JD.com is China’s Amazon. JD.com is the country’s largest online sales company. In an interview with the Chinese press, CEO Richard Liu said JD.com made the Fortune 500 list in 2016. His company was the first Chinese company to achieve that goal. Today, JD.com is the 3rd largest internet retailer. And the number one online as well as the largest offline retail company in China.
Mr. Liu’s uncanny ability to merge innovative logistic services with cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence gave JD.com the ability to tap into the huge Chinese consumer market and consumer markets in other parts of Asia and Europe.
COVID-19 changed the retail climate in China. Richard Liu played a key role during the pandemic. JD.com was the online shopping site for millions of Chinese consumers. But Mr. Liu did more than get retail merchandise flowing in the hardest-hit cities. Liu and his wife Nancy Zhang donated more than 600,000 pairs of surgical gloves, safety goggles, protective gowns, and more than five million medical masks to the Chinese living in the U.K. during the pandemic. The couple also donated 50 ventilators to those Chinese citizens. Mr. Liu has a home in the U.K.
Mr. Liu’s list of accomplishments continues to grow. Liu was China’s 2011 Economic Person of the Year. Fortune Magazine called Richard one of the greatest business leaders on the planet. Thanks to his extensive business knowledge, he often speaks at the yearly Davos Economic Forum. Liu’s has few peers when it comes to developing cost-saving logistical innovations and identifying retail trends before they explode at the mass retail level.
Richard Liu is a Chinese rock star, thanks to his generosity and his amazing business savvy. When Mr. Liu needed help distributing all the medical equipment he donated, the Chinese Embassy, the Overseas Chinese Charity Foundation, the Chinese Community Centre, and China’s Charity Federation helped Richard and Nancy complete that life-saving mission.
Thanks to Mr. Liu’s business accomplishments, it came as no surprise when he announced a partnership with Lagardère Travel Retail. JD.com’s equity investment in one of the largest travel retail companies in the world, especially in North Asia, is a win for Mr. Liu and JD.com. Both companies will join digital forces to produce a supply chain, analytic, and logistics superstar in consumer markets across Asia and other parts of the world.
Lagardère Travel Retail plans to use Mr. Liu’s digital expertise to improve its services in airports and train stations. The new partners will also set up a dual-channel duty-free shopping experience, and it will produce more revenue for Lagardère Travel Retail.
When Mr. Liu allocated 1.5 billion yuan to stop the pandemic, his company offered online consumers free medical and psychological help. JD.com became a partner in the fight to get COVID under control. Dag Rasmussen, the CEO of Lagardère Travel Retail, told the press his company jumped at the chance to set up a business relationship with Mr. Liu. Mr. Rasmussen also told the press the partnership with JD.com gives his business ventures in China, as well as Lagardère Travel Retail global travel network.
Lagardère Travel Retail North Asia CEO Eudes Fabre said the partnership with Liu and JD.com plays a vital role in the online travel retail business. Plus, the partnership will help expand China’s duty-free industry. Travel, online retailing, and the digitalization of travel experiences are the future for Chinese consumers. And the new partnership with JD.com will make that future arrive sooner than later. Mr. Liu thinks the merger is a win-win for Chinese consumers who want to buy from a company that offers more than merchandise. Consumers want to experience an all-inclusive shopping experience filled with value.