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by Ella Kidron

With the eight-day National holiday (“Golden Week”) just around the corner, JD and travel leader Trip.com have launched a promotion for Chinese Mainland tourists to Macau during the period. The promotion comes as restrictions on Chinese tourists traveling to Macau are eased from this week. The event represents another step in the partnership between JD and Trip announced in August.

Since the restrictions on Chinese Mainland residents traveling to Macau were lifted, JD has noticed a spike in booking consultations on the JD Travel platform. As such, JD and Trip.com are offering a number of attractive hotel products to consumers. Leveraging a supply chain advantage, the parties have the connected duty free, hotel and service industries to satisfy consumer demand. For the partnership, Trip.com has provided JD with real-time inventory and competitive pricing. For example, a two-night package at the Venetian Macau originally priced at RMB 3,215 yuan is available to JD consumers at RMB 1,908 yuan. Other top hotels participating include Riviera Hotel, Marriott, MGM, Mandarin Oriental, Grand Hyatt and more. Most products have a long expiration date (for example, until the end of the year) so that tourist can have more flexibility.

The promotion is expected to help benefit the Macau tourism market which took a hit under COVID-19. In a recent report, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) said that a bump in arrivals during the Golden Week holiday period could provide support in helping to attract tourists back from the Chinese Mainland to Macau. EIU also predicted that Macau’s economy will recover in 2020 from a 63% projected fall this year largely due to dampened tourism.

In mid-August, JD and Trip.com announced a partnership in which the supply chain for Trip.com’s core products will be connected with the JD platform. The vision for future cooperation includes five core areas, user expansion, sharing of channel resources, full coverage of online and offline travel scenarios, cross-border marketing, and the development of enterprise travel. The goal is to meet all diversified travel-related needs of consumers before, during, and after travel, and jointly create the most reliable and satisfying platform for users.

JD Travel has always emphasized the concept of “quality travel.” It currently operates across six core business lines: transportation, hotel accommodation, travel and vacation, scenic spot and amusement park, local entertainment and enterprise travel services. In order to meet the needs of individual users, JD Travel integrates a wide range of consumer services and preferential packages. On the enterprise side, JD provides a rich online business travel solution, integrating high quality supplier resources, providing business customers with professional, comprehensive enterprise travel management solutions.

 

 

(ella@jd.com)

by Hui Zhang

AMI PARIS, a stylish fashion brand inspired by the city of Paris, opened a flagship store on JD.com on Sept. 23^rd.

In addition to its classic collection, the brand will introduce its new fall/winter collection through the flagship store. JD will take advantage of its big data to select products based on an analysis of JD’s consumer preferences, helping drive business to the new store. AMI PARIS also agreed to make full use of JD’s premium white glove delivery service, JD Luxury Express, to bring consumers an unparalleled, distinguished delivery experience. With JD Luxury Express, couriers wear formal attire, including white gloves, and drive electric cars to deliver products. Additionally, the brand will join hands with JD Digits to provide consumers with store credit that can be paid in 6 interest-free installments.

“The introduction of AMI PARIS will bring the latest trends from Paris to JD’s consumers, and enrich our high-end brands pool,” said Kevin Jiang, president of International Business at JD Fashion and Lifestyle.  “Our effective fulfillment capabilities and premium services will also facilitate the brand to better reach Chinese consumers.”

AMI PARIS is the fashion brand founded in 2011 by the Parisian designer Alexandre Mattiussi. AMI means ‘friend’ in French. This word perfectly describes the brand’s friendly approach to fashion, which aims to capture that particular type of Parisian nonchalance: young, cool and carefree.

 

(zhanghui36@jd.com)

by Ling Cao

JD‘s first private label laptop, JDBook, went on sale today. The product is under J.Zao, JD’s in-house consumer goods brand. Leveraging JD’s capabilities in service and supply chain, the product is cost-effective and has been designed to target the younger generation. Customers can now pre-order the new product via JD’s J.Zao flagship store, and officially purchase it on September 27^th at an affordable price of RMB 2,799 yuan (around US$415).

Hengsheng Tang, head of J.Zao at JD said, “This new product can achieve smooth operation when using software such as PowerPoint and Photoshop. It comes with two years of unlimited high-quality after-sales service from JD.”

The notebook has been designed to support popular uses such as events or routine work, and is thin, light and fashionable. There’s also an HDMI port to help conveniently connect with TVs and projectors.

 

(ling.cao@jd.com)

by Ling Cao

JD has announced a program to help farmers across China increase their sales. During the third annual Chinese Farmers Harvest Festival, JD is expected to help farmers double their sales. JD will cooperate with local specialty merchants and partners on marketing initiatives and create local specialty labels.

JD Data showed that in first half of 2020, sales of agricultural specialties on JD 104% YOY. The sales are 2.6 times that of the national growth rate published by China’s Ministry of Commerce.

JD has worked with local government, platforms and media to co-build brand awareness, and to improve the entire production and fulfillment process.

JD has also a signed partnership with local stakeholders on day of the Harvest Festival, including with the Yanchi County government of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region to build an integrated supply chain and product sourcing process for building a digital breeding base for sheep, as well as with the Dongying government in Shandong to promote Yellow River hairy crabs’ sales at scale, as well as brand development.

JD Data showed that in the past three years, Guizhou, Hainan, Qinghai and Heilongjiang provinces have seen the most growth of agricultural specialties. Data also finds that the place of origin has become the primary label for the quality of agricultural products (for example, “Sichuan oranges” or “Hainan mangos”). The turnover of landmark agricultural products increased by 74% YOY. Sichuan oranges, Guangxi oranges and Yunnan blueberries saw a leap in sales in 2020.

JD Data also showed that local specialties from western China were mainly sold to consumers in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Rice supplied from Sichuan, Heilongjiang, Anhui, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces has also increased, among which Northeast China is the most popular origin of rice. Apart from Liaoning province, the top consumption regions for rice from Northeast China are Beijing, Guangdong, Shanghai and Jiangsu, which purchased nearly 50% of the rice from the region.

Affected by the epidemic, meat sells online are the highest in eight years.  Top meat sales (beef, pork and lamb) come from Inner Mongolia, Henan and Shandong.

In first half of 2020, online fruit sales accounted to nearly 20% of total local specialty sales. Guangzhou, Shandong and Sichuan fruits are popular, while the most consumers come from Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu.

 

(ling.cao@jd.com)

by Rachel Liu

Many customers know JD as the destination for electronic products, consumer goods or luxury products. But now, customers can also place orders for villas from third-party merchants on JD. The merchants can provide full service design, renovation and decoration support for villas in the countryside. As Mid-Autumn Festival is around the corner, many JD customers who ordered the villas are preparing to move into the new home with their families to enjoy the holiday, which is marked by family reunions.

Mr. Wu is an owner of a 4S car store in Changsha, Hunan province. His parents live in an over 20-year-old apartment in their hometown, a small city called Xiangtan. The apartment is aging, and there are problems with its electric circuitry. Mr. Wu first decided that he would like to build a villa for his parents in their hometown by himself, but as he was too busy to oversee the project and the construction was delayed for a long time. While Mr. Wu was browsing on JD one day in September 2019, he found that there are merchants on JD that can provide the full service villa construction in the countryside. “I can build a villa for my parents and don’t need to worry about all the details. That’s amazing,” said Mr. Wu.

In September 2019, Mr. Wu ordered a villa from BoHome, a third-party merchant on JD. The construction began in October and was planned to finish in six months, but due to COVID-19, completion was postponed to August 2020, just in time for Mr. Wu’s family to move in the new villa for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Ms Zhou from Xiangning, Hunan province also received a villa that her children bought for her as a Mid-Autumn Festival gift. With an increasing number of customers ordering villas online for their parents, JD and BoHome are working together to upgrade the service, and customize the furniture for the whole house according to customers’ needs. Before they order the villas, BoHome will also offer one-on-one consultancy to understand the customers’ demands. JD, Bohome and leading villa merchants are now offering special discounts for customers who want build their own villas in the countryside ahead of the Mid-Autumn Festival.

 

(liuchang61@jd.com)