It’s a win-win deal! JD.com and Shopify have announcement their alliance on January 18. It rhymes, for the Canadian platform, with easy access to the huge Chinese market and for the Chinese e-commerce giant with a stepping stone to conquer the world.
Shopify lands in China
Shopify, the platform that makes it easy for merchants to build a site and more now, couldn’t get past China. A first, half-hearted attempt in 2020 was to accept payment via Alipay, one of the two most popular payment methods in the Middle Kingdom. With the agreement of January 18, serious things begin.
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JD.com is 550 million active customers per year, the second largest e-commerce company in China behind Alibaba, a leading logistics network, warehouse, cargo, delivery people, all of this put at the service of Shopify . For JD.com, Shopify is an opportunity to offer more brands and imported products, very popular in China and one of the strengths of its rival.
The Canadian platform will also have much easier access in China. Shopify merchants will be able to offer their brand in three to four weeks, compared to the normal twelve months.
JD.com conquering the world
And conversely, Chinese brands and traders will have easier access to Western markets. In the third quarter of 2021 alone, 3% of its $133.9 billion revenue came from international. Like Alibaba, JD.com aspires to push the boundaries of its market. The company opened its first retail stores in Europe in January.
The two companies claim in their joint statement “ solve cross-border e-commerce issues in product sourcing, sales, and logistics for merchants in the United States and China “.
The objectives of JD.com and Shopify seem so complementary that this alliance appears inevitably doomed to success. It will be up to the Chinese and American markets to demonstrate the veracity of this prognosis.