycled plastic bottles on Jun. 4. The field has been constructed using recycled plastic bottles. Last year, over 20,000 families joined the bottle recycling program launched by JD Green Stream Initiative (GSI) and P&G Beauty.

Soccer field made of recycled plastic bottles in Nanjing Foreign Language School Xianlin Campus Suqian School 

In Jul. 2020, JD and P&G initiated a program which enables customers in Shanghai and Guangzhou who purchase hair care products from P&G brands including Head & Shoulders, Pantene, VS Sassoon, Rejoice, Herbal Essences, Hair Recipe and Aussie to receive their products in JD’s reusable “green box”. By scanning a QR code on the box and packing it with their own plastic bottles, customers can arrange for JD couriers to collect it from their doorsteps.

“JD has always attached great importance to lead the contribution of the development of society while developing our business,” said Jerry Duan, head of JD GSI. “It is gratifying to have partners like P&G on our journey and we look forward to be joined by more partners to exert their influence for a more sustainable world.”

“Our trial project recycling packages and bottles through green logistics with the JD GSI helps create a sustainable ecosystem for brands, platforms and consumers,” said Jiafei Lu, head of supply chain packaging at P&G Beauty. “We are glad to partner with JD to promote global enterprises to develop sustainably.”

P&G has been a long-term partner for JD’s GSI since 2017 and has cooperated with JD on multiple sustainable programs, such as implementing simplified packaging that reduces over-packaging, shipment of shampoo in its original container, and the use of green reusable boxes for P&G products.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

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