Marketplaces 2018: JD.com

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This post about JD.com is part of Tamebay’s January and February 2018 Marketplaces series sponsored by Flubit. For the full list of marketplaces we’ve written about visit our Marketplaces 2018 page here.

Web address: https://www.JD.com

Marketplace Overview

JD.com or Jingdong Mall is the second largest business-to-consumer (B2C) ecommerce site in China. JD is China’s largest retailer and the number of UK brands selling on JD.com has doubled over the last two years, with sales in 2017 growing 100% year-on-year. JD.com has 240 million registered users, 188 million active shoppers. 68% are male and 32% are female with 80% of shoppers aged 18 to 45, and 65% are educated to university levels.

JD.com has also recently revealed plans to take on Amazon across Europe with an initial launch of a marketplace in France to be followed by launches in the UK and Germany – the three biggest European ecommerce territories. Their ultimate aim is to become a European household name within just a few years and they’ve already established offices in Paris.

Seller registration and requirements

You can sign up as a seller directly on JD.com, however you will need to navigate the Chinese legal system and deal with local translations yourself. Specifically, before entering the Chinese Market, you must register your trademark with the Chinese Trademark Office. Commissions clock in at 2.0 – 10.0% on sales and there’s an annual $1k membership fee. However, UK sellers can have that waived if they sign up via the Department of International Trade. You’ll also need to provide a $15k deposit as a seller.

You are paid every 30 days in US dollars. Interestingly, JD.com can also integrate with a WeChat store, which can offer a powerful online combination for UK brands. You can make your listings via an API, CSV/spreadsheet upload or the content management system.

Product listings and fulfilment

You’ll need to provide product details in Chinese to participate and that will likely require outside help. As the DIT advises: “Brands need to engage the services of a third-party, trusted partner to handle translations, imagery, optimised descriptions, customer service and return handling. A marketing budget must be set aside to encourage greater brand engagement, as it’s essential for brands to raise awareness in China.”

You can fulfil yourself or use their services. With its advanced nationwide self-operated logistics system and its global supply chain capabilities present in more than 50 countries, JD.com enables local and foreign businesses to reach China’s vast and growing consumer market more easily than ever. To further facilitate cross-border trade, JD.com has also developed a new business model aimed at helping foreign companies leverage newly enrolled policies – JD Worldwide. You’ll need a local address to handle returns.

Tamebay’s take on JD.com

JD.com is a big player in China that has global ambitions and it’s already expanding into Europe. So it’s well worth considering, although not likely an obvious opportunity for small sellers because of the upfront deposit and the listing requirements. And even then third party guidance from a specialist is well advised.

It will be of particular interest to see how their new British, German and French marketplaces launching in 2018 develop.

If you have you any experience selling on this marketplace, please do share your insights.

For more information about marketplaces check out the Tamebay Guide.

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