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JD Ehome Authorized as Apple Premium Reseller  

Posted on by Doris Liu

by Doris Liu and Xinyi Guan

JD Ehome, the first Apple authorized physical store operated by JD.com in China, was launched on September 3 in  Beijing, marking a closer collaboration between the two companies by applying JD’s self-operated business model to Apple products from online to offline for the first time.

The brand-new store also marks a milestone, in that JD.com is the only online retailer in China in nearly five years to be authorized as an Apple Premium Reseller (APR), the best-in-class Apple shop. Normally, Apple selects partners of APR stores carefully with strict requirements of the location, size, store design and more. In addition, all the salespeople, trainers and technicians in APR stores are trained and certified by Apple in order to provide professional consulting services to consumers.

In the sales of mobile phones, physical stores are indispensable as they offer a space conducive to creative experiences that are not limited to trying out products, but also community gatherings, and corporate image and culture enhancement, among others.

With JD’s full-chain and full-scenario capabilities, JD Ehome can smoothly integrate online and offline consumption to cater to the consumers’ needs for an omni-channel experience. Meanwhile, JD’s ability of national layout establishes potential possibilities for JD Ehome to reach out to more cities and regions.

A “little black card” is available exclusively for consumers who visit JD Ehome and meet certain requirements. Pre-orders can be made with the card with multiple membership services following the Apple’s Fall Out event on September 8.

A customer is holding a Little Black Card

So far, JD Daojia (JDDJ), an on-demand retail platform operated in China, has been qualified as the only such platform for Apple’s pre-sale, which means JDDJ and Shop Now, a jointly built business dedicated for JD’s on-demand consumer retail section, can guarantee the delivery in an hour or even minutes when the new Apple products are available starting September 16.

“The cooperation between JD.com and Apple is not an individual attempt, but an exploration of JD’s new offline self-operated model with long-termism and development vision,” said the head of JD’s APR business. “It is the start of a new chapter and the direction of an in-depth cooperation as well as value extension between JD and Apple.”

 

(liujun215@jd.com)

Traditional Flavors Still Top Mooncake Sales Ranking

Posted on by Doris Liu

by Doris Liu

Mid-Autumn Festival, a Chinese festival for family reunions, falls on September 10 this year, and sales of mooncakes have been climbing up in recent weeks, with traditional flavors such as five kinds of nuts and black sesame among the best-selling ones, according to a report on 2022 Mid-Autumn Festival Consumption Trend released by JD.com on September 7.

Since August 2022, more than 100 flavors of mooncakes have been sold on JD.com, and more than 90 percent are sold in gift box packaging, according to the report. The top five best-selling mooncakes are filled with white lotus seed paste with salty duck egg yolks, lava custard, five kinds of nuts(almond, peach kernel, sesame, melon seeds, peanut), black sesame and red bean paste, with sales up by 37, 68, 10, 9 and 4 times compared with last month respectively. The sales of soy milk, jasmine matcha and chocolate milk flavored mooncakes all increased over 10 times compared with the same festival in 2021, while the avocado, chocolate lava and green plum flavors rose by more than 5 times.

Among those who have made purchases of mooncakes, the number of consumers aged 16-35 increased by 3.4 percent month-over-month (MOM); the 16-25 age group showed preferences for mooncakes with nuts, with over 50 percent selecting the  hazelnut flavor. The report believes that healthier and high value-added mooncakes with higher quality are becoming a trend for the entire food industry, with the 36-45 age group accounting for over 40 percent in the total sales of low sugar mooncakes stuffed egg yolk with white lotus seed paste and pine nuts with lotus seed paste.

Mooncake consumption is shown to extend beyond the limits of the holiday, according to the report. Mid-Autumn Festival  takes place on the 15th day of the eighth month annually in the Chinese lunar calendar. Normally families gather on the day to enjoy mooncakes, the most representative food for the festival, play with lanterns and gaze at the moon. However, JD’s data indicate multiple sales peaks of mooncake products over the course of the year, including during Chinese New Year, the 618 Grand Promotion and the Mid-Autumn Festival, showing that mooncakes have become a snack or dessert for daily life.

 

(liujun215@jd.com)

JD Health’s “Pharmacy Clinic” Awarded at CIFTIS

Posted on by Vivian Yang

by Vivian Yang

JD Health’s online pharmaceutical consulting service was awarded as an excellent demonstration case in China’s service industry by the committee of the China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) on September 5th in Beijing.

JD Health launched the service, known as the “Pharmacy Clinic,” in June 2022. The service connects licensed pharmacists with clinic experiences to patients through the internet.  Based on each patient’s condition, pharmacists provide medicine evaluation and customized adjustment plans, follow up with their medicine use, offer pharmaceutical advice and more, hence providing patients with a one-stop medication service solution outside of offline doctor’s visits.

The National Medical Products Administration issued supervision and management measures on online sales of medicines on the same day, September 5, which stated specific requirements on ensuring the safety of online medicine sales, among which Article 10 clearly says that enterprises engaged in online sales of medicines shall establish a pharmaceutical care system, and carry out prescription examination and guidance on rational use of medicines and other services from certified pharmacists and other pharmaceutical technicians to consumers. JD Health’s “Pharmacy Clinic” has undoubtedly taken action a step ahead of the new rules from the government.

Currently, more than 2,000 certified pharmacists are providing online pharmaceutical consulting services on JD Health. Such service will continue to be integrated with JD Health’s other online services including its internet hospitals, JD Pharmacy’s single-disease care centers and more, building a better user experience in post-diagnosis medicine use management and home-based pharmaceutical services.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

JD Cloud Aims to Accelerate Industrial AI

Posted on by Doris Liu

by Doris Liu

“Only by integrating AI into the whole process of the industrial chain in a large-scale and systematic way to create industrial AI can a more leading industrial competitiveness be formed,” said Cao Peng, Senior Vice President of JD.com and Chairman of JD.com’s Technology Committee.

Cao made the remarks at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2022 in Shanghai, which was held September 1-3. He emphasized that JD Cloud’s Industrial AI capability is speeding up digital transformation of the upstream and downstream industries through accelerating their co-existence and opening-up by the integration of technology with the real economy.

JD’s AI technology was born within the company’s own businesses, with its industrial AI having been nurtured in the digitally intelligent supply chain. In the complex business scenarios of retail, logistics, services and more, JD.com has extensively applied AI to achieve an overall automation upgrade, cost reduction, efficiency and experience optimization.

For instance, as AI capability is applied along the supply chain, JD Retail is able to make precise predictions, make decisions intelligently and collaborate effectively among its 10 million self-operated SKUs under the scenario of uncertain supply and demand.

Furthermore, the procurement automation rate has reached 85 percent and the inventory turnover has been reduced to about 30 days, boosting the operation efficiency of supply chain to a world leading level.

In terms of JD Logistics, more than 400 autonomous delivery vehicles in over 25 cities across China have become a strong complement to JD’s last mile delivery. The automated ground vehicle (AGV) system called Dilang (Ground Wolf), which was developed in house, perfectly collaborates with employees in JD’s Asia No. 1 intelligent industrial parks, improving sorting efficiency by over three times.

As to services, the AI-generated marketing text function of the Yanxi (言犀) AI application platform currently covers more than 3,000 categories and subcategories, with a manual pass rate of 95 percent. The intelligent customer service system based on Yanxi’s AI capability can automatically answer 90 percent of inquiries.

The future industrial competition will not be based in one single business, but will be about overall industrial efficiency. JD Cloud also proposed the concept of the Industrial Metaverse this year, aiming to realize a full-chain integration of digital intelligence in the future.

 JD.com, a supply chain-based technology and service provider, has been devoted to the knitting together and fusion of three networks, including a transaction network that covers around-the-clock omni-channel shopping scenarios, a warehousing and distribution network that serves nationwide and extends globally, and a service network that is enabled by intelligent technologies. It will join hands with partners across a variety of industries to bolster the development of the real economy.

 

(liujun215@jd.com)

JD Releases 2022 Giftbox Consumption Trend Report

Posted on by Mengyang He

by Mengyang He

Ahead of China’s Mid-Autumn Festival, which falls on September 10 this year, JD.com recently released the “2022 Giftbox Consumption Trend Report,” revealing the overall consumption trend of giftboxes over the past three years from 2019 to 2021.

As JD.com’s omni-channel supermarket, JD Super has offered tens of thousands of giftboxes, ranging from fresh food, mother and baby products, alcoholic beverages, and more. According to the report, food and beverage giftboxes account for 80 percent, and the proportional growth rate of alcohol-related giftboxes is faster than any other category, topping 50 percent YOY.

Based on the report, the food and beverage category triumphs, reaching the No. 1 in transaction volume, followed by beauty and skincare, alcoholic beverages, fresh food, and home appliances.

Alcoholic beverages are the go-to giftboxes during China’s festival seasons, with the sales of baijiu giftboxes accounting for 75 percent of all alcohol-related giftboxes during last year’s Mid-Autumn Festival shopping season (August 26 to September 23, 2021).

During this year’s Mid-Autumn Festival, JD will provide over 30,000 varieties of baijiu giftboxes from 1,500 different brands, including those from the iconic baijiu manufacturers such as Moutai from Guizhou province and Wuliangye from Sichuan province.

The report also shows that female consumers purchased 2.6 giftboxes on average in 2021, marking 110 percent higher than their male counterparts.

Another observation drawn from the report is that most giftboxes were purchased by consumers aged from 36 to 45, with an average of 2.7 giftboxes each, and the most expensive ones were bought by consumers above 56 years old, with an average price of RMB 145 yuan.

 

(hemengyang5@jd.com)

BOBBI BROWN Officially Joins JD.com

Posted on by Doris Liu

by Xinyi Guan and Doris Liu

BOBBI BROWN, a premium beauty brand under Estee Lauder Group, kicked off business on JD.com recently, with an opening celebration on August 24 on JD’s Little Magic Cube, a marketing channel to promote new products.

During the opening period, the J Shop, JD’s fashion and lifestyle business, joined hands with BOBBI BROWN to bring high-value offers and provide consumers with 12 categories of beauty products covering base makeup, makeup remover, eye and lip products and more.

BOBBI BROWN is famous all over the world for its clean, fresh as well as fashionable nude makeup concept, and is deeply loved and sought after by Hollywood stars. In 2005, BOBBI BROWN brought the revolutionary trend of advocating the beauty of natural truth and diverse personalities into China, which has attracted and been recognized by female consumers in China.

“The presence of BOBBI BROWN has enriched the matrix of well-known cosmetic brands on JD Beauty,” said Terry Wang, General Manager of JD Beauty. “We hope to create new growth value for brand partners through JD’s authenticity guarantee, efficient logistics, full-chain service and immersive omni-channel experience, so that the two sides can work together to bring consumers a more diverse and high-end beauty consumption experience.”

The official arrival of BOBBI BROWN is the latest cooperation between JD.com and Estee Lauder Group. Previously, many brands of the Group have successfully launched on JD Beauty and achieved quality growth through various promotions.

With the unique mode of JD’s self-operation with brands’ official authorization, full-chain operation capability, and continuously upgraded personalized and exclusive services, JD Beauty has become a gathering place for consumers’ trusted beauty products.

At the same time, over 30 million JD PLUS members representing top-quality consumption power have also expanded new incremental space for upscale beauty brands such as BOBBI BROWN.

 

(guanxinyi3@jd.com; liujun215@jd.com)

International Journalists Visit Headquarters of JD.com And Asia No. 1 in Beijing

Posted on by Mengyang He

by Mengyang He

In collaboration with the All-China Journalists Association, JD.com invited nearly 40 journalists from 24 international media outlets on a media tour on August 30, including those from Austria, Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, South Korea, Spain, Vietnam, and more. The visit showcased JD.com’s headquarters and Asia No. 1 Intelligent Logistics Park in Beijing, marking most journalists’ first encounter with JD.com. “The media tour was very informative and interesting to see the operations in real time,” said a journalist from Brazil. “We were able to have a close look at the complexity of JD.com’s supply chain system.”

Hui Liu, Director of Consumption and Industry Development Research Institute of JD.com, and Ping Zhao, Vice President of Academy of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, were invited to share their insights into the development of China’s supply chain and the integration of digital technology and the real economy.

The visit at the headquarters

“The value of JD.com’s supply chain no longer resides in commercial or industrial aspects, as it has evolved into the societal level, where it empowers partners and the society especially in critical times through its responsible supply chain,” said Hui Liu.

Ping Zhao noted, “The synergy of partners from upstream and downstream has become crucial for the entire industry, and an integrated supply chain would come in handy for enterprises, especially SMEs, to lower costs and enhance efficiency.”

The visit at Asia No. 1 Intelligent Logistics Park in Beijing

As of June 30, 2022, JD.com has a total of 32 Asia No. 1 Logistics Parks in operation across China, each equipped with an independently built shuttle system, AGV (automated ground vehicles), and high-speed sorting system, which together represent the cutting-edge technology JD possesses in the process of fulfillment.

As of now, Die Presse from Austria and The RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND) from Germany among others have published reports on the visit, showing some highlights during the media tour.

 

(hemengyang5@jd.com)

World Renowned Japanese Bookstore Goes Online at JD.com 

Posted on by Doris Liu

by Doris Liu

The J Shop, JD’s fashion and lifestyle business, welcomed world-renowned bookstore chain from Japan, Tsutaya, on August 26, showcasing a roster of books, tableware, stationery, accessories and more to add lifestyle aesthetics to Chinese consumers.

Tsutaya, whose Daikanyama T-Site in Tokyo is deemed one of “The 20 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World,” provides an experience space that integrates reading, shopping for books and creative products, dining and enjoying coffee. With the aim of proposing a new lifestyle, Tsutaya has opened physical stores in Shanghai, Xi’an and Tianjin in China.

The collaboration with the J Shop helps enhance Tsutaya’s omni-channel retailing. Besides the online store, JD Logistics also guarantees smooth services for Tsutaya’s consumers. During the opening, Tsutaya offers options of “ordering online and picking up in store,” as well as “ordering in store with delivery to your door step” in some areas to explore the click-and-mortar model.

As consumers continue to expect more from shopping experiences and scenarios, the J Shop has introduced many well-known collection stores such as MUJI and NITORI to enrich the business layout and better serve consumers who are looking for lifestyle and quality consumption. JD.com and Tsutaya are expected to work together in the fields of product selection, marketing, services and omni-channel integration to lead lifestyle consumption with a focus on aesthetics.

 

(liujun215@jd.com)