JD.com Growing into a Formidable Fashion Force
China offers the largest market in the world. As the country with the highest population, the consumption rate is very high. Many global companies are targeting this market as one that can bring substantial short-term gains. China already has well-established businesses in offline and online fields. E-commerce businesses control fifteen percent of retail business in the country, and JD.com currently is the largest retailer in China. With a market value of about 60 billion, it is also the fourth largest business in the country. The company is under the leadership of Mr. Richard Liu, the founder and CEO. He created this company in 2004 after realizing that e-commerce offered better chances of growth as compared to a brick-and-mortar business.
Today, JD has the largest portfolio of products in the world, competing with the likes of Walmart. Through various initiatives coming from this company, the Chinese market has earned a reputation as a source of legit and high-quality products. In the past, this market has been associated with low-quality and counterfeit items. Mr. Liu joined the e-commerce business with the aim of correcting the mistakes that other players were making. After years of consistent improvements, JD is now supplying products not only in China but in the whole world. It is now possible to buy a product in China and have it delivered in New York within 10 to 15 days.
At the recent world economic forum meeting, Richard Liu held an interview where he gave detailed information about his company. He said that the name JD.com came after taking his name and that of his then-girlfriend. He added that the idea to migrate to the e-commerce platform came after and the SARS outbreak that hit China in 2003. Many small businesses were forced to close down as customers and employees were house-bound. This tragedy made Richard Liu think of diversifying into online business where he would be able to continue running business operations despite such challenges.
Over the years, JingDong has added as many products to its portfolio as possible. Today they almost any product found on the Chinese market. In order to give customers the best shopping experience, they have created an easy to use mobile and web platforms where everyone can make an order. After that, they have invested in advanced logistics channels that allow customers to receive products within 24 hours. In Beijing, the delivery time is as short as three hours. Already, they are using autonomous robots that can avoid traffic jams to deliver items in the city. For remote parts of China, they are deploying drones.
Fashion
In 2017, JingDong appointed Xia Ding as the president of international fashion. Her appointment came after running a successful 20 years career in the fashion industry. She began work at Hanesbrands Inc. and was responsible for the introduction of Hanes and Champion brands in China. She later worked Nielsen, a market research firm, before landing at JD. In the past two years, she has initiated plans are that have seen the fashion department become one of the highest revenue sources at JingDong. The company has invested $400 million in Farfetch, an online fashion market, as well as supporting the development of Toplife, a digital platform that allows high-end brands to open stores in China.
JD has opened up China to the global luxury fashion brands, therefore giving customers in China an option to explore a wide variety of top luxury brands. For instance, by giving Farfetch a level 1 entry into it JD.com’s app, over 300 million JD customers can access dozens of globally recognized luxury brands. With fashion being among the fastest growing sectors in the world, JingDong is ready to tap into this market.
