China’s JD.com launches its Amazon rival Joybuy in Europe

JD.com The Chinese e-commerce giant launched its much-anticipated European online shopping platform on Monday in what looks to be a challenge. Amazon As well as domestic competitors who have already expanded internationally.

JD.com’s international online shopping brand Joybuy will launch in six new markets, including the UK and Germany, as the company takes on banking rivals on fast deliveries and high-quality products.

While peers such as AliExpress and Temu operate an asset-light model and ship goods directly from China, JD.com has its own local warehouses and logistics networks that allow it to shorten delivery times.

This approach has been successful in China, where JD has developed an extensive logistics network for ultra-fast deliveries and established itself as a destination for domestic consumers to buy global brands such as Apple.

The Chinese tech giant said customers in Europe can get same-day delivery on orders placed before 11am at no extra cost for orders over £29 in the UK.

Joybuy also includes brand stores of companies including L’Oréal Paris and De’Longhi. These are effectively a branded space on the Joybuy app where companies can showcase their authentic merchandise.

JD.com is entering the highly competitive European e-commerce market, which includes heavyweights such as Amazon, as well as smaller local players and rival services. AlibabaAliExpress’s and Temu-owned PDD.

Both AliExpress and Temu have tried to bring competitively-priced products to the European market, but rely on a marketplace model of third-party merchants selling through their platforms.

While Temu and AliExpress have been operating internationally for the past few years, JD hopes to catch up.

Joybuy emphasizes ownership of most of the inventory it sells.

“We’re a first-party retailer, we’re completely different to every other retailer based on our customer proposition,” Matthew Nobbs, Joybuy’s UK managing director, told CNBC in an interview.

“So we don’t do any de minimus business. We’re first and foremost a retailer for brands and that’s our main thing.”

“De Minimis” refers to the rule in different countries that grants customs duty exemptions to goods of low value.

Joybuy has been in “beta” testing for more than six months and the platform is now ready for a full launch, Nobbs said.

While Joybuy offers free same-day delivery on orders over £29, the company has also launched a monthly membership service called JoyPlus. It costs £3.99 and offers users unlimited free delivery. In comparison, Amazon Prime costs £8.99 in the UK.

“Supply chain is the core strength of everything we do,” Nobbs said.

Same-day delivery will not be available to all customers in the countries where Joybuy is launching, but the group plans to eventually expand its warehouse footprint.

A Joybuy executive said the company will expand its warehouse presence in the UK and other markets “in a phased manner”.