JD.com second-quarter revenues rise 43 per cent

Chinese online retailer JD.com second-quarter net revenues grew by 43.6 per cent year on year, reaching RMB93.2 billion (US$13.97 billion).

However, net loss attributable to ordinary shareholders for the quarter was RMB287 million, compared to RMB127.6 million net income for the same period last year.

Gross merchandise value (GMV) for the quarter grew by 46 per cent to RMB234.8 billion.
Annual active customer accounts increased by 37 per cent to 258.3 million in the 12 months to the end of June 30.

Fulfilled orders in the second quarter totalled 591.2 million, up 41 per cent. Of these, about 80 per cent were via mobile, up 42 per cent.

“As we broaden our range of offerings, including a rapidly growing roster of top international brands, our customer base continues to expand, with female shoppers becoming an increasingly active user base,” says JD.com chairman/CEO Richard Liu.

CFO Sidney Huang says the company will continue to prioritise investment in its technology-focussed initiatives “which are already redefining China’s retail landscape”.

Expanded offerings

During the second quarter, JD expanded its product offerings through cooperation with international brands including Swiss luxury-watch brand Zenith, Austrian brand Swarovski, Italian furniture designer Kartell and lens producer Essilor, as well as Armani, Casio, Juicy Couture and Mammut.

French luxury haircare brand Rene Furterer opened its flagship store on JD in June. Petit Bateau, a more than century-old French clothing brand for children, and Merida, a Taiwan bicycle brand, also joined the platform last month.

JD and US retail giant Walmart further integrated their platforms and customer resources in China. Coinciding with the launch this month of the Walmart-JD Omni-channel Shopping Festival, the new initiatives aim to offer shoppers faster and more convenient access through multiple channels.

JD Worldwide launched its JD (x) program in April to partner with global fashion brands such as Chiara Ferragni, Haculla, Jay Ahr and McQ to design special clothing lines, while a strategic partnership with online fashion platform Farfetch was announced in June.

In another strategic partnership, JD and Baidu this month started leveraging both companies’ data resources, user bases and AI algorithm technology to give consumers and advertisers a more tailored e-commerce experience. As part of the partnership, Mobile Baidu search app will provide JD with access to its hundreds of millions of users.

Product tracking

A quality tracking system was also launched this month in co-operation with Wyeth Illuminate to track its products for mothers and infants. Consumers can access information on the origin, procurement, processing, inventory, selling and distribution of products.

A new service launched during the quarter, JD Luxury Express, offers personalised service for high-end and specialty products, and a new partnership with China Eastern Airlines features multi-faceted co-operation across logistics, branding, cross-membership promotions and cloud services.

In July, JD signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with Japan’s Yamato Group as part of its efforts to build a world-class cold-chain logistics network in China.

At the end of last month, JD.com’s New Dada JV had partnered with 135 Walmart stores and 224 Yonghui stores, as well as tens of thousands of other offline stores, to provide fresh grocery shopping with one-hour home delivery.

At the end of the first quarter, JD.com had 335 warehouses, about 130,000 merchants on its online marketplace, and 125,835 full-time employees, excluding JD Finance which was spun off from the company.

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