Logistics Strengthening Becomes JD.ID's Strategy Amid Tight E-commerce Business Competition

Logistics is an important component in business development E-commerce. Likewise for JD.ID, the company's commitment to strengthening its logistics network was expressed directly by JD.com International President Soon Sze Meng and JD.ID President & CEO Zhang Li during the inauguration of the new office in Bilangan Kuningan, South Jakarta, mid-November.

Meng said industry E-commerce Indonesia still has many opportunities to continue to grow. One thing he emphasizes about is the high demand for genuine products with fast delivery.

"The priority right now is to seek same-day delivery throughout Jabodetabek," said Meng Dailysocial.

Services same-day delivery which allows an order to be sent to a customer on the same day if the order is placed before 10.00 WIB. Meng calls this service what sets them apart from other players in the landscape E-commerce homeland. "I think this is enough to change the map of the competition here," continued Meng.

Zhang Li claims that 85% of orders in Jabodetabek have used same-day delivery. This figure has also become their impetus to strengthen logistics infrastructure and technology because currently their superior service can depend on the distance between the warehouse and the location of the warehouse merchant to the destination of delivery.

It should be noted beforehand, that JD.ID currently has 11 warehouses spread across Medan, Jakarta, Semarang, Pontianak, Surabaya, and Makassar. These six warehouses enable the distribution of more than 10 million SKUs from 23 types of product categories. Optimization and addition of the existing logistics infrastructure is a priority for future development.

"We certainly have plans to add logistics facilities next year, but the number cannot be stated yet," said Li.

From the statement above, it can be seen that coverage is still the focus of JD.ID. The vast territory and geographical landscape of the archipelago is a homework they want to overcome. Previously, it was also important to remember that at the beginning of this year JD.ID had tested it delivery via drone for remote areas.

In China they have developed a sub-business JD Logistics, with warehouse availability reaching 650 units throughout China. So it's no surprise that they were able to complete 90 percent of JD.com orders in the same day.

"It will take time to improve delivery efficiency and we still have time. Don't forget that we are still relatively young compared to other players in Indonesia," concluded Meng.

Based on iPrice's research, JD.ID is still ranked 6th under Tokopedia, Shopee, Bukalapak, Lazada, and Blibli. This ranking by iPrice is calculated from the average website visitors as of October 2019.