Chinese retail giant JD.com will officially launch its UK e-commerce website and app Joybuy next month, it has confirmed.
In April last year, China’s largest retailer by revenue test-launched a beta version of Joybuy in the UK, offering an extensive range of ambient and frozen foods, household, baby, beverages, personal care, beauty, health, pet, and nicotine products from both major brands and Morrisons own label. Joybuy offers same-day delivery for orders received before 11am, and next-day delivery for those made after.
At full launch it will bring “more than 100,000 products from leading household brands to UK shoppers” JD.com said.
Its fast delivery coverage is currently limited to select London postcodes and handful of other areas in Luton, Milton Keynes, Coventry and Preston. It is understood more postcodes will be added as part of the full launch.
Since Christmas, the company has made major updates to the user experience of its app and website, and begun the launch of brand store fronts. Among them is water filter firm Brita, which launched its dedicated shop page on the app and website this month.
Unlike other Chinese e-commerce giants that have arrived in the west, like Temu and Alibaba, Joybuy operates as a retailer, holding stock in its own warehouses, rather than with a marketplace model where goods are shipped directly from brands and manufacturers to consumers.
The company said it is “also investing to expand its UK warehousing network and delivery network” called JoyExpress.
In recent years, JD.com has been growing its presence outside China, establishing warehouses in the Netherlands, Poland and France, and “active assets” in the UK, Germany, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Indonesia, with “plans to enter other overseas markets”.
Last September, The Grocer reported on Joybuy’s recruitment blitz ahead of the full launch, with advertised roles covering multiple functions, including jobs in JD.com’s growing network of UK warehouses and distribution centres as well as head office roles such as category manager, data analyst, accountant, developer, and user experience designer.
According to a report in The Sunday Times, it has more than 1,100 employees in the UK already.
Among them is Matthew Nobbs, former commercial director for rapid grocery player Gorillas, director of trading for Holland & Barrett and senior buying director for Lidl UK, who was named as JD.com UK chief merchandise officer early last year. Nobbs said he was “getting ready to rumble in the UK for one of China’s biggest success stories” in a LinkedIn post at the time.
Richard Thorn, a former online trading manager at Sainsbury’s and Asda account lead for PepsiCo, was appointed senior category manager for food & beverage last year too, joining from TikTok Shop UK, where he was food and drink lead. Buyers have also been recruited from Ocado Retail, Amazon and Tesco.
“Joybuy places the customer at the heart of everything it does,” the company said. “The Joybuy slogan ‘Don’t just buy, Joybuy’, perfectly captures the mission to fulfil customers’ needs and provide a service that is easy and convenient, but also enjoyable and fun.”
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