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by Ella Kidron

After seeing a cry for help in the local news in Sichuan, JD mobilized a team to help rescue 300,000 kg of unsalable kiwifruit.

The report, which appeared in the Chuanguan News (川观新闻) on the evening of September 27^th, said that the “Wenchuan warriors” were desperately seeking a channel to sell the produce. During the worst period of the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, 12 “Wenchuan warriors” from Lehuo village, Wenchuan county (home of the devastating Wenchuan earthquake of 2008) in Sichuan province, selflessly traveled day and night to deliver six trucks full of vegetables amounting to around 100 tons to the epidemic epicenter. This time, one of the Wenchuan warriors, Guiyun Yang, is the main person in charge of the kiwifruit sales and transportation.

Just five hours after the report, Yong Zhao, village director of Lehuo village came with good news that JD would open a sales channel through which the kiwifruit would be sold to JD consumers all over the country.

According to Zhao there are more than 1,400 villagers in Lehuo village and kiwifruit is a big source of income for them. He received many calls after the posting in Chuanguan news, but hesitated to sell because he did not feel that the logistics could guaranteed. “I was worried that the fruit would be damaged during transportation and destroy our kiwifruit brand.”

Behind the scenes, upon catching wind of the request, JD Logistics’ Southwest region reported the information to an internal working group. After collecting significant information, members of JD Fresh, JD Logistics and other relevant departments held an emergency online meeting to discuss how to solve this problem.

A representative for JD Logistics Southwest region said, “We have always heard the story of the ‘Wenchuan Warriors” trekking for 20 hours to deliver vegetables to Wuhan and were deeply moved”. JD has a mature response mechanism for unsalable produce. During the epidemic period, it only took JD one month to sell nearly 10 times as much unsalable produce than the same period last year. “It is our duty to help the ‘Wenchuan delivery warriors’ sell kiwifruit,” said the representative. Furthermore, JD’s professional packing and transport capabilities gave the villagers peace of mind.

The JD team (Photo from Chuanguan News)

Early on in the virus outbreak, JD launched the National Fresh Produce Green Channel (“Green Channel” to help farmers sell unsalable products through JD’s channels. The program also provides JD customers across China with access to more high quality and fresh produce thanks to JD’s supply chain and logistics strength.

(ella@jd.com)

by Kelly Dawson

When JD.com’s “Life Channel” suicide hotline team received an alert that a customer had asked if a Swiss Army knife sold on the e-commerce site was sharp enough to cut his wrists, team member Li Yan sprung into action. First she called the police, and then cancelled the customer’s order for the knife, which was scheduled to arrive the following day.

Within one hour, Li received confirmation that the customer was safe and under the care of his family.

Since Li and others founded the “Life Channel” project in March of this year, the 12-person team has prevented 175 suicides. Comprised of customer service staff with many years of front-line service, the team is trained in psychological counseling services to soothe customers that express suicidal thoughts during communication with JD’s customer service teams, and to take appropriate action to preserve their safety.

Potential suicide cases are identified by JD’s intelligent “Tianxiang” system via key words used in messaging and phone calls to the site’s customer service center, and automatically transferred to the “Life Channel” team.

Although members of the team are on call 24 hours a day, the hours of midnight to 6 o’clock in the morning are often the most nerve-wracking, said Bao Wei, one member of the team. Indeed, the latest research shows that suicides mostly occur between midnight and 4 am.

It can be a taxing role, with the heavy emotional weight that comes with speaking to people in what may be the lowest moments of their lives, according to Li. She has personally handled more than a dozen suicide cases in the past six months.

To decompress from work, Li often turns to meditative activities like housework and cooking. After a particularly difficult day, she once picked up a mop and a rag and spent two hours cleaning, and then tuned out while cooking, she recalled.

“Afterward, eating the food I cooked and looking around at my tidy home, I felt much better,” Li said. She is naturally introverted, and needs that time to recharge.

In contrast is Xu Meng, a more extroverted member of the “Life Channel” team, also its youngest. Born in 1997, Xu joined JD immediately after graduating from university. After two years with the company, he was assigned to the “Life Channel” project group.

As the product of a fairly stable upbringing, Xu has never experienced suicidal thoughts, he said. But he also understands that others are less fortunate, and that there are many ways in which a person can experience difficulties in life.

When Xu needs to decompress from a difficult day on the hotline, he pushes himself harder in the gym. “Exercising in the gym and sweating makes me feel free of my own thoughts, and helps me stop thinking about work,” he said. He never misses a day.

The team also subscribes to a philosophy that “negatives make positives,” he said, regularly organizing seminars and group discussions in which team members share their emotions and describe challenges encountered at work.
“After sharing with each other, it seems that the negative energy held in my heart is shared by my peers, and my pressure is reduced,” Xu said.

According to statistics, the majority of suicides occur on impulse. When suicidal thoughts arise, the earlier the intervention, the higher the probability of success. For this reason, the work done by Li and the “Life Channel” project is absolutely vital.

When Li feels overwhelmed by a call, she reminds herself of the training the team received from a psychological counselor to prepare for this work.

“He told us, there are no difficult skills in communicating with someone struggling with suicidal thoughts,” she recalled. “You just need to listen carefully, slow down the pace, and try to connect with the person on an emotional level that resonates.”

In short, the work doesn’t necessarily require any special skills, she said—only a kind heart. Thanks to Li and the rest of the “Life Channel” project, at least 175 people now know that someone is listening.

(kellydawson@jd.com)

by Rachel Liu

JD upgraded the B2C e-commerce platform Yihaodian (No.1 Store) to be the first online membership-only retail platform in China last month, providing a premium shopping experience for middle-class customers with higher income.

One way to ensure a top-shelf shopping experience is through the store’s team of professional buyers, with an understanding that product quality is the foundation of any shopping experience. Yihaodian’s buyers all have years of experience in the industry, and aren’t afraid to personally visit manufacturers to test products and inspect processes to ensure the highest quality.

Weihao Zhang is a fresh food buyer who is responsible for meat, eggs and seafood sold on Yihaodian. With seven years of experience, he is able to select high-quality products by looking at their appearance. For example, he can judge how fresh an egg is by looking at the color.

Earlier this month, Zhang worked with his team to form a partnership with DQY, the leading egg producer in China, to provide customized, high-end eggs to Yihaodian customers. Before choosing DQY as the partner, Zhang visited hundreds of henneries to inspect the quality of eggs. During this process he also lived in various henneries for months to ensure that every process of the production was of a high standard.

“Eggs are a daily necessity for all of our customers, and are also the product that sees the highest amount of sales on Yihaodian,” Zhang said. “This is why we chose eggs to be the first customized product. Our customers are mostly middle and high-end customers. As a buyer, we don’t just provide them with high-quality products, but also a unique and customized experience.”

Huihui Wang, one of Yihaodian’s cleansing product buyers, is a veteran with over six years of experience. To select the most suitable washing liquid for Yihaodian customers, she once tried over 30 kinds of washing liquids in just one week, which made her family members think that she had become a neat freak.

“Most of the laundry products on the market contain surfactants extracted from petroleum, which is harmful to both the clothes and the environment,” Wang said. “On Yihaodian, we hope to provide customers with environmental-friendly and organic products. Through comparison and personal try-outs, we finally selected several washing liquids with plant-based surfactants, which is good for the clothes and the environment.”

Shuangshuang Zhang is a buyer responsible for personal care and beauty products. Sometimes her hands-on approach trying products at home has gotten her in trouble with her husband, she said with a laugh.

For example, anti-hair loss shampoos have become very popular in China, because people with stress and work-pressure related hair loss have increased. Although Zhang doesn’t struggle with hair loss, her husband does.

“As Yihaodian buyers, we need to personally try all the products before launching, so when I was working on finding the best anti-hair loss shampoo, I made my husband try many different products,” Zhang said. ‘He was quite supportive at the beginning, but after a while, he started to get impatient and said I had OCD. But luckily, I picked the most suitable product in the end, and my husband also showed understanding to my work.”

Zhang and other conscientious buyers are behind Yihaodian’s premium shopping experience, all working to provide trustworthy, high-end products for members.

“We are getting more and more picky about products. Maybe to be a good buyer, we all do need to have some level of ‘OCD’,“ Wang said with a smile on her face.

(liuchang61@jd.com)

by Vivian Yang

JD has launched an industry alliance to solve pain points in China’s mahogany furniture industry. Announced on September 24^th, the alliance involves a range of stakeholders, including leading furniture manufacturers, industry organizations such as the China Mahogany Committee, regulatory bodies such as the National Center for Quality Supervision and Inspective of Furniture and Indoor Environment, and industry media.

The JD Mahogany Alliance integrates the use of X-ray and block chain technologies in furniture production, quality inspection, sales and shipment, greatly reducing customers’ doubts about the origin and quality of furniture products.

Mahogany furniture often symbolizes high status and wealth in Chinese culture. However, in recent years, Chinese consumer’s enthusiasm toward it has been declining. An industry report shows that production value in 2019 was RMB 60 billion yuan as opposed to RMB 180 billion yuan in its heyday about a decade ago. The main reasons behind the fall are people’s worries about solid wood sources, quality, and difficulties in repairing and maintenance.

At the same time, brand members of the alliance have jointly made a commitment to enhance their after-sales services such as service response within 24 hours, annual free-of-charge maintenance service for the first three years after the furniture is sold, and more.

Brand members at the launching ceremony of JD Mahogany Furniture Alliance

In addition to brand endorsement and value-added services, JD will also support alliance members in the areas of open data, precise customer acquisition, optimized operation solutions, and brand building.

Ms. Jing Zhao, general manager of the furniture department of JD Retail said that “online retailing is a ‘blue ocean’ for the mahogany industry. The alliance provides us an opportunity to integrate the resources of this traditional industry, empower it with technology, and invigorate its growth.”

Mr. Liyu Wang, general secretary of the China Mahogany Alliance said at the launching ceremony that “JD Mahogany Alliance will help manufacturers to leverage resources online and offline, better conform to market trends, expand their business and meet more customers’ demands.”

(vivian.yang@jd.com)