ROTTERDAM: August 16, 2018. Unilever has chosen JD.com as its BtB and BtC logistics provider in China. The company had previously worked with individual 3PLs for its intra-China distribution.

JD says the new deal marks an expansion of its 'Retail as a Service' (RaaS) - offering technology and infrastructure platforms to other companies  that already include Danone and Oldenburger in China.

“After working closely with JD as a retail partner, it’s clear that its logistics network and technology are unmatched,” said Rohit Jawa, Unilever EVP North Asia. “By opening that infrastructure to businesses outside of its own platform, JD will now help us bring our most popular products to the most hard-to-reach communities in China, securely and quickly.”

The company says its nationwide logistics network now includes over 500 warehouses, 7,000 delivery stations, and fleets of drones and autonomous ground vehicles capable of delivering over 90 percent of orders within 48 hours to 99 percent of China’s population.

“By investing in our own network and in innovations for e-commerce, JD has built one of the world’s most extensive and efficient supply chains,” commented Zhenhui Wang, JD Logistics CEO. “We believe in sharing our capabilities, because everyone, including consumers, will benefit from the transparency, speed and efficiency of modernized global commerce.”

For the second quarter of 2018 ending in June, JD.com reported a rise in its net loss to US$334.4 million from a loss of US$41.7 million in the same period last year, while net revenues rose 31.2 percent to US$218.5 billion.

Active customer accounts increased by 21.5 percent to 313.8 million in the twelve months eending June 30.

Also in June, Google invested US$550 million in JD “to explore joint development of retail solutions, including artificial intelligence ('AI'), augmented reality ('AR'), virtual reality and unmanned technology.

During the second quarter, JD Logistics launched its ‘Flash Delivery’ initiative for selected merchandise covering selected regions of China across its distribution network, including front-line metropolitan distribution centers, delivery stations and partners’ offline stores.

Last month, for the first time, a team of JD.com drone engineers and drones were used to support a storm response by Beijing’s municipal government following the set up of China’s first nationwide drone rescue team in May.