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A Volunteer–Turned-Entrepreneur Pledges to Make a Difference with JD Pet

Posted on by Doris Liu

by Doris Liu

In 2015, Zhu Changlin volunteered for a stray animal rescue event, and was shocked by the scene. “Seeing thousands of stray cats and dogs, many of which were disabled, I had an indescribable feeling in my heart at that time,” Zhu said. He and the other volunteers bought pet food and supplies online at their own expense to help the stray animals as much as possible.

Since then, the seed has been planted deeply in his heart to help pets live a better life.

In 2017, after two years of research and preparation, Zhu set up his pet food brand KERES with the concept of “scientific pet care and specialized food for different pets”, and started a close cooperation with JD Pet.

In the early days of the business, Zhu realized the poor reviews of the Top 100 pet food brands on e-commerce platforms were focused on two major issues. The first is that “pets do not want to eat”, which accounted for about 30 percent; and the second is that “no change is seen after eating the pet food”.

Zhu saw business opportunities in both of these issues. He believed rather than simply feeding pets, a scientific and nutritious feeding system must be introduced. As a result, Zhu decided to lead his company to develop precise nutritious food for pets at every stage of growth from multiple dimensions of nutrition ratio, process technology, food safety and health management.

KERES’ concept coincided with that of JD Pet, which had launched the “high quality certification for pet food”, and “JD platform’s standard of complete pet food with high quality” that is even higher than the international standard. JD Pet also provides a number of special services for pet owners, including “return and refund if your pets don’t like the food, clothes or toys.”

Although the return and refund policy brought a cost pressure for KERES, it has also led to a majority of the brand’s customers purchasing the brand continuously. As of October 2021, KERES had served total of 6 million pet-owning families, reaching an annual revenue of RMB 600 million yuan.

With support of JD Pet, KERES launched 21 pet food products, which have also been highly recognized by consumers. In 2021, the company achieved significant growth in the whole category of products on JD’s platform, with total annual sales increasing by 60 percent year-on-year. It also ranked No.1 in terms of sales of pet food, awarded “Good Store of the Year” by JD Pet.

In the future, KERES will continue to improve products and upgrade services together with JD Pet, develop a full range of quality products with pet food as the core, and create a better life for pets with love, Zhu said.

 

(liujun215@jd.com)

JD.com Data: Sales Boom for Agricultural Products in the Mid-Spring

Posted on by Xiaoqian Han

by Xiaoqian Han

Online shopping in rural areas has increased rapidly on JD.com in recent years. Before the spring equinox of 2022, which falls on March 20 this year, “green consumption” such as agricultural products, gardening and plants increased significantly. Recently, JD’s Consumption and Industry Development Institute released a report featuring analysis on green consumption.

Below are some of the key takeaways from the report:

  • Online consumption of agricultural products has grown significantly.
  • Compound fertilizer turnover increased by more than 10 times year-on-year.
  • Consumption of agricultural technology services increased by more than 10 times.
  • The generations born after 1985 (post-85s) and 1975 (post-75s) are the largest consumer groups of agricultural supplies and gardening, contributing 32 percent of online sales. Post-85s choose to buy fertilizers, animal feed, flowers, and plants; post-75s like to buy gardening supplies and seeds.

Physical Products consumption

Since the beginning of spring on February 4 , 2022, the online transaction volume of JD.com’s agricultural products, plants and other green consumption has increased by more than 40 percent year-on-year (YoY), and the turnover of fertilizers and gardening has increased by 317 percent and 247 percent YoY.

In the category of agricultural products, the transaction value of compound fertilizers climbed by more than 10 times YoY. The volume of nematicides and agricultural machinery sold increased by more than 6 times YoY.

In addition to the consumer demand for agricultural products in rural areas, urban consumers’ demand for plants is also increasing. The turnover of mini-scale landscape plants increased by more than 9 times YoY and the volume of large-scale landscape plants and gardening tools increased by more than 150 percent YoY.

Service products consumption

The transaction value of agricultural technology services increased by more than 10 times YoY, and the volume of gardening services increased by 247 percent YoY. Before the spring equinox in 2022, the proportion of agricultural technology consumption services in county-level rural areas increased by 20 percent, and the proportion of transaction volume rose from 62 percent to 82 percent.

The consumption proportion of gardening services in cities is higher than that in rural counties, and nearly 60 percent of the consumption of gardening services occur in cities. Consumers from urban areas represented by big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou prefer to buy gardening supplies, flowers and plants. The consumers in rural areas of the county level prefer to buy animal feed, breeding tools and veterinary prescription drugs.

From the perspective of consumption characteristics in different regions, Eastern China has the highest growth in the market share of online agricultural products. Consumers in Eastern China prefer to buy fertilizers, flowers and plants, and gardening supplies; Northeastern China’s consumers prefer to buy animal feed, farming tools, and veterinary prescription drugs; consumers in Northern China prefer to buy feed, veterinary prescription drugs, and gardening supplies.

Consumer demographics

In the online market for agricultural products, the post-85s and post-75s are the largest consumer groups, contributing 32 percent of the online transaction volume. Compared with the consumption proportion of all age groups, the consumption proportion of the user group over 46 years old in agricultural products is significantly higher than the consumption proportion of all categories. In contrast, the post-85s prefer to buy fertilizers, animal feed, flowers and plants; the post-75s prefer to buy gardening supplies and seeds.

Differing from traditional e-commerce, JD.com is a new entity enterprise that offers digital technology and capabilities, regulates upstream merchants and connects consumers with quality in order to promote rural revitalization, and drives more farmers to become financially successful.

 

（hanxiaoqian3@jd.com）

JD and Sinopec to Build Digital Supply Chain Model Aiming Broad Partnership

Posted on by Yuchuan Wang

by Yuchuan Wang

The Anhui province branch of China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) inked a partnership with JD.com on March 15, in which the two parties will cooperate on a series of supply chain services and promote omni-channel business.

The agreement covers smart logistics, warehousing facility sharing, product supply chain and digital supply chain. JD will leverage its advantages in supply chain services and technology to help Sinopec Anhui increase efficiency and lower cost. The two companies plan to turn Sinopec’s 1,400 Easy Joy convenience stores into JD.com’s pick-up stations, further expanding the online and offline consumption scenarios.

At the same time, JD and Sinopec will explore retail store operation, B2B and business procurement, joint marketing and auto-market product supply, so on and so forth, based on the Easy Joy convenience store. Business opportunities in the area of digital membership, digital transformation and digital operations will also be explored.

In the future, JD and Sinopec are expected to deal with more consumption scenarios and models to realize the digital transformation of gas stations.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

JD and Kimberly-Clark Deepen Cooperation

Posted on by Mengyang He

by Mengyang He

JD Super, JD.com’s online supermarket business, and Kimberly-Clark, the leading American personal care corporation, signed an MOU on March 8, seeking a compound growth of 20 percent in the next three years and aiming to deepen cooperation in C2M and large-scale marketing campaigns. Kimberly-Clark also presented the “2021 Kimberly-Clark Most Valuable Strategic Partner Award” to JD.com.

Yi Chen (left), Managing Director of Kimberly-Clark China, and Tao Ren (right), Vice President of JD.com and President of Non-Food Business Department of JD Retail

JD.com and Kimberly-Clark have demonstrated cooperation in various aspects, such as user recruitment and multi-channel, and have launched multi-dimensional cooperation in physical maternal and baby stores and SEVEN FRESH supermarkets. JD.com and Kimberly-Clark also built five collaborative warehouses in 2021 to enhance the efficiency of logistics and distribution, bringing consumers a fast and convenient shopping experience.

Based on the cooperation, Kimberly-Clark’s sales on JD.com have repeatedly hit new highs. For example, during JD.com’s 618 Grand Promotion in 2021, the sales growth rate of Kimberly-Clark’s exclusive royal series exceeded 100%.

“Thanks to the constant support from JD.com, Kimberly-Clark China’s sales exceeded RMB 10 billion yuan in 2021. In the future, we will work closely with JD.com to consolidate Kimberly-Clark’s market share in high-end hygiene products in the Chinese market and meet consumers’ needs for a better life,” noted Yi Chen, Managing Director of Kimberly-Clark China.

Tao Ren, Vice President of JD.com and President of Non-Food Business Department of JD Retail, said “our constant pursuit is to create value for partners. We look forward to more extensive and closer cooperation with Kimberly-Clark in various non-centralized channels in the future, so as to bring sustained high-quality growth.”

As an industry-leading omni-channel supermarket, JD Super offers a wide range of products. The deepened cooperation between JD Super and Kimberly-Clark will reinforce the advantages of both sides and help to create more market segments, bringing better quality products and services to consumers and helping brands grow business.

Since Kimberly-Clark first entered China in 1994, it has positioned itself in the local market and continuously launched new products that fulfil Chinese consumers’ demand for high-quality hygiene products. Established in 1872 in Wisconsin, Kimberly-Clark runs business in more than 175 countries and regions worldwide.

 

(hemengyang5@jd.com)

JD.com’s Carbon Reduction Efforts Recognized by Global Compact Network China

Posted on by Vivian Yang

by Vivian Yang

JD.com’s extensive carbon reduction efforts across its business operations were recognized by the Global Compact Network China as one of Chinese enterprises’ “best practice in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals(SDG) 2021”. The full list of awarded enterprises was released by the organizer on Feb 28, 2022.

JD.com’s carbon reduction effort was named a best practice in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals 2021

Over nine continuous years, the selection activities have been held to identify and promote meaningful SDG-focused practices by China-based  member companies of the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and encourage experience sharing among peers.

JD.com was listed under the special contribution to the “carbon peak and carbon neutrality” category of the selection, in recognition of its low-carbon productivity enabled by green infrastructure and technological innovation ranging from warehousing, packaging, transportation to algorithm, such as its photovoltaic powered logistic parks, ultra-low 1.1 PUE (power usage effectiveness) data centers, more than 20,000 new energy delivery vehicles across the country, and more.

Recently, JD’s Asia No.1 Logistics Industrial Park in Xi’an was certified carbon neutral by China Beijing Environment Exchange and Centre Testing International Group. The park also marks the establishment of China’s first carbon-neutral logistics park.

JD’s Asia No.1 Logistics Industrial Park in Xi’an became China’s first carbon-neutral logistics park

Read more about JD’s sustainability efforts, known as the Green Stream Initiative here.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

Posted in ESG

Dada’s Q4 and Fiscal Year 2021 Updates: Q4 Revenue Growth Maintained Strong at 80% YOY

Posted on by Mengyang He

On March 8, Dada Nexus Limited (Dada Group), China’s leading local on-demand delivery and retail platform, announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2021.

 

Financial highlights:

  • Improvement in operating efficiency: Dada’s Q4 total revenue growth maintained strong at 80% YOY, and the non-GAAP net loss was RMB485.4 million, 11% less than the average analyst estimate of RMB545 million on ThomsonOne.
  • Total net revenue in the fourth quarter and in 2021 were RMB2,032.1 million and RMB6,866.3 million. Aligning the revenue of Dada Now last-mile delivery services to a comparable basis, revenue growth separately would have been 80% and 78% year over year.
  • Total net revenues in the fourth quarter and in 2021 generated from Dada Now were RMB718.4 million and RMB2,820.7 million. Aligning the revenue of Dada Now last-mile delivery services to a comparable basis, revenue growth separately would have been 81% and 83% year over year.
  • Total net revenues in the fourth quarter and in 2021 generated from JDDJ were RMB1,313.7 million and RMB4,045.6 million, increased by 80% and 75% respectively year over year.
  • Business Outlook: For the first quarter of 2022, Dada expects total revenue to be between RMB2,000 million and RMB2,050 million. Aligning the revenue of Dada Now last-mile delivery services to a comparable basis in the first quarters of 2021 and 2022, total revenue of the first quarter of 2022 will realize 72% to 76% year-over-year growth1.

Operation highlights:

  • Total Gross Merchandise Volume (“GMV”) of JDDJ for the twelve months ended December 31, 2021 was RMB43.1 billion, an increase of 71% year over year from RMB25.3 billion in 2020, generated by 62.3 million active consumers during the period.
  • In 2021, as local on-demand retail platform, JDDJ’s market share in the supermarket segment by GMV has been increased to 27%, from 25% in 2020, according to iResearch Report.
  • com’s investment in Dada has obtained all the requisite regulatory approvals and closed at the end of February, in which Dada issued to JD.com certain number of ordinary shares of Dada in consideration for US$546 million in cash and certain strategic resources from JD.com.
  • By the end of 2021, more than 70% of retail stores on JDDJ have been launched in Shop Now. In the fourth quarter of 2021, the GMV of Shop Now maintained a rapid growth of several times YoY. Nearby tab, the key LBS entrance for Shop Now, has covered major cities across the country.

Please find the full version of the financial report here.

SEVEN FRESH Deploys Autonomous Vehicles in Shenzhen as COVID-19 Severely Recurs

Posted on by Mengyang He

by Mengyang He

As COVID-19 cases surge across China, JD.com’s fresh food supermarket, SEVEN FRESH, rolled out autonomous vehicles in Shenzhen to ensure food supply with contact-free delivery. Five SEVEN FRESH stores in Shenzhen quadrupled the stock of over 10 product categories, including fresh vegetables, rice, cooking oil, drinking water, milk, frozen food as well as instant food as a response to the COVID spike.

A JD autonomous vehicle

SEVEN FRESH is one of the first supermarkets in China to deploy autonomous vehicles for food delivery. Fully automated and capable of traveling up to 100 kilometers, the vehicles are equipped with a laser sensor camera in order to avoid obstacles automatically.

After consumers place an order through the SEVEN FRESH application, the supermarket staff pack the goods and load them into the storage compartments of the autonomous vehicles, which are then ready to deliver to the consumers.

A SEVEN FRESH store

As an omni-channel retail brand, SEVEN FRESH has opened 66 stores in 13 cities across China with a primary focus on two regions, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Within the next 5-7 years, SEVEN FRESH strives to become a top-tier chain retail brand in China.

 

(hemengyang5@jd.com)

JD.com Starts Selling COVID Self-Test Kits in China

Posted on by Vivian Yang

by Vivian Yang

JD Health, a healthcare subsidiary under JD.com, started online booking of COVID antigen self-test kits on March 13th. JD Health is one of China’s first online distributors of the test kits after China’s National Medical Products Administration approved them to enter the market on the same day.

China’s National Health Commission said last Friday that the tests would be used by the general public for early detection.

Anybody can now start to book self-test kits through JD’s App and place orders as soon as the official sales process kicks off in the coming days.

JD Health offers one-stop anti-COVID support online

JD Health has immediately formed a collaboration with three test kits manufacturers for online supplies, including Hotgen Biotech, Wantai Biological, and Lepu Technology.

Compared with nucleic acid tests, though not as accurate, antigen tests provide a more convenient and rapid way for everyone to detect and report early cases, thus improving monitoring response speed and virus tractability in face of China’s new waves of local infections.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)