Not satisfied with being China’s largest online retailer, JD is to open its latest physical mega mall in our very own Nanjing. And it’s promising to be much the same size as Costco that is also on its way to the Southern Capital.
The agreement was signed on 21 December to bring JD Mall to Nanjing’s Jiangbei New Area, in cooperation with the real estate company, Excellence Group.
The Mall will be the third of its kind in China, following those in Changsha of Hunan Province and the debut mega store in Xi’an of Shaanxi Province. Opened as recently as September, the Xi’an store did ¥150 million in business during its first week alone, claims the company’s corporate blog.
So what can we expect? If Xi’an is anything to go by, it could be a scale of shopping experience to rival Costco in Nanjing that is slated to open here in 2 years time with a floor area of up to 50,000 square metres.
That’s a lot of shop. In the Xi’an JD Mall, which is five floors high, shoppers can choose from more than 150 domestic and international brands offering over 200,000 items.
As well as their hallmark appliance and digital items, expect items in house & home, children, furniture, beauty, auto accessories and smart healthcare.
Then there shall be the experience and product interaction zones to check out. Test fly a drone, get a massage, have a facial, blow those speakers up; a JD Mall is billed as an “immersive customer experience”.
When all done, scan a QR code next to the product, purchase and go home. Thanks to JD’s logistics infrastructure, that shopping might well be home before you.
But such malls are far from JD’s only offline offering. And it’s no longer just about gadgets. The e-commerce giant has moved into food too, opening its fifth 7FRESH store in Shenzhen of Guangdong Province just last month. The chain, which specialises in local tastes, can now be found in 14 cities across the country, reported Retail in Asia.
As an abbreviation for “Jing Dong” (京东), JD.com is China’s largest online retailer and its biggest overall retailer, as well as the country’s biggest internet company by revenue. The company also operates a strict zero-tolerance approach to counterfeits to ensure that only the highest quality, genuine products reach customers.
