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by Yuchuan Wang

In the past week, JD.com has transported approximately 14,000 tons of daily goods and medical products to Shanghai from its warehouses nationwide including Beijing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu and more.

Since April 14, the company has been transporting a variety of goods in-need to Shanghai by air, sea, railway and road. Over one hundred railway containers and 517 truckloads of daily necessities have arrived in Shanghai. The “closed-loop” model is adopted for goods transportation.

With the support of local governments, JD.com’s warehouses near Shanghai gradually re-opened for operations. Wenbo Wang, vice president of JD.com and head of JD Logistics’ East China branch, said that the company’s fulfillment ability in Shanghai has been improved continuously, while due to the complexity of the pandemic, it hasn’t reached to the status before the lockdown.

An addition of 800 frontline employees including couriers and sorters also arrived in Shanghai. So far, the company has called over 4,000 employees nationwide to Shanghai to reinforce customer order delivery.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)

Vivian Yang

JD.com launched a carbon-reduction campaign during this year’s Earth Week from April 20 to 24 in collaboration with P&G, Swisse, Blackmores, and Yili Group’s Satine organic milk to raise people’s awareness of the environment while shopping online.

With an easy swipe down on the landing page of JD’s App during this period, users can jump to the green shopping campaign page where they can explore the environmentally-friendly efforts brands have made on their products.

For example, P&G’s Safeguards shower gel and hand wash bottles are produced with low-carbon materials and lighter packaging, and the empty bottles can be recycled via JD’s Green Stream Initiative. Blackmores will gift buyers with low-carbon medicine boxes, Swisse adopted package designs that utilize the minimum materials possible.

Consumers of these low-carbon products will be awarded with JD loyalty points to encourage their shopping choices. JD also promotes an array of energy-saving home appliances and trade-in services throughout the year. According to the company’s calculation, the air conditioners, fridges and televisions with primary energy efficiency sold through JD.com in 2021 can reduce nearly 2 million tons of carbon emissions.

On the packaging side, 95% of JD’s delivery boxes have “lost weight” from five to three-layer corrugated boxes, which can save more than 200,000 tons of paper pulp, and outperformed the average level of more than 90% of developed countries.

JD’s Green Stream Boxes 

On the warehouses side, JD logistics has built solar photovoltaic panels on the roofs of 12 Asian No. 1 highly automated warehouses across the country, which has the capacity to generate 100 megawatts power a year and in the next three years, aiming to extend the capacity to 1000 megawatts.

JD’s Asia No.1 warehouse with solar photovoltaic panels on the roof

At the same time, JD Logistics has been operating 119 dark warehouses in China. Every minute, each automated warehouse operation can save an average of 2283 KWH electricity.

JD Logistics’ dark warehouse

In terms of transportation, JD Logistics has put in use 200,000 new energy vehicles to date in over 40 Chinese cities for delivery work. Every year, these vehicles can save 400,000 tons of CO2 emissions, an amount equivalent to what 20 million trees may soak up in a year.

JD.com has set the goal to reduce carbon emissions by 50% by the year 2030, based on the levels of 2019. Find more about JD’s efforts on sustainability, known as the “Green Stream Initiative”.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

by Doris Liu

Around 100 product categories and over 300 brands had more than doubled sales volume year-on-year (YOY) on JD Worldwide, JD’s platform for imported products, during a week-long promotional event, which celebrated the seventh anniversary of JD Worldwide on April 15.

On the anniversary day, the sales of JD Imported Supermarket went up 275 percent YOY. CNSC Member Store, a mini-program of China National Service Corporation (CNSC) for duty-free products, achieved a tenfold sales growth compared with last month. Meanwhile, the value of transactions surged by 100 percent compared with last month in JD Worldwide’s livestream studio on Douyin, the Chinese “cousin” app of TikTok. Supermodel Liu Wen, who is also the brand ambassador of JD Worldwide, and Chinese singer Qi Wei, took part in the livestream promotion.

JD’s cross-border surrogate shopping business saw a 318 percent year-on-year increase in turnover throughout the day on April 15.

Sales of imported baby products also saw prominent growth, with the category of diapers up 156 percent YOY. Brands of infant formula such as Aptamil, Nestle and A2 were most popular with new parents.

Another significant growth category was imported liquor. According to JD’s data, its sales increased 367 percent on April 15, with Rémy Martin, Martell and Hennessy ranking Top 3 for the most popular imported liquor brands.

Established in April 2015, JD Worldwide has become a trusted platform for Chinese customers to shop for imported products online and offline, offering nearly 20,000 brands and over 10 million SKUs (stock keeping units), covering categories including maternal and baby, fashion, beauty, electronics, food, health supplements and more.

Any international brand interested in building their business with JD in China can apply via https://www.jd.hk/cooperation_en or by emailing worldwide@jd.com.

 

(liujun215@jd.com)

by Doris Liu

JD Cloud has released a series of blockchain-based digital collectibles on its platform “Lingxi” in April to explore more possibilities in promoting brands, cultural tourism and arts.

Each digital collectible on Lingxi has a “digital certificate”, which is stored with JD’s blockchain technology, to guarantee its uniqueness, and protection against being tampered with or reproduced. The Lingxi platform is accessible through JD’s APP as a mini-program.

JD first launched the digital collectibles in October 2021. The use of digital collectibles, as part of the marketing strategy for various industries, breaks the boundary between physical and virtual realities, and is closely linked with physical products and brand IP (intellectual property), creating a dynamic online and offline interactive experience.

For instance, on April 18, martial arts chivalry-themed digital collectibles of 3,500 copies were launched on Lingxi with collaboration of the National Copyright Exchange Alliance and the Management and Development Committee of Gu Long’s Works.

Chinese novelist Gu Long(1938-1985) is well-known for writing novels of “martial heroes”, a type of Chinese fiction describing the adventures of martial artists in ancient China.

Customers can get one limited-edition digital asset for free by purchasing an incense burner of the same IP attributes, and can view the digital art form on the Lingxi platform.

Chinese television maker Skyworth also tested the market with digital collectibles on Lingxi earlier in April. The offerings’ prototype is the first TV set manufactured by Skyworth in 1995. A limited edition of 408 copies were given out for free, by methods of lottery or TV purchase, to mark the company’s Global Television Festival on April 8.

With the advantages of JD’s industry chain, value chain and supply chain, JD’s Lingxi platform has set an innovative marketing model integrated with brand IP and Consumer-to-Manufacturer (C2M) initiative. Digital collectibles can be converted into physical products to reach consumers, which not only promote the real economy, but also stimulate the IP copyright holders to boost their designs.

 

(liujun215@jd.com)

 

by Mengyang He

Outdoor camping has stormed into the eyes of many consumers, turning itself from a niche into one of the most trendy outdoor activities in China. According to data from JD.com’s sportswear business JD Sports, as of April 2022, camping is currently driving a new consumption trend, with camping gear seeing a skyrocketing sales increase by 245 percent YoY, picnic-related products by 297 percent, canopies by 326 percent, and camping trolleys by 13 times.

“As the camping market size continues to scale up in China, JD Sports has joined hands with merchants to further diversify camping experiences and provide outdoor enthusiasts with the access to an array of camping essentials, ranging from beginner-friendly camping equipment to semi-professional and professional gear,” noted Xuesong Wang, general manager of outdoor business at JD Sports.

The exponential growth in the sales of camping-related products on JD.com is also catalyzed by the emergence of various consumption scenarios, such as “camping with adventure,” “camping with kids,” and “camping with team-building.”

 

(hemengyang5@jd.com)

Vivian Yang

China’s market for commercial kitchen appliances is rapidly moving forward as the COVID-19 situation gradually normalizes in China, while the foodservice industry is projected at a more than 10% growth rate in the coming years, according to the latest white paper on China’s commercial kitchen appliances market released by JD.com and the market research firm iResearch on April 19^th.

Based on an in-depth survey, the white paper showed that large-size commercial kitchen appliances used for food processing, display and storage are one-third of the cost of a new restaurant, and the overall expenses on kitchen appliances account for approximately 7 percent of a restaurant’s revenues, whereas more than half of the surveyed owners expressed to increase their procurement budget on relevant equipment in the near future.

JD’s sales data showed that in the first quarter of 2022, commercial display fridges, refrigerators, disinfection cabinets, water boilers and electric convention ovens were the top categories in demand and account for over 50% of sales of this segment, with each category making up 25.4, 11.6，8.2，5.1 and 4.6 percent of sales respectively.

Both high-tier (up by 105.6% YoY) and lower-tier (up by 132.3% YoY) markets achieved robust growth with the latter showing a stronger momentum. Compared with the full year 2021, consumption from lower-tier cities in Q1 was up by 5.1 percent, accounting for nearly 70 percent of the whole year expenditure on this segment.

The introduction of smart, environmentally-friendly and standardized products is boosting the market demand, as foodservice enterprises look to upgrade the functions, appearance and services of their kitchen equipment, noted the white paper.

“Service is what enterprise users value the most as they make procurement decisions,” noted Hui Liu, director of Consumption and Industry Development Research Institute of JD.com. “The capabilities to provide more efficient, convenient and flexible one-stop service that can help them with product introduction, trials, installation trainings, equipment maintenance and more services before, during and after sales will be much desired and a key to success in this market.”

As a response, JD Business, the enterprise service business unit of JD.com has joined hands with brand partners of commercial kitchen appliances such as Lenovo, MAXHUB, Lecon, DEMASHI and others, to launch a one-stop worry-free solution for foodservice enterprises, in which at one transparent product and service rate, clients will be provided customized services ranging from onsite survey, design, installation, provision of auxiliary materials and more to set up their kitchen space and management.

Moreover, by leveraging JD’s advantages in digital supply chain and technologies, foodservice enterprises can first utilize the site’s VR and 3D-powered experience space to build their kitchens virtually and get advice from professional designers with tailored need, measurements and more, then they may place orders online to be on track of the whole service process while enjoying better price, less time consumption and higher efficiency same as what JD is best known by Chinese consumers.

 

(vivian.yang@jd.com)

by Mengyang He

Amid the spike of Covid-19 cases in Shanghai, JD Logistics and Dada have released a nationwide announcement through the Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau on April 15, to boost recruitment of couriers for delivery services in Shanghai to meet the rising demand.

JD.com is recruiting two types of couriers, one for outbound delivery and the other for community delivery. The outbound couriers are able to pick up supplies from JD’s delivery stations and fulfil nearby orders. The community couriers are to deliver orders within residential compounds.

JD.com has recently deployed over 3,000 couriers to Shanghai from various regions across China as a joint effort to maintain the day-to-day operation of local delivery services.

 

(hemengyang5@jd.com)

by Yuchuan Wang

As of April 16, JD.com has called for 3,246 couriers and sorters nationwide to support supply in Shanghai, and most of them have arrived in the city over the weekend. At the same time, two temporary JD warehouses for daily necessities and baby & maternal products have been established in Shanghai’s Jinshan and Qingpu districts in just nine days.

JD’s data shows that the number of orders fulfilled in Shanghai increased by 67% on April 15 compared with the previous day, accounting for 43% of the normal average. The proportion was only 20% a week ago. The company expects that with more and more delivery forces joining in, the number will reach 80% of the normal average this week.

A spokesperson of JD.com says the employees have received vaccine booster shots and will be dedicated to sorting and last-mile delivery jobs as soon as arriving in Shanghai. JD Logistics will provide them with sufficient PPE, insurance and daily Covid tests.

The company also joined hands with Dada Group to recruit crowd-sourcing couriers for on-road delivery and community delivery. The recruitment was posted on April 15 through the official WeChat account of Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau and other channels.

JD’s temporary warehouses in Jinshan and Qingpu have been used to stock mainly food, pet food and baby & maternal products. About 227,000 items of products have been put on shelf. Brands are allowed to transport their goods directly to these two warehouses, eliminating middle processes to decrease possible supply chain risks.

Last week, JD also sent over 100 autonomous vehicles to Shanghai for last-mile delivery of customer orders and PPE to mobile cabin hospitals, lockdown communities, delivery stations and more.

 

(yuchuan.wang@jd.com)