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Dada Group Brings Supermarkets New Growth by Focusing on Consumers’ Need: A Case Study of CR Vanguard

SHANGHAI, China, April 13, 2021 – Dada Group (Nasdaq: DADA) (“Dada”), China’s leading local on-demand delivery and retail platform, and China Resources Vanguard (“CR Vanguard”), China’s largest supermarket chain enterprise group, announced that they have expanded their partnership with a focus on digitalization and user operation. Over 1,800 CR Vanguard stores including hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores and boutique supermarkets, have been integrated into JDDJ, the on-demand retail platform of Dada. Besides the orders from JDDJ, Dada Now, the on-demand delivery platform of Dada, also offers Dedicated Delivery service and fulfills omni-channel orders of more than 1300 CR Vanguard stores, including those from CR Vanguard’s Application and Mini Program.

JDDJ’s banners were displayed in a CR Vangard’s storeJDDJ’s banners were displayed in a CR Vangard’s store

Ranking first on the list of the “Top 100 Chinese Supermarket Chains in 2019” by China Chain Store & Franchise Association (CCFA), CR Vanguard has the largest number of supermarket stores and its strategy adjustment always attracts much attentions. Hui Xu, General Manager of CR Vanguard, proposed the concept of ​​becoming a “consumers’ favorite omni-channel retailer”, which means transformation from studying products to studying consumers, from stores to omni-channels, and adapts to the changes in online shopping experience. Therefore, while operating its own online platforms, CR Vanguard has built strategic partnership with third-party platforms such as JDDJ. It leverages JDDJ’s platform and technical capabilities to improve its all-round digitalization, in order to tap new opportunities and growth engines.

Dada and CR Vanguard initially established a comprehensive partnership in April 2018. The two companies expanded their strategic partnership in July 2020, with a focus on omni-channel fulfillment, product management, user operation and marketing. Over the past 3 years, CR Vanguard’s sales have grown rapidly on JDDJ’s platform, with a 2.2 times increase in 2020 compared to 2019 and 5 times increase in boutique supermarkets. In CR Vanguard’s omni-channel layout, JDDJ has become a key strategic partner.

Meanwhile, CR Vanguard launched its online membership program on JDDJ in April 2020, which was the first time that CR Vanguard operated membership services on a third-party platform. As of December 2020, the membership increased by 4 times compared to six months ago. The frequency of orders placed by its members were more than 50% higher than those of ordinary users.

According to Jun Jiang, General Manager of Business Growth Department at JDDJ, the platform and CR Vanguard currently formulate detailed operation strategies for its hypermarkets and boutique supermarkets to attract differentiated consumers rapidly. In terms of hypermarkets that have a huge offline membership of more than 50 million consumers, the collaboration focuses on increasing the scale of online membership and improving consumer stickiness.

“CR Vanguard is speeding up its digital transformation, developing online channels business and online and offline integration. We saw burgeoning online business in 2020,” said Mr. Xu. “The strategic cooperation with JDDJ is an important step for CR Vanguard to develop its online business. I believe that our complementary advantages and coordination with JDDJ will bring more new growth engines.”

“In the context of customer segmentation, multi-business type retailers represented by CR Vanguard aim to adopt differentiated operations for different business types on the basis of the needs of consumers to raise brand competitiveness,” said Jianzhen Peng, Secretary General of CCFA. “The partnership with JDDJ provides a powerful support for CR Vanguard’s digital strategy. The two companies capitalize on complementary capabilities to create new growth opportunities.”

This year’s JDDJ 415 Anniversary Shopping Festival is launched from April 8 to 18. During the period, JDDJ partners with leading supermarket chains in China, including Walmart, Yonghui Supermarket, CR Vanguard, BBG Supermarket, Aeon, Jiajiayue, Lotus and famous brands, such as Yili, Mengniu, P&G, Unilever, Yihai Kerry, Mars Wrigley, PepsiCo, Nestle, as well as over 100,000 merchant stores on the platform to create a “One-hour Shopping Carnival”. This provides consumers in nearly 1,400 counties and cities in China with “one-hour delivery” services for all categories of products, such as supermarket groceries, fresh meat and eggs, daily necessities, mobile phones and electronics, beauty and clothing.

 

About Dada Group

Dada Group is a leading platform of local on-demand retail and delivery in China. It operates JDDJ, one of China’s largest local on-demand retail platforms for retailers and brand owners, and Dada Now, a leading local on-demand delivery platform open to merchants and individual senders across various industries and product categories. The Company’s two platforms are inter-connected and mutually beneficial. The Dada Now platform enables improved delivery experience for participants on the JDDJ platform through its readily accessible fulfillment solutions and strong on-demand delivery infrastructure. Meanwhile, the vast volume of on-demand delivery orders from the JDDJ platform increases order volume and density for the Dada Now platform. In June 2020, Dada Group began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market, under the ticker symbol “DADA.”

 

About CR Vanguard

CR Vanguard is an excellent retail chain enterprise group that is part of CR Group, a Fortune Global 500 enterprise. It owns several famous brands, such as CR Vanguard, Suguo, Ole’, blt, V+, Tesco express, and V>nGO, among others.

Dada Group’s JDDJ Innovates Marketing Activities to Create a True Omni-Channel Customer Experience for Brand Partners

SHANGHAI, China, April 13, 2021 – Dada Group (Nasdaq: DADA) (“Dada”), China’s leading local on-demand delivery and retail platform, is pleased to announce that JDDJ, the on-demand retail platform of Dada, has created many exclusive marketing events, such as Merchant Category Day, Super Brand Day, Super Fan Day, Coupling Day, and New Product Festival to help brand partners enhance their brand influence and omni-channel strategy. Leveraging the advantages of O2O platform and one-hour delivery service, JDDJ has become the key marketing position for brands integrating product efficiency, targeted users, and efficient tools.

“JDDJ created a test field for innovative O2O marketing for brand partners, which jointly promotes IP marketing, increases brand visibility and efficiency, and achieves the omni-channel marketing,” said Wenqi Yang, Head of Branding Business at JDDJ. “JDDJ will continue to cooperate with brands to innovate methods of digital marketing and offer one-hour delivery service for more consumers.”

“As the on-demand retail industry grows, offline retailers and brand owners have more demands for online marketing and sales growth. Starting with innovative marketing activities, JDDJ empowers brands and industries by creating new consumption scenarios in micro e-commerce era,” said Jianzhen Peng, Secretary General of China Chain Store & Franchise Association.

 

JDDJ’s Innovative Marketing Activities:

  • Merchant Category Day: In October 2020, JDDJ partnered with leading supermarkets and famous grain & oil brands such as Yihai Kerry, Fulinmen, and CR Ng Fung, to launch the Merchant Category Day marketing event. Starting with grain and oil category, this event connected online and offline channels to realize global marketing and extended O2O marketing practice in the micro e-commerce era. The data showed that during the event, sales of grain and oil products on JDDJ increased by 97% compared to average daily sales in October.
  • Super Brand Day: In June 2020, JDDJ cooperated with Unilever in launching the first Super Brand Day event with the theme of “Honor of Kings”. Through online and offline campaign, this event introduced advertisements in thousands of offline stores and the live-streaming event for brands, leading to a significant increase in sales and efficient marketing to consumers. During the event, Unilever saw a month-on-month sales increase of over 450% on JDDJ’s platform.
  • Super Fan Day: In August 2020, JDDJ cooperated with Yili’s SATINE, P&G’s Whisper, Mars Wrigley’s Extra and Mondelez’s Oreo to hold the exclusive Super Fan Day marketing event. This attracted over 10 million fans’ view and total sales of participating brands saw a year-on-year increase of 3 times. Besides, JDDJ and Yili’s jointly launched another Super Fan Day in September 2020, which invited Wang Kai, the ambassador for the brand, to introduce products at JDDJ’s livestreaming room. During the event, Yili set a new record in sales of its low-temperature products on JDDJ, with a month-on-month increase of 4.4 times.

This year’s JDDJ 415 Anniversary Shopping Festival is launched from April 8 to 18. During the period, JDDJ partners with leading supermarket chains in China, including Walmart, Yonghui Supermarket, CR Vanguard, BBG Supermarket, Aeon, Jiajiayue, Lotus and famous brands, such as Yili, Mengniu, P&G, Unilever, Yihai Kerry, Mars Wrigley, PepsiCo, Nestle, as well as over 100,000 merchant stores on the platform to create a “One-hour Shopping Carnival”. This provides consumers in nearly 1,400 counties and cities in China with “one-hour delivery” services for all categories of products, such as supermarket groceries, fresh meat and eggs, daily necessities, mobile phones and electronics, beauty and clothing.

 

About Dada Group

Dada Group is a leading platform of local on-demand retail and delivery in China. It operates JDDJ, one of China’s largest local on-demand retail platforms for retailers and brand owners, and Dada Now, a leading local on-demand delivery platform open to merchants and individual senders across various industries and product categories. The Company’s two platforms are inter-connected and mutually beneficial. The Dada Now platform enables improved delivery experience for participants on the JDDJ platform through its readily accessible fulfillment solutions and strong on-demand delivery infrastructure. Meanwhile, the vast volume of on-demand delivery orders from the JDDJ platform increases order volume and density for the Dada Now platform. In June 2020, Dada Group began trading on the Nasdaq Global Market, under the ticker symbol “DADA.”

JD.com and NielsenIQ Forge Data Cooperation

JD’s online supermarket JD Super and JD Retail Cloud have teamed up with global data analytics company NiesenIQ on Apr.14 to embark on comprehensive data cooperation, launching a new partnership that aims to help FMCG brand owners and retailers build effective online operation strategies, sustain high brand performance and make informed decisions.

As global ecommerce has accelerated during the pandemic, China has become a driving force in innovating how best to serve customers who are increasingly splitting their consumption across channels both online and offline. The new partnership will not only expand the existing long term cooperation between the two companies into coverage of new categories, but also initiate a series of new product co-creations to address FMCG brand owners’ key priorities regarding omni-channel and online consumers.

Omni-channel development has become the new consumption habits and further integration of channels amid the epidemic. Enabled by the massive consumption data of JD Super, the data middle platform of JD Retail Cloud, and the well-recognized data analysis capability of NielsenIQ Big Data team, the two companies will integrate online and offline data, systematically interpreting consumption data to identify category preferences among channels and defined location areas, with an aim to help brand owners implement efficient omni-channel solutions.

In addition, the two companies will develop a “Marketing Decoding” solution utilizing Consumer Behavior Analysis to help brand owners more deeply understand operation status, the competitive landscape and new consumer behavior trends. The solution will also engage in User Portrait Analysis, subdividing brand users based on massive consumption data and thus helping brand owners develop their brand advantage.

Recognizing the shifts occurring in Chinese online shoppers’ consumption behavior as a result of the pandemic, a newly co-created “Online Sales Effectiveness” solution will enable brands to more accurately understand the input and output of sales campaigns in order to optimize for future online investment effectiveness, build shopping-driven models according to consumer segmentation, and provide guidance on the timing of consumers’ key decision making points during the purchase cycle.

Behind the scenes, the two companies will also work to optimize e-commerce procedures and systems, driving digitalization and offering valuable data support for FMCG products.

JD Super, JD Retail Cloud and NielsenIQ expect further cooperation going forward, and will remain focused on jointly promoting the transformation and upgrading of the retail industry.

 

Top Brand Swiss Watch Auctioned for Charity on JD

by Ella Kidron

JD.com is hosting a charity auction on its JD Auction platform in collaboration with top Swiss watch brand H. Moser & Cie. and The One Foundation beginning Apr. 14 at midnight and ending Apr. 18 at 19:00.

The item on auction is H. Moser & Cie.’s Swiss Alp Watch Infinite Reboot. A spokesperson made a remark about this watch. “The item is devoid of logo, indices, and hands. Its dial features only a mechanical disc reminiscent of the symbol one sees when a computer programme is loading, turning constantly to reflect the ceaseless march of time. The hours pass in a kind of permanent reboot, with no reference to the present moment. ”

He added, “It is a symbol of the infinite, of the relativity of time and of the headlong rush in which society is caught, ever more connected, ever more virtual. Here comes a fundamental question: in the face of extreme digitization and excess, could it now be time for a complete reboot?”

The watch is auctioned on JD Auction. Bidding starts RMB 238,000 yuan, and will increase in increments of RMB 10,000 yuan.

H. Moser & Cie. Swiss Alp Watch Infinite Reboot on JD Auction

H. Moser & Cie. Swiss Alp Watch Infinite Reboot on JD Auction

All proceeds will go to the One Foundation. Interested consumers can conveniently bid on and purchase the watch online directly through the JD Auction platform.

Formally known as the Shenzhen One Foundation Charity Fund), the One Foundation is a Chinese NGO focused on supporting children’s welfare. Its stated mission is to transform the lives of disadvantaged children by providing food, shelter, education, health and self-assurance. The partnership represents the “infinite reboot” of the hopes and dreams of the children who will benefit from the proceeds

In the last five years, JD Auction has completed auctions for over 100 million items, becoming a highly popular platform for online auction. The platform has also held several online charity auctions. Last November, in cooperation with JD Foundation, the platform hosted a charity auction to promote China’s intangible cultural heritage. All funds received from the auction of craft masters’ works were used to help women in impoverished areas and ethnic minority groups to encourage their pursuits of art and cultural creations.

JD Auction also organized a special auction campaign in September to solicit and auction memorabilia related to the fight against COVID-19. JD’s strict approach to authentic products as well as the company’s technological strength, make it an ideal place to hold auctions, for charity as well as public court auctions of estates.

 

(ella@jd.com)

JD.com Steps into Offline Catering Industry

by Hui Zhang

JD.com and Juqi, a popular dinning chain in China with 21 restaurants in Beijing, announced innovative cooperation on supply chain in Beijing on April 9, making JD the first platform in China that is capable of providing a one-stop supply chain solution covering both the full category of food and materials supply, and integrated warehousing and distribution services.

Through the cooperation, JD will also provide intelligent inventory management, and bring Juqi’s semi-prepared food to consumers through JD’s platform.

“JD Catering has been committed to helping catering enterprises achieve standardization and scale development through providing them with a set of one-stop supply chain solutions in line with their own development,” said Carol Fung, President of FMCG and Omnichannel. “The cooperation with Juqi is just the beginning, and in the future, JD Catering will join hands with more partners to create benchmark samples in the catering industry.”

“Food safety, food quality and good service are the core competitiveness of Chinese large and medium-sized catering brands, such as Juqi,” said Jun Ma, general manager of JD Catering Business.

“Because of this, large and medium-sized catering enterprises need to rely on strong supply chains, warehousing and distribution capabilities to reduce the cost and increase efficiency. This is what JD.com is best at.”

In terms of a full category of supply offering, JD will become the only supplier to Juqi by taking advantage of JD’s vast SKU network and a self-operation business model which will ensure product safety and quality thanks to strict quality control. Previously, it was a pain point for Juqi that it has to deal with several suppliers at the same time, which was not only inefficient but also lacked transparency in pricing.

JD will become the only supplier to Juqi

As for warehousing and distribution services, offline restaurants are eager to have their own warehouses and delivery services that will help them reduce costs while also improving efficiency. However, constructing their own logistics network is time-consuming and costly. Through the cooperation with JD, Juqi will make full use of JD’s nationwide logistics network to further reduce cost on both labor and fulfillment, and promote the standardization of catering.

“Relying on JD’s supply chain advantages such as full category of supply, high efficiency and stable logistics services, Juqi will have the ability and opportunities to provide consumers with safe, reliable, and creative dishes with good quality at low prices,” said Tong Han, Juqi’s founder.

“The cooperation between Juqi and JD Catering will be of great significance to the overall efficiency improvement of the catering industry in supply chain.”

For intelligent inventory management, JD is working on an intelligent system that can help offline restaurants do intelligent replenishment and reduce the possibility of manual miscalculation. In addition, the cooperation can also provide added value to the brand by bringing its semi-prepared food online and increase exposure of the brand image to consumers across China.

 

(Banner photo: Carol Fung, President of FMCG and Omnichannel (sixth from the right), and  Tong Han, Juqi’s founder (fifth from the right), met at JD headquarters with their collective teams to sign the agreement on Apr. 9)

 

(zhanghui36@jd.com)

JD Health Hosted Wellness Products and Stars at IWF 2021

by Vivian Yang

JD Health participated in the 8th International Health, Wellness and Fitness Expo (IWF) from Apr. 6 -8 in Shanghai. As a partner of the event, JD Health created dedicated online promotional pages and offline exhibition activities, creating an all-round demonstration of the latest healthcare and fitness products and a digitalized future of the industry.

Chong Peng, managing director of IWF (left) and Haohang Song, director of wellness business of JD Health (right)

 

The expo gathered more than 800 brand exhibitors in the 70,000-square-meter exhibition hall. Business leaders, industry influencers and sports stars were invited to interact at JD Health’s booth on site.

Leading Chinese sports nutrition brand CPT released a new product at a ceremony attended by JD Health and Jianmeng Liu (center), winner of men’s fitness in the 2018 World Fitness Championship.

Led by the fitness model Leo Hainuo Chen, Muscle Tech brought a legion of muscle men to JD Health’s booth, who interacted with audiences on site and shared their understanding about muscle strength.

Fitness KOLs on Douyin and Weibo showed up at JD Health’s exhibition to experience the latest products on behalf of their followers and shared fitness tips.

Spectators were keen to prove themselves by trying out the new equipment on site. In doing this, they also had the chance to become an “experience officer” of JD Health.

To date, JD Health has been working closely with over 6,000 global brands of health and wellness products. The platform now manages over 30 nutrition categories including immunity enhancement, bone health, vitamins and minerals, beauty products, weight management, special medical food and more.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

JD Highlighted in AustCham Shanghai Webinar on Chinese Beauty Market

by Kelly Dawson

During the economic uncertainty of 2020, a spike in imported cosmetic sales was a bright light on JD.com and other Chinese platforms, said Mark Tanner of marketing and research agency China Skinny, during a webinar hosted in partnership with AustCham Shanghai on April 12.

“Last year was the first time in generations that people in China spent less than the year before,” Tanner said during the webinar. “But one of the bright lights was significant growth in imported cosmetics, with an increase of 30% sales industry-wide YOY. Because of COVID, people had to repatriate their spending, much like with luxury products.”

The first quarter of 2020 saw a dip in cosmetics sales as people stayed indoors during the early lockdown period, but once conditions began to stabilize, cosmetics sales boomed—first for eyeshadow and eyeliner, visible even while wearing face masks; and later for lipstick, as face mask usage became less strict, Tanner said.

During JD’s Singles Day Grand Promotion in November 2020, lipstick sales grew 167% YOY; and lipstick was a top choice for men buying gifts for their partners during Chinese Valentines Day (“Qixi”,falled on August 25, 2020) Tanner noted, citing JD.com’s sales statistics.

As customers spent more time at home, the pandemic accelerated both the growth of online shopping, and an increased focus on self-care.

“The idea of ‘Be kind to yourself,’ with products including luxury, beauty and self-care, all have grown well into the triple digits YOY on JD,” Tanner said. “Overall, it’s looking really good for imported products.”

 

(kellydawson@jd.com)

Supermodel Liu Wen is JD Worldwide’s New Brand Ambassador

by Rachel Liu

JD Worldwide announced today that international supermodel Liu Wen will be its new brand ambassador, before the sixth anniversary of JD Worldwide on Apr. 15.

“We are very glad to invite Liu Wen as our new brand ambassador. As a world-renowned supermodel, she has charmed Chinese audiences,” said Frank Yu, general manager of marketing and operations of JD Worldwide. “Her spirit and attitude of exploring new things and always challenging herself also matches with the brand attitude of JD Worldwide. We believe that our cooperation will help introduce more high-quality products from all over the world to Chinese customers.”

JD Worldwide announced today that international supermodel Liu Wen will be its new brand ambassador, before the sixth anniversary of JD Worldwide on Apr. 15.

To celebrate its sixth anniversary, JD Worldwide launched an online promotion from Apr. 8 to 15, providing customers with benefits including 50% discount, free delivery, etc.

JD Worldwide will also source products directly from international malls and online ecommerce platforms to provide customers with high-quality products at competitive prices. The duty-free store and cross border experience store that JD Worldwide launched in Sanya, Hainan province will provide rich variety of duty-free products to offline customers.

More celebrities will join JD Worldwide for its anniversary celebration through livestream or offline live shows. JD Worldwide will sign a partnership with Taihe Music Group to bring its musicians to join activities on the platform, in order to introduce their favorite imported products to fans and customers.

 

(liuchang61@jd.com)