Topic

JD.com has announced a strategic partnership with Smithfield Foods, Inc., a global food company and the world’s largest pork processor and hog producer. Under the agreement, JD will become the exclusive seller of the Virginia-based company’s frozen pork products in China.

Smithfield will offer pork products popular in China, such as pigs’ feet, bellies, tenderloins and other cuts to JD’s more than 258 million customers, with more to be introduced in the future. Smithfield’s debut on JD.com marks the first time it is selling its fresh frozen pork to customers online in China. JD expects to sell some 22 million pounds of Smithfield U.S. pork over the next three years.

China is the world’s largest producer, consumer and importer of pork. According to official estimates, Chinese pork imports more than doubled in 2016, reaching a substantial 1.6 million tons shipped, primarily from the U.S. and Europe.

Meat products are a fast-growing category for JD. In the first half of 2017, gross merchandise volume (GMV) from direct sales of meats on JD increased more than 780 percent year-over-year, with imported meat accounting for more than 30 percent of those sales. In June 2017, sales of imported pork were nearly double the prior month. Online orders for fresh and frozen meat come chiefly from first and second-tier cities, leaving huge potential for growth in online sales from the rest of the country.

“Consumers put their trust in Smithfield every time they eat one of our products,” said Kenneth M. Sullivan, Smithfield Foods president and CEO. “That’s why the safety and quality of our foods is fundamental to our success as a company, and why our corporate mission is simply to provide ‘Good food. Responsibly.’ Working with JD, we have full confidence that consumers across China will enjoy the freshest possible pork products. JD is truly a leader in cold chain delivery, ensuring our meat will be delicious when it reaches Chinese consumers.”

Richard Liu, JD.com chairman and CEO, said, “Ensuring the quality, safety and reliability of everything we sell is part of JD’s overall commitment to our customers. When it comes to food, and particularly a major staple of Chinese households like pork, this is even more critical. That’s why we are pleased to be working with Smithfield, a trusted and respected partner with a long history in the industry, to offer easy access to high-quality choices for even more families around the country.”

JD’s extensive cold chain logistics capabilities will ensure Smithfield’s products arrive at customers’ doors safely and rapidly. Smithfield’s frozen pork will be cold-chain transported from the U.S. and stored in JD’s own warehouses in China. From there, JD can deliver it to customers in more than 100 cities across the country within 48 hours – and to many in as little as six hours. With its complete cold chain solution, JD can monitor the temperature and humidity of products from warehouse to delivery. JD’s cold chain logistics network currently includes 11 cold chain warehouses in China, enabling the delivery of fresh products to customers in 300 cities.

JD, Smithfield, and Shuanghui, Smithfield’s sister company in China, will also cooperate on marketing, supply chain, cold chain logistics, technology, as well as other areas.

JD.com has formed a strategic partnership with Sogou, the subsidiary of China’s leading online media, video, search, and gaming business group Sohu, to strengthen collaboration in precision marketing.

Sogou users will have direct access to JD.com’s shopping platform via Sogou’s search, news aggregation and yellow pages mobile apps. In addition, the partnership will leverage big data insights from both partners to provide more relevant advertisement and shopping content to Sogou’s users across Sogou Search and Sogou Keyboard among other products. Both Sogou and JD’s powerful AI technology will power data analysis that will help to continually improve the effectiveness of the cooperation over time. The partnership with Sogou follows several others JD has signed with Baidu, Qihoo 360, and most recently, NetEase. Other similar partners include Tencent and Toutiao.

JD reveals two models of unmanned convenient stores, providing flexibility and customized shopping options

Ahead of this year’s Single’s Day, Chinese largest retailer has revealed that it is already testing two unmanned smart store models. The different solutions being tested by JD will help store owners increase efficiency and significantly improve customer service.

One model, JD’s Unmanned Convenience Store, offers a complete solution integrating various smart technologies. The second model, JD’s D-Mart Smart Store Solution offers low-cost wholesale and piecemeal customization flexibility to allow store owners to upgrade their existing stores and increase efficiency.  Both models leverage facial recognition technology to facilitate shopping and payment so users don’t have to wait in checkout lines.

The stores are currently being tested with JD’s 10,000+ employees at its headquarters in Beijing.

 

JD’s Unmanned Convenience Store, developed by JD’s logistics innovation lab JDX, is powered by technology and algorithms developed entirely in house. It focuses on leveraging the latest cutting edge technology such as RFID, facial recognition, and image recognition, both to stores operated by JD, and eventually to high-quality third-party retailers. Cameras on the ceilings of the stores can recognize customers’ movement and also generate heat maps of the activity to monitor traffic flow, product selection and customer preferences, helping store owners to stock efficiently.

The D-Mart Smart Store Solution, developed by JD’s AI department, offers a low-cost option for store owners to significantly upgrade existing operations, painlessly. Complete with smart shelving tools using JD Smart Vision technology that can recognize products and in-store behavior, as well as AI, the solution helps store owners better gauge how to manage inventory and product displays. Additionally, store owners can choose to include a smart counter, which offers product recognition, bill generation and checkout. A smart advertisement screen in the store leverages facial recognition to show customized advertisements based on individual users’ shopping habits and demographics.

Song Ma, Vice President of JD.com said, “These two smart-store solutions will completely change what it means to go to take a trip to the store. From helping small stores owners streamline their supply chains and increase stocking efficiency, to speeding up check out, this is a massive jump beyond anything in use today.”

JD has been researching innovative solutions to transform all facets of retail. In addition to the unmanned stores, JD is also testing smart solutions in its own JD Retail Experience Shops. Moreover, the company recently entered into a strategic partnership with Sinopec to integrate smart technology into Sinopec’s gas stations across China.

Ports 1961, the globally renowned Canadian luxury fashion label, has chosen Toplife, JD.com’s newly launched exclusive shopping platform as the venue for its first-ever online store in China. Ports 1961 – or “Ports” – was founded by Canadian entrepreneur Luke Tanabe in Toronto in 1961 and remains beloved for its simple, elegant and high-quality collection of ready-to-wear fashion, handbags and accessories. Ports was a pioneer in the globalization of high fashion, opening stores in China as early as the mid-1990s.

Today, Ports 1961 has turned to JD’s Toplife to broaden its reach among China’s luxury consumers. Toplife is a dedicated, independent sales platform for luxury goods delivering a premium, differentiated experience to customers consistent with what they would expect in an offline store.

The news comes less than a day after JD announced the launch of its new platform, which provides discerning consumers a luxury shopping experience. Aside from Ports 1961, many marquee brands have already joined Toplife, including La Perla, Emporio Armani, Rimowa and more.

“China has long been a priority for Ports 1961 and we have had successful stores there for nearly two decades,” said Marc Boelen, VP, Head of Strategic Planning & Growth of Ports. “To continue our success, we needed to add an ideal platform like Toplife to make our online debut in the country. By partnering with JD — China’s e-commerce leader — to take our presence online, we will be able to give Chinese consumers even more convenient, specialized access to our premium designs.”

“JD is thrilled to welcome Ports 1961, a globally respected and coveted international luxury brand, to Toplife,” said Xia Ding, president of JD Fashion. “As part of this year’s luxury push, we are bringing top-notch service and a wide array of options to our increasingly sophisticated high-end consumers. Ports 1961 is an excellent addition to our growing list of renowned brands on Toplife.”

As part of the partnership, Ports 1961 has already launched its new 2017 Fall and Winter arrivals online exclusively on Toplife.

As the world’s most talented designers descended on London for Fashion Week, they were joined by JD.com, China’s largest retailer and go-to destination for authentic fashion and luxury products.

For the Spring/Summer 2018 event, JD Fashion sponsored the shows of two award-winning designers: Mary Katrantzou, a designer from Athens known for her use of clashing aesthetics to create feminine, innovative and fresh looks; and London-based designer Huishan Zhang, who draws his romantic, sophisticated signature style from China, where he was born.

“Having a partner with such incredible reach in China opens my designs up to a whole new audience, and allows my brand to be truly global,” said Katrantzou, whose Spring collection featured stunning looks inspired by childhood memories and experimentation. “It’s wonderful JD is willing to both collaborate with and protect fashion brands in an exciting market.”

“JD is building a bridge between fashion and technology, through appreciation of design and creating a fashion and luxury shopping experience in China that never existed before,” Zhang said. His Spring collection drew inspiration from the sixties, fusing function and femininity.

The sponsorships followed the September 18 announcement of a new partnership between JD.com and the British Fashion Council/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund. JD will work with BFC to help British designers expand their footprint in China and bring a wider selection of fashion to JD’s 258.3 million customers.

The expansion of JD’s fashion business has accelerated over the last year, as more women and upwardly-mobile consumers are flocking to the site in search of distinctive products that they know will be authentic and of high quality. The company is attracting an ever greater number of international brands with its zero-tolerance policy toward counterfeits and its unparalleled service, including JD Luxury Express, a specialized white glove service for luxury purchases. Specially trained staff, in uniforms and white gloves, now hand-deliver eligible products in electric vehicles to create a differentiated luxury experience that matches the premium service customers have come to expect from physical stores.

Over the last year, JD has added or deepened partnerships with brands including Emporio Armani, Chopard, Ralph Lauren, Under Armour and others in recent months. It has collaborated with design houses including Alexander McQueen to launch exclusive lines in China. Earlier this year, it invested $397 million in fashion e-commerce platform Farfetch.

“Chinese consumers grow more discerning by the day, and they’re increasingly looking for brands from abroad that will help them express their individual style,” said Xia Ding, President of JD Fashion. “We wanted to be here at London Fashion Week to express our support and appreciation for the fashion community, and to show our dedication to being their best partner for entry into the China market.”

JD’s London Fashion Week activities come on the heels of the company’s New York Fashion Week presence, which included sponsorship of the showcase of 3.1 Phillip Lim’s Spring/Summer 18 collection.

Today the British Fashion Council (BFC) is delighted to announce a new partnership between the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund and JD.com, China’s largest retailer with 258.3 million customers.

With China being the world’s second largest consumer and luxury market and an increased interest from Chinese consumers for British designers, the partnership will allow the BFC to help talent engage with the Chinese market. Earlier this year JD.com launched JD Fashion with the goal of expanding its global fashion presence and bring more brands to China. This partnership will help enable the company to support Britain’s design talent and increase their footprint in China.

JD Fashion will help designers that are part of the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund to enter an often difficult to navigate Chinese market. Known for their focus on providing a premium luxury shopping experience for its upwardly mobile customers, JD Fashion has made a significant push in the sector over the last year, bringing in dozens of world-class brands and rapidly growing its share of the Chinese luxury market. JD Fashion has made inroads with ever-more choosy Chinese consumers through its reputation for not tolerating counterfeits, and offering a variety of services to make the online experience every bit as luxurious as shopping offline. Earlier this year, JD.com created the world’s first luxury white glove service through which online luxury fashion purchases are hand-delivered in electric vehicles by couriers clad in distinctive suits.

The partnership will be effective from January 2018 and will benefit the 2018 Fund winners. To launch this partnership JD Fashion supported Mary Katrantzou, winner in 2015 and Huishan Zhang shortlisted in 2017 on their London Fashion Week September 2017 shows.

Caroline Rush CBE, Chief Executive British Fashion Council said: “The Chinese market is extremely important to our designers. This partnership with JD Fashion is very exciting as it will enable us to offer to the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund expertise on how to best penetrate the Chinese market. JD.com is a company that is known for protecting its brands against counterfeits, something very important as we need to make sure that the creativity and excellence of our designers is protected.”

Xia Ding, President JD Fashion commented: “We are delighted to partner with the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund to help support the world’s best up-and-coming designers. We believe strongly in partnering with designers throughout their careers, from helping them get their start in the industry, to entering the Chinese market and building their brands, to protecting their IP. This marks a starting point for what we expect to be a deep, long-term relationship with the British fashion community.”

Established in 2008, the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund aims to discover new talent and accelerate the development of the next leading British brand. In 2017 the Fund adjusted its format with a focus on bringing key expertise into designer businesses to assist with development and growth. The £200,000 fund was opened up to be shared between up to three recipients, enabling the fund to benefit multiple designers at a pivotal stage in the growth of their brand’s development. Mother of Pearl and palmer//harding, winners of the 2017 Fund received a full mentoring programme through the BFC’s Business Support team, including access to funders and industry experts.

JD.com joins existing funders including British Vogue, Burberry, Harrods, LABEL, Paul Smith and Topshop.

Previous winners of the Fund include Christopher Kane, Erdem, Mary Katrantzou, Nicholas Kirkwood, Peter Pilotto and Sophia Webster.

The BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund is part of the BFC’s business support initiatives aimed at supporting British designers and businesses from school level to emerging talent and future fashion start-ups through to new establishment and global brands.

For more information please visit: britishfashioncouncil.com/designerfashionfund