Customers will be able to track every step of the archiving process through the JD Express Delivery mini-program on WeChat
Individuals and small businesses can now store their products in JD.com warehouses. The new initiative, which exploits JD’s capabilities to provide a professional filing solution in China, is the latest example of how the company can offer logistics beyond its borders.
Using the service, customers are able to track every step of the archiving process from start to finish on their phones, via the JD Express Delivery mini-program on WeChat. JD offers a professional solution for every storage need, from short term storage to long term storage.
Companies that need to keep supplies for an event, people who are changing homes, college students who need to store things during summer vacations or anyone else, can now meet their short-term storage needs with JD.
At the same time, avid shoppers who wish to set aside their out-of-season wardrobe, as well as people who want to store sports equipment like scooters, bicycles and other hobby-related items, can opt for JD’s long-term storage solution.
JD is known among Chinese customers for reliability, trust and speed
The new service was launched in response to the clear market demand for convenient and reliable storage services. JD has in fact seen the demand for storage solutions increase exponentially, in particular, while rents in first and second-tier citations in China continue to increase every year. This is in contrast to many personal storage providers in China, which generally have to work with third parties such as real estate companies, and therefore struggle to provide a convenient and high-quality service.
“JD is known among Chinese customers for reliability, trust and speed,” said Bing Fu, Head of Strategy and Innovation at JD Logistics, the business group managed by JD.com responsible for this project. “This easy-to-use and reliable personal storage solution is a clear example of how our strategy of opening our logistics network to third parties is going. Initial customer feedback shows that consumers are enthusiastic about this service and believe it can meet a storage market need. ”
Since 2016 JD has expanded the range of logistics services offered to third-party merchants
With over ten years of experience in developing its internal logistics capabilities, JD Logistics has gained the trust of both customers and companies, enabling the company to bring this new value-added service to the market.
In fact, since 2016, JD has expanded the range of logistics services offered to third-party merchants. With the company that continues to launch innovative initiatives such as archiving solutions, it is increasingly clear that JD’s logistic capabilities can benefit not only JD’s activities, but also a number of other sectors and traders.
A fleet of 7,000 logistics robots for a new generation of automated warehouses with almost zero labour. This is the strategy of Geek +, based in Beijing, to support e-commerce and production
The economy of the future will be increasingly smart and the logistics companies that will be the first to be able to speed up and reduce employees will also be among the first to lead the market.
As in the case of the four-year start-up Geek + Technology, which has become a rising star in the Chinese automation revolution, pushing the country towards logistics robots for the e-commerce and production sectors.
As confirmed by Zheng Yong, founder and CEO, Geek + has implemented over 7000 robots and completed over 200 intelligent logistics projects on four continents. To its customers, Geek + offers four different robots based on artificial intelligence: picking, moving, sorting and forklift systems
Geek +’s main customers include Alibaba Group Holding, SF Express courier and state-owned automobile manufacturer FAW Group
Zheng in an interview last week on the SCMP, said: “I think we did a good job combining technology with industry applications. How to sell it [smart logistics] to the consumer and gain even more confidence, besides facing our competitors – this is the challenge that awaits us. ”
The future of which Geek + speaks is possible to trace it in its smart factory in Nanjing, opened on September 25th. The new structure, designed with an annual production of over 10,000 robots, employs industrial robots, its own AI algorithms and its own production logistics management system, and other automated programs for assembling robots.
The procedure for checking and moving the products is impressive: the robots automatically complete the final tests and the inspection of the finished product, after which they proceed directly into the area of the finished product to be packaged and prepared for shipment. Without any employee.
Zheng on the factory said: “Over the past four years, we have already developed and implemented revolutionary technologies for storage operations. With smart factories, we continue to pave the way to a truly intelligent supply chain.”
That growth potential has made Geek+ a major focus of venture capital firms in the robotics industry
However, Geek + is not the only one aiming to become the vanguard for robots and logistics factories. For example, last year, the Uniqlo Japanese clothing retail chain has restructured its existing warehouse with an automated system created in collaboration with the Japanese logistics company Daifuku, helping to reduce personnel costs. Another example is JD.com, which transformed a 40,000 square meter warehouse in Shanghai with Mujin technology last year.
“It is still limited … and companies still need to hire a lot of workers to handle the big sale season,” Liu Yunhui, professor of mechanical and automation engineering at the faculty of engineering at the Chinese University of Hong Kong said. “It also requires warehouses to have a suitable layout [for logistics robots to work efficiently].”
To be sure, the largest logistics robots player in the industry remains Amazon Robotics, which has more than 200,000 such systems deployed. This company, formerly known as Kiva Systems, is a subsidiary of US e-commerce giant Amazon.com.
According to JD.com’s impressive Q2 results, its logistics unit represents the fastest growing sector within the company’s business. But JD Logistics does not only provide more efficient and fast delivery. It turned to be a total game-changer
JD.com is mostly known for being the world’s leading company in hi-tech delivery through autonomous technology, owning the largest drone distribution infrastructure in the world. But China’s e-commerce giant does not only master both drones and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) delivery. At home, it also rules semi-automated warehouses, supermarkets, and robot-run restaurants.
Partly owned by the Chinese behemoth Tencent, JD.com is, no doubt, a real game-changer in the logistics sector. Indeed, while the company has just delivered impressive second quarter’s results, its logistics unit keeps improving efficiency.
Last August, JD.com released its earning results of the quarter going from April to June 2019. According to the company, the revenue growth rate experienced a 22% year-on-year increase while the $90 million profit sent the share price up over 12% on the release day.
In particular, as reported by JD.com, during the second quarter of the year, net revenues accounted for $121.9 billion, an increase of 22.9% from the same quarter of the previous year. And this growth was predominantly driven by net service revenues, which contributed 11.2% of overall revenues. Among these services, logistics and some other services managed to record a shining 98% growth, marking the fastest growing sector within JD.com’s business.
Moreover, compared to a loss from operations for the 2018 second quarter, income from operations for the same period this year was $330.2 million. April, May, and June were, therefore, great months for JD.com as almost every of its business line experienced substantial growth on a year-on-year basis. In particular, JD Logistics is the company’s unit that saw the most interesting growth in both revenues and expenses to improve efficiency.
Currently, JD.com Inc. – also known as Jingdong 京东 – is the leading technology-driven e-commerce company and one of the two largest online retailers in the Middle Kingdom.
Founded by Liu Qiangdong in 1998, JD.com is now partly owned by the Chinese giant Tencent, which helped the company to gain over 300 million active users and over $22 billion in revenue during the last Single Day on November 11.
As mentioned before, today, Jingdong is the world’s leading company in hi-tech delivery through autonomous technology, owning the largest drone distribution infrastructure in the world and many semi-automated warehouses, supermarkets, and robot-run restaurants in the PRC. According to the company’s Vice President Xiao Jun, JD.com operates more than 100 drones and 50 UGVs in China claiming to have racked up 400,000 minutes of delivery flight time.
The world’s first commercial drone delivery was launched in some Chinese rural areas in 2016. At that time, JD.com was the only company with a regional license to deploy drones for logistics in the country. On the ground, instead, its UGVs are commonly used and tested in many China’s urban areas such as the provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, Jiangsu as well as in Beijing, with also two smart delivery stations in Changsha and Hohhot, respectively in Hunan and Inner Mongolia.
The history of the company’s logistics unit, instead, is way more recent. Founded in 2007, JD.com’s subsidiary began operation in April 2017. Since then, JD Logistics has been in charge of all the logistics-related businesses for JD.com. Moreover, in addition to managing the delivery of goods ordered on the main platform, it also provides third-party logistics services to other players.
Although JD.com remains the major shareholder, in early 2018, JD Logistics raised $2.5 billion from many investors such as ICBC International, China Merchants Group, and Tencent. JD Logistics was worth $10.9 billion before this latest funding round, which rose the unit’s evaluation up to $13.5 billion. The company thus took the chance to invest the funds in robotics, automation, and drones.
“Over the decade that we have built out our operations, initially to support our own e-commerce business, we have created the most efficient, integrated and user-friendly logistics network in China,” said CEO of JD Logistics, Zhenhui Wang. “This financing will enable JD Logistics to further enhance its smart supply chain network with openness and integration. It is a major step, which will speed up our collaborative efforts with leading industry partners and build China’s next-generation commercial infrastructure ecosystem.”
However, in June, JD.com reported that the logistics arm has raised other $218 million to invest in logistics-related companies and technology. The fund’s limited partners include JD Logistics and the JD.com mother company, in addition to “several listed companies and government-led funds,” the company said. According to Jingdong, this fund will focus on smart logistics and smart supply chain technology.
JD Logistics has indeed been the key cog for JD.com’s business since its foundation. Today, it is one of China’s largest logistics networks and the most valuable asset of the country’s second-largest e-commerce company.
JD.com has a nationwide network of automated fulfillment centers, hundreds of warehouses and thousands of delivery stations, covering 98% of China’s population. In this framework, JD Logistics is playing to be the next logistics game-changer.
Since 618 – JD.com’s shopping festival on June 18 – in 2017, JD.com has carried out the normal distribution of drones in Shaanxi, Jiangsu, Qinghai, Hainan, Guangdong, Fujian, and other places. It accumulated a large amount of operational experience and the continuous development and large-scale application of drone operation scenarios were explored. During the 618 last year, the company’s large-scale original cargo drones completed the final assembly line in Shaanxi and the development of super-heavy drones was simultaneously established.
However, JD.com has also been actively expanding in other related areas of logistics. Not only its drones and UGVs joined Japans’ unmanned delivery squad of Rakuten last February, JD Logistics and Dada-JD Daojia also joined to build a global intelligent supply chain network late last year.
Dada, which is China’s leading on-demand logistics and omnichannel e-commerce platform, recently cooperated with JD Logistics to provide fast intra-city delivery services for merchants and consumers, with the majority of goods delivered within 30 to 60 minutes, which represents one of the world’s fastest delivery services.
JD.com has, therefore, demonstrated to have been working hard, both alone and by forming joint ventures, to develop and improve its own logistics network. And thanks to its in-house logistics function, the e-commerce giant was able to manage the expenses with great ease and intelligence. Indeed, although building up an own logistics network is expensive at first, it is bringing unbeatable advantages, especially in the development of new technologies for the fulfillment of orders. Indeed, executives recently said technological improvements have allowed the carrier to handle more orders.
With its drones and UGVs spread both in China and abroad, JD.com is revolutionizing the logistics sector, as well as the whole online retail. It does not only provide more efficient and fast delivery but the investments in new technologies are also improving the entire supply chain.
In this modern revolution, it is JD Logistics the one that plays the game-changer role, helping the e-commerce company to grow even further and increase its revenues despite last year’s losses. Probably, the logistics arm is what keeps JD.com competitive in the online retail sector, considering the fast rise of social-commerce platforms such as Pinduoduo. Given the second-quarter growth, JD.com is pursuing the right path with JD Logistics.
“E-commerce is a worldwide booming trend right now,” says Michel Kempeneers, and China plays a major role in this cross-border e-commerce boom.
With the increasing number of Chinese companies entering the global market, more and more countries are striving to welcome both the products and investments from the Middle Kingdom.
Among these countries, Belgium’s southern region of Wallonia managed to stand out building a network of infrastructures and services to support companies that wish to do business in Europe.
Although it is an inland region, Wallonia is found to be a special gateway to the European market thanks not only to the best-connected network of seaports and airports in the area but also to the launch of the first European EU-China Logistics Incubator.
Signed at the end of 2017, the initiative was launched by the Walloon government, co-founded by Wallonia Export-Investment Agency (AWEX), Logistics in Wallonia – the official cluster of Wallonia region for logistics companies, and the Liège Airport, which is the incubator’s base.
Founded in 1998, AWEX is one of the main players of the initiative being both a partner for Walloon companies wishing to develop overseas and a one-stop shop for foreign enterprises interested in setting up in Wallonia.
In January, at the Global Cross-Border Conference in Shenzhen, Cifnews met Michel Kempeneers – General Inspector and COO Overseas Export-Investment at AWEX – to talk about this bridge between the two continents, which is the first of its kind in Europe.
The Eu-China Logistics Initiative was born to support all Chinese logistics providers and companies to start their business in Wallonia, as well as in the European market. The aim is to provide a favorable environment to establish business and logistics activities in a strategic region where enterprises can easily expand in the European market and neighboring areas.
Therefore, while Wallonia serves as a bridge between China and Europe, the initiative provides all the services required by cross-border e-commerce such as easy access to the infrastructures, local partners or government services.
“We try to take Chinese companies by the hand to help them understand how it works in Europe,” said Michel Kempeneers.
According to AWEX Chief Operating Officer, Wallonia’s strength is not only its location at the heart of the commerce triangleformed by Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Paris but the region is also close to the EU Commission and EU stakeholders making the process of building new contexts and partnerships with them easier.
In addition, Wallonia is also close to airports and seaports that welcome the largest amount of products from China. Indeed, last October, a direct block train service between Belgium and the Henan province was inaugurated right here.
The new line is actually the first of its kind to be used at a regular frequency in Belgium and it offers a direct connection between Zhengzhou and Liège in support of the Belt and Road Initiative.
As Mr. Kempeneers stressed, the Walloon government has invested in building infrastructures fully dedicated to trade and with a strong customs department. Liège Airport, in fact, only handles cargo as opposed to most of the major European capitals’ airports, which handle both cargo and tourists. Today, it is Belgium’s largest air freight hub, and Europe’s 8th-largest cargo airport.
Hosting infrastructures fully dedicated to the products’ trade allows the process of entering the country much quicker and also easier. Therefore, many companies already choose Liège Airport to enter the EU market over other destinations.
Even the Chinese giant Alibaba recognized Wallonia as the most strategic gateway to expand in Europe. Liège has been chosen by the e-commerce titan’s logistics unit Cainiao Smart Logistics Network Ltd as one of the five international big hubs that will cut international delivery times to 72 hours from the current average of about 10 days.
Cainiao and Liège Airport thus signed a contract to lease a 220,000 sq mt area, which will serve as a world-class smart shipping hub inside the airport starting in 2021.
“The arrival of Cainiao reinforces the competitiveness of our hub,” said Liège Airport CEO Luc Partoune. “Several PRC companies are already here. While other companies will be attracted by the presence of Cainiao and the opportunity for e-commerce growth between Europe and China.”
Therefore, while the government of Belgium and Alibaba work together to introduce new technologies that will promote a more efficient clearance of goods, the EU-China Logistics Incubator works to further develop the logistics support for Chinese companies.
As AWEX COO pointed out in the interview, the fact that the country is so much supported by its own openness to the worldwide market is one of the reasons at the base of Belgium’s political stability, unlike some other European countries. A higher commitment to make Belgian infrastructures more secure is due to a general awareness of the importance of logistics facilities in the development of the country’s economy.
For the same reason, Brexit could turn into an opportunity for Wallonia to make products enter the EU market without the concern of possible unstable commerce the post-Brexit UK might offer.
The Walloon region aims to become the European main distribution center. At the same time, Chinese companies are striving to expand in the EU market. Therefore, by offering the most flexible and comprehensive customs in the continent and many logistics services, Wallonia now represents the ideal location to invest and build distribution centers.
Last year, Chinese investment in Wallonia reached $ 397 million (€ 351 million), top place in foreign investments in 2018. The region is thus more serious than ever in trying to make the life of enterprises entering Belgium easier than any other place in Europe.
“It is time to secure all the facilities and to give the message to Chinese companies that they made the best choice in choosing Wallonia,” said Mr. Kempeneers.
EU-China Logistics, as well as AWEX, are both Cifnews’ partners and they attended Xiamen and Hangzhou CCEE. By collaborating with Cifnews through cross-border e-commerce events, the EU-China Logistics project wants to make Chinese aware that Wallonia is the right place to start their businesses.
The mission of Cifnews, for its part, has always been to create a bridge between the Chinese and the European e-commerce world and the EU-China Logistics Incubator project certainly goes in this direction.
On one hand, the central location in Europe, the proximity to the EU commission and to the EU big players such as France, Germany, and the Netherlands are what make the region a hot spot for foreign businesses.
On the other hand, the rapidness of customs, the land availability, and the government’s support make the EU-China Logistics Incubator a unique partner for China’s entrepreneurship.
In addition, under the “One Belt One Road Initiative”, China-Wallonia e-commerce and logistics cooperation will grow stronger. Belgium will not be the only one that will benefit from this, but also Europe and the global market will.
ECommerce Nest 
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