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Robotic Arm Sounds JDL’s HKEX Listing Gong

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

JD Logistics (JDL) listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) on May 28 at 9:30 am Beijing time with the ticker 2618.HK. Among the representatives ringing the gong was a six-axis robotic arm from JD’s warehouse, which sounded the gong together with JDL’s client representative Willie Tan, the executive officer of Skechers Greater China, Southeast Asia and South Korea.

The six-axis robot is one of dozens of different kinds of robots utilized by JDL. It is based on AI technologies including deep learning, image recognition and more for automated picking up, sorting and stacking. Robots play a significant role in securing the fast and agile fulfillment of hundreds of millions of orders across more than 1,000 warehouses nationwide. JDL’s Shanghai Asia No.1 logistics park is able to handle as many as 1.3 million orders a day thanks to the application of advanced robots and automation technology.

The core of achieving such high efficiency is the execution of the concept of “human-machine synergy,” enabling employees to handle tasks smartly and swiftly.

In JD’s Beijing Asia No.1 logistics park, 330 AGVs (automated ground vehicles) work collaboratively to pick up consumers’ orders. Utilizing QR codes on the ground to guide their routes, the little robots automatically recognize and plan their route.

AGVs inside JD’s warehouse

JD’s “picker” employees can stay on the working platform and wait for the AGVs to come to them, enabling individual pickers to each pick about 250 orders per hour, which is three times the efficiency of a traditional picking approach where the warehouse worker would have to walk to the shelf, get the goods themselves and then go back to the packing area.

In Changshu, Jiangsu province, nearly a hundred autonomous delivery vehicles are delivering JD.com’s parcels to consumers’ homes. The application of such vehicles enables local couriers deliver 1.5 times more parcels a day, helping to increase their daily earning potential.

 

JD’s autonomous delivery vehicle

Logistics technology including robots and automation have offered huge potential to help employees develop and leave the hardest and most boring jobs to technology to handle. As early as 2016, JD launched a “cloud ladder plan” to equip staff members with technical abilities. Now, many front-line workers in JD’s warehouses and delivery stations have become professionals with technical abilities.

According to JDL’s prospectus, the company has invested nearly RMB 5.3 billion yuan in technology in the past three years. By the end of 2020, JDL was entitled to over 4,400 patents and computer software copyrights (including applications thereof), of which over 2,500 are related to its automation and unmanned technologies.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

JD Launches Shenzhen-Bangkok All-Cargo Charter Flight

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Kelly Dawson

JD has opened an all-cargo charter flight between Shenzhen and Bangkok on May 28, the e-commerce giant’s first in the Asia-Pacific region.

Open to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in both countries, the freight-dedicated route will facilitate delivery of goods from mainland China to customers in Thailand and vice versa within 48 hours.

JD has opened an all-cargo charter flight between Shenzhen and Bangkok

“JD is excited for this opportunity to leverage our international supply chain resources to strengthen the relationship between Thailand and China, and to facilitate the transport of high-quality Chinese goods going to Southeast Asia and vice versa,” said Stard Huang, head of JD’s international logistics business. “We see enormous potential in Southeast Asia, and this is just the first step.”

Running between Shenzhen Bao’an Airport and Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport three times a week with same-day return, this end-to-end fully self-operated and full-link transportation route will not only greatly increase the speed of cross-border freight, but also provide vigorous support for the development of cross-border business through both Thai and Chinese e-commerce channels, including JD.com and JD’s joint venture in Thailand, JD Central (JDC).

“We’re excited that JD and JD Central can support SMEs to build robust business between China and Thailand,” said Korlarp Suwacharangkul, Chief Marketing Officer of JD CENTRAL. “We’ve seen that cross-border e-commerce between the two countries has huge potential for expansion.”

Currently goods exported from China to Thailand through JD’s route are expected to mainly include daily necessities, small household appliances, 3C products and other e-commerce goods; while good transported from Thailand will mainly comprise fresh produce, supplemented by industrial products such as auto parts.

However, SMEs that aim to expand business into other categories are also welcome to take advantage of JD’s all-cargo freight flight. In the past year, China has further opened its market to foreign goods by implementing beneficial policies with an aim to facilitate robust cross-border trade.  JD has also ramped up efforts to support cross-border e-commerce.

As of December 31, 2020, JD International Logistics has 32 bonded warehouses and overseas warehouses, with a total management area of approximately 440,000 square meters. Through cooperation with international and local partners, JD has established international routes covering more than 220 countries and regions, providing customers with integrated cross-border supply chain services.

 

(kelly.dawson@jd.com)

JD 618 Pre-Sale Orders up 640% YOY

Posted on by Ella Kidron

by Ella Kidron

The 618 Grand Promotion season is officially underway. JD clocked in a 640% increase in pre-sales order volume YOY. During May 24-25, the term “pre-sales” was searched over 150,000 times. The number of brands and merchants participating in pre-sales have increased 126% and 437% respectively.

Lenovo, Xiaomi, Huawei (which placed top three in terms of order volume) and Haier were among the brands which broke the RMB 100 million mark over the two days. Pre-sale order volume of 751 brands increased 500% each while 1,142 sub-categories saw pre-sale order volume increase over 100 times. Such categories include hand-held stabilizers, home-use floor washing appliances, smart clothes dryers, trash sorters and massage chairs. Laptops, mobile phones, gaming computers, refrigerators, casual shoes, flat screen TVs, smart watches and baijiu were also among highly popular products during pre-sales.

Trends during 618 indicate renewed attention on time-honored Chinese brands and breakout trendy domestic brands, as well as FMCG products from Chinese companies. JD Super, JD’s online supermarket saw Mengniu room temperature yogurt, Evergrande natural spring water and Lanji Story cotton disposable facial towels as hot sellers. The top two mobile phones are Xiaomi 11 and Xiaomi 10s, further indicating JD consumers’ affinity for the Xiaomi brand. Many specialty fruits such as cherries from Yantai, Shandong province, Lychee from Hainan and peaches from Wuxi were also flying off the shelves.

Orders of electric scooters increased by 208% YOY. Pre-sales indicate the increasing individualization of consumer needs, especially when it comes to household items. Pre-orders of floor cleaning appliances increased by more than 40 times compared with the same period last year, of which new high-end floor washing devices account for more than 65%, while sweeping robots increased by 400% YOY.

Pets are getting love for sure this 618l. Pre-sales orders of beauty-related grooming appliances for pets increased 26 times while pet gastrointestinal care products were up 23 times over the same period. Health services are also must-buy items. On May 24, the overall turnover of oral health products increased nine times compared with last year, and the turnover over vaccine related services increased by 230%.

This 618 Grand Promotion celebrates JD.com’s 18 years of providing high quality services to consumers all over China. During the pre-sales period, the e-commerce giant’s 30-day price protection, free delivery and worry free return services make consumers more confident to get a head start on the mid-year shopping extravaganza.

 

(ella@jd.com)

Jing Zao Partners with Ziroom to Launch Commercial Campaign

Posted on by Hui Zhang

by Hui Zhang

JD.com’s private brand Jing Zao (literally means made by JD) announced a promotional campaign on May 27 in partnership with Ziroom, a business unit of China’s residual brokerage Lianjia.com, aiming to provide fresh graduates with high-end home decor products at affordable prices.

The campaign invited KOLs to recommend different decoration styles suitable for rental houses with products from Jing Zao. Additionally, Jing Zao created a package with products including a Latex pillow, hair dryer, humidifier, and intelligent trash can, all of which are necessary for fresh graduates moving into a new rental house. The campaign will last from May 27 to June 3 and will offer various coupons to consumers to make it easy for graduates　to　access high-quality products.

“Jing Zao pays attention to both life quality and the practicality of products. We care about every demand from our consumers, and would like to reduce consumers’ pressure through our customer-to-manufacture initiative,” said a representative from Jing Zao. “We hope to create more high-quality products and understand young consumers’ preferences through our cooperation with Ziroom.”

The creation of Jing Zao in 2018 came from Chinese customers’ real demands. The rising middle-class customers are constantly looking for a comfortable and high-quality lifestyle. What’s more, the desire for a “better lifestyle” is spreading to a larger customer base. Chinese society is experiencing a consumption upgrade. Before, only bigger brands were associated with higher quality, but working directly with factories to develop products enables JD to have strong control over the product quality. Also, without the layers of the dealer network, high-quality products can be sold for cheaper prices.

Ziroom was launched in 2011 and has become the biggest rental housing platform in China. The company so far operates in 9 cities in China, serving 2 million tenants and 300,000 landlords.

 

(zhanghui36@jd.com)

JD and Goldwind Form Joint Venture in Clean Energy Development

Posted on by Vivian Yang

by Vivian Yang

JD Property, the business division for smart industrial development under JD.com and Beijing Tianrun New Energy (天润新能) investment Co., Ltd. a wholly-owned subsidiary of China’s leading clean energy solution provider Xinjiang Goldwind Science & Technology Co., Ltd., announced on May 26 to establish a joint venture focusing on clean energy development, investment and operation.

The cooperation received strong support from the Beijing Yizhuang Business Development Area (BDA), where the new company will be based together with several other new energy projects for the area in the pipeline. A ceremony was held in Beijing and attended by representatives of Yizhuang BDA.

Front row: Gang Li (left), head of operations, JD Property and Yantian Pan (right), vice president of cooperate business, Goldwind at the signing ceremony

“JD.com will join hands with Goldwind to further invest in the new energy industry, driving the green revolution from the energy demand side by exploring more comprehensive energy use solutions, creating energy-saving or carbo-neutral smart industrial parks and more,” said Wei Hu, vice president of JD.com and president of JD Property.

Goldwind’s chairman Gang Wu noted that the cross-industry collaboration can help both companies to empower the collaborated business taking advantage of each party’s complementary advantages. The joint venture will “explore new business models and practices such as supporting the demand side to adopt innovative new energy applications in various scenarios and developing a new energy management platform based on internet technologies and energy big data and more.”

Photovoltaics is one field that the two companies have been cooperating in. JD Logistics’ Asia No. 1 automated warehouse in Taiyuan of Shanxi province has been covered with Goldwind’s PV panels to supply clean energy for warehouse lighting, automatic sorting, automatic packaging, automatic picking and other activities.

As part of the JDs sustainability effort, known as the “Green Stream Initiative (GSI), a total of more than 200 megawatts of solar PV power plants are expected to be installed in the company’s logistics and intelligent industrial parks by the end of 2021, to achieve an annual power generation of more than 160 million kwh after completion, according to JD’s ESG report released in May.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

JD to Provide Resources to Millions of Offline Stores during 618

Posted on by Ling Cao

by Ling Cao

JD announced today that it will cooperate and provide special resources to over three million offline stores for the ongoing 618 Grand Promotion, aiming to attract over 250 million visits to these stores to support healthy business development.

JD Retail will provide traffic flow resources worth RMB 500 million yuan to help supermarkets, restaurants, flower stores, cinemas and more to interact with more customers. JD will also use livestreaming and other innovative methods to connect customers with industrial chains and other popular places, such as JD E-Space.

JD Logistics will provide its 190,000 corporate customers with omni-channel fulfillment services, making their supply chain more agile in order to fit tailored consumption and logistics requirements.

JD Cloud will hold promotions to help nearly 200,000 SMEs use cloud-based services, while JD Health will help offline pharmacy stores achieve digital upgrades, enabling them to provide better services for patients.

Jingxi, a business group under JD focusing on lower-tier markets, will provide support for millions of small and medium-sized stores in merchandise, operation and services.

JD will also provide marketing resources for stores on JD Daojia, as well as using Dada Now to provide instant last-mile delivery services.

Chen Lin, vice president of JD.com and head of the company’s ecosystem business shared, “By working both online and offline with brands, merchants, factories, farmers and other stores, JD targets to help nearly 200 industrial chains expand their sales channels, achieving digital transformation.”

 

(ling.cao@jd.com)

JD.com Brings ‘Household + Home Appliance’ Business Model to Lower-tier Markets

Posted on by Hui Zhang

by Hui Zhang

JD.com announced on May 20th that it will further improve its home improvement services from design, furniture and renovation to home appliances by bringing 300,000 related home decoration products to over 1,600 JD Home Appliance stores in lower-tier cities across 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions in China.

It’s a further step since May last year when JD introduced 10,000 home improvement related products from 50 different categories, including kitchen and bathroom, lighting, intelligent door locks, and mattresses, to JD Home Appliance stores in lower-tier cities across China, aiming to provide consumers in fourth- to sixth-tier cities with high-quality products and consumer experiences on par with those enjoyed by customers in first-tier cities.

Well-known home improvement brands, such as Supor, AUPU and Philips, will offer products from about 300 categories at JD Home Appliance stores ahead of JD’s 618 Grand Promotion to prepare for increased consumer enthusiasm during the annual promotion.

“We aim to join hands with more home brand partners to upgrade our services from cooperative sales in the past to the creation of one-stop home improvement services for consumers,” said Chao He, general manager of JD household business, JD Home and Lifestyle.

The innovative “Household + Home Appliance” business model has been widely welcomed by Chinese consumers, as reported by JD’s data. In 2020, sales of related products have increased by 167% YOY. During the May Day Holiday from May 1-3 this year, sales of the new JD Home Appliance store in Panzhihua, Sichuan province, which sells both household and home appliances, accounted for almost one third of the total sales of a single JD Home Appliance store in 2019.

Meanwhile, JD’s traceable services for logistics of large household products, and policies including 3-year warranty, 30-day no-reason return, and 30-day price guarantee, will bring peace of mind to JD shoppers.

 

(Banner photo: Chao He, general manager of JD household business, JD Home and Lifestyle)

 

(zhanghui36@jd.com)

JD Rings in 618 Promotion Season with Pre-Sales

Posted on by Ella Kidron

by Ella Kidron

The pre-sales period for JD’s 618 Grand Promotion began on May 24 at midnight. The pre-sales provide consumers with more time to think over their purchases without having to worry about missing key deals if they don’t place orders by a certain time on a specific day. It also helps merchants better plan their inventory by having early insight into consumer needs.

This year’s sale involves JD’s own platform, external partner platforms as well as full omni-channel integration. JD has mobilized over 3 million offline stores including SEVEN FRESH, JD Home, JD Convenience Store, JD E-SPACE, JD Auto Shop, as well as small-and-mid-sized pharmacies, other convenience stores, fresh flower shops and auto repair shops nationwide, promising to give consumers the opportunity to buy whatever they want, whenever and wherever they want it.

Chenkai Ling, vice president of JD.com and head of strategy at JD Retail explained that with deeper insights, more potential consumer demands are being discovered. Through precision, JD is helping more goods became hit products. For example, JD and its ecosystem partners will support the closed loop from raising farmers’ incomes to helping make consumers’ tables healthier and tastier.

JD has rolled out a slew of different services and privileges this season. Ninety-percent of products designated by the platform as hot-sellers can enjoy price protection. There are other services too, such as a 24-month interest-free loan for home appliance purchases.

The company is also making it possible for consumers to buy new products during the pre-sales period, rather than having to wait until the official sales period. Some popular items include the Huawei Smart Screen SE Series, the Honor MagicBook X 2012 Laptop, the Redmi Note 10 series, Lancôme Hello Kitty limited edition powder and more.

With its multitude of offerings, JD will help over 120,000 small and medium-sized merchants double their transaction volume growth and over 230 brands achieve over RMB 100 million yuan in orders placed.

Jun. 1-15 will be designated sales days for specific categories or business areas such as for fashion and lifestyle, supermarket, phones and home appliances. JD will also hold PLUS DAY on Jun. 8 to reward its JD PLUS members. The peak sales period is from Jun. 16-18, followed by two final days to wrap up 618 Grand Promotion shopping from Jun.19-20.

 

(ella@jd.com)