JD.com, China’s largest retailer, has announced that it is opening its logistics network to consumers to send parcels around the country.
JD’s new parcel delivery service enables users of the company’s app in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to send items intracity and throughout mainland China, using the same fast and reliable delivery service they get when making purchases.
The company, which will expand the program to include high value items, aims to eventually make residential and business deliveries for shippers from anywhere to anywhere within mainland China in the future.
According to JD.com, it is the only large-scale e-commerce company in the world to operate a nationwide in-house logistics network, down to the last mile. The network, powered by the company’s proprietary supply chain management technology, is able to deliver more than 90% of orders same- or next-day, and reaches 99% of China’s population.
The new delivery service includes a range of competitively priced options, including same-day delivery between different cities; same-day intracity delivery; standard next-day or two-day delivery; and next-day delivery between cities. All packages are dispatched using JD’s network of delivery staff and make full use of JD’s logistics advantages.
Individual shippers can use the same JD app they use for shopping to schedule a pick-up by one of JD’s full-time logistics staff, and have a parcel delivered thousands of miles away at the speed they choose.
Zhenhui Wang, CEO of JD Logistics, said, “This marks the next step in leveraging the nationwide logistics network that JD has built over the past decade, to expand the range of services available to our users. JD.com is known throughout China for the fastest and most reliable delivery, and we are confident that users will appreciate the convenience of this new service.”
In other JD.com news, the company has also launched a new research center in Xiongan, China, dedicated to developing futuristic automation technology for urban logistics in smart cities in China.
The Urban Smart Logistics Institute will focus on planning for urban logistics hubs, top-level design for urban logistics systems, big data and cloud computing platforms for logistics, and more.
The primary goal of the institute is to design the framework for logistics in urban spaces to be more efficient and environmentally friendly. The institute will look first at underground logistics systems, making use of subterranean tracks and integrated municipal pipe corridors.