In a massive setback for JD.com, China’s biggest e-commerce player, it is reported that they will be exiting two of their overseas markets, Indonesia and Thailand.
Talking about the report from South China Morning Post, it is reported that the firm wants to focus on its growth in the local Chinese Internet market, which is said to have stalled.
Also, there are challenges from local players in Indonesia and Thailand, such as Lazada and Shopee, that have also played a significant role in this exit.
Apart from that, it is known that JD.com will now pivot to logistics and says that they want to build “a cross-border supply chain network with logistics and warehousing”.
JD said in a statement that “We will continue to channel our resources toward building cross-border supply chain infrastructure and work with both local and global partners to deliver supply chain solutions around the world,”
The announcement on their official websites on Monday states that JD.ID will stop on March 31, and JD Central will cease operations as soon as March 3. As for the orders, you won’t be able to place them after February 15 on these websites.
It is known that JD did not find its operations profitable in the SouthEast Asia markets because of the entry of players such as Alibaba’s Lazada and Shopee, backed by Tencent Holdings-backed Sea, among others.
The data from 2022 shows that JD.ID was lagging behind its competitors in the country because it only ranked 10th in Indonesia, with local players Tokopedia and Shopee taking the top spots.
JD’s pivot from e-commerce to warehouse and logistics does not come out of the blue, as we have already seen the company investing in logistics through its JD Logistics brand in Poland and Vietnam. JD Logistics also plans to provide its logistics services in Malaysia.
