JD.com Inc. unveiled a supply chain innovation program that allows offline channels such as supermarkets, convenience stores and select brands' brick-and-mortar outlets to fulfill online orders.
The Chinese online retailer said the new process improves the overall efficiency of the supply chain by expanding availability and speeding up delivery to shoppers. Under the program, customers can order non-alcoholic drinks, beer, wine, rice and flour. The average delivery time is two hours but some customers can receive their orders in 30 minutes.
"...instead of having every product pass through traditional warehouses, distribution centers, and delivery stations before reaching the customer, offline channels can now directly deliver orders that come from JD, instantly expanding what is already China’s most extensive supply chain network," the company said.
The program is part of JD.com's Retail as a Service, or RaaS, strategy and builds on the company's inventory integration project with Walmart Inc.
Companies that have joined the initiative include Nestlé SA, Coca-Cola Co., Tsingtao Brewery Co. Ltd., Nongfu Spring Co., Ltd., Better Life Commercial Chain Share Co.Ltd. and liquor seller 9bianli, according to the release.
The new program covers 20,000 offline stores across 54 cities, JD.com said.
