JD has developed a partnership with Chinese retailer Better Life as part of its Retail as a Service strategy.
The cooperation will further speed up delivery for mainland customers and integrates inventory across the two retailers by using technology to identify the most efficient way to source orders on JD.com, whether from JD’s own warehouses, or from Better Life stores.
Products sourced from Better Life will be delivered in less than an hour by Dada, China’s leading crowdsourcing delivery company. The efforts follow a cooperation with Walmart that uses a similar strategy of supply chain integration to increase overall efficiency and improve user experience.
“JD is uniquely able to improve our overall inventory management and reach a wider swath of customers more efficiently,” said Kevin Liu, grocery merchandising director at Better Life. “As the retail landscape is rapidly changing, we see this initiative as a prime example of how offline retailers can not only remain relevant, but actually become even more relevant.”
Ting Qi, director of user experience at JD FMCG and Foods, said the partnership marks another step forward in the Retail as a Service strategy, which leverages JD’s resources to help traditional companies excel in a changing environment.
“We are pleased that our customers will be able to get an even better shopping experience through this initiative with Better Life.”
The benefits for the customer, offline stores and JD through the integration of inventory include increased sales, faster inventory turnover, improved cash flow and even faster delivery.
JD is also exploring the option of integrating its online membership program with offline partner stores, so that offline stores can enjoy even more benefits from their partnerships with JD.
