JD Procurement and Sales urgently recruits the next "Dong Yuhui" | Jianzhi Research

JD's anxiety about live-streaming e-commerce has come to the forefront in the new year.

Since the end of last year, there have been rumors that JD's Vice President of Human Resources personally went to Shaanxi to recruit Dong Yuhui, despite Dong Yuhui denying it. However, JD is still rumored to have held internal meetings to discuss the feasibility of recruiting Dong Yuhui.

The banners in JD's live-streaming rooms inviting Dong Yuhui to join JD's live-streaming platform also indicate that JD has not given up on the possibility of further cooperation with Dong Yuhui.

Another recent rumor also shows that JD is truly desperate.

On January 31st, an internal screenshot from JD circulated, showing that a staff member in a work group called "JD Live Stream Anchor Recruitment Promotion" issued a notice: each department should quickly develop a plan for recruiting anchors and there will be no assessment of GMV or gross profit for recruiting anchors.

(Image source: circulated on the internet)

Unlike Taobao's Li Jiaqi and Douyin's Dongfang Zhenxuan, JD indeed lacks a prominent anchor.

Whether it is trying to cooperate with "top streamers" or lowering the entry threshold to cultivate "new traffic," JD is doing everything possible to stay in the game of live-streaming e-commerce.

However, the entire live-streaming industry is gradually moving past its heyday. While other platforms have experienced irrational growth, the rise and fall of top streamers, and the intense competition among mid-to-lower-tier anchors, JD's efforts in anchors and content may be too late.

What should JD do to regain the lost young audience?

JD wants to make a breakthrough in live-streaming e-commerce

It is widely believed in the e-commerce market that while the traffic of comprehensive e-commerce platforms has reached its limit, the incremental growth comes from live-streaming e-commerce. This conclusion has been continuously validated during the transition from old to new in the industry.

According to the 2023 annual report of Douyin e-commerce, GMV has grown by 277% YoY. Kuaishou's e-commerce revenue has exceeded GMV growth since Q1 2023. Video Number's GMV in 2023 has tripled compared to 2022. Ma Huateng emphasized at the annual meeting, "This year, the area we can fully develop is video number live-streaming e-commerce." Even Pinduoduo, which has always focused on low prices, has added a live-streaming entrance and raised the level of attention to live-streaming e-commerce. And the traditional e-commerce giants that failed to catch the livestreaming e-commerce express and failed to create new demand in the changing landscape find themselves in an awkward position.

Caught between the squeeze of livestreaming e-commerce platform Douyin and low-cost e-commerce platform Pinduoduo, JD's decline is evident, with the core revenue growth of its e-commerce business experiencing negative growth for the first time in the third quarter of 2023, and its market value only one-fifth of Pinduoduo's.

(Data source: JD's Q3 2023 earnings report)

While the revenue scale of advantageous electronic product categories remains stable, the revenue of daily department store products with low average order value and high consumption frequency has been greatly impacted by livestreaming and low prices.

Under the pressure of shrinking core business revenue and market share, JD is reevaluating the importance of livestreaming e-commerce.

Whether it is the frequent cooperation with industry giants or the lowering of the entry threshold for livestreaming hosts to support "new traffic" in the fierce competition, JD aims to bridge the content gap with mature livestreaming e-commerce platforms.

JD also admitted to Wallstreetcn.com that the group is actively recruiting livestreaming hosts, with livestreaming e-commerce being the company's core focus this year.

A fleeting livestreaming room that gives JD hope

In fact, JD has not been inactive in the field of livestreaming e-commerce, and has had moments of success with livestreaming rooms that attracted attention and set records in terms of viewership and sales.

Looking back at last year's Double 11, the public spat between Haishi Electric, JD Cai Xiao, and Li Jiaqi garnered a lot of attention: Haishi complained that JD Cai Xiao forced price reductions, resulting in a violation of Li Jiaqi's bottom price agreement and facing substantial compensation; JD Cai Xiao insisted that the subsidies were entirely self-funded, while Li Jiaqi stated that there was no bottom price agreement or exclusivity clause.

The dispute between the three parties remained a hot topic for several days, and JD immediately sensed the opportunity, launching the "Cai Xiao Livestreaming Room" with the theme of "prices lower than Li Jiaqi, spot goods starting at 90% off". This livestreaming room was unique, with grassroots employees serving as hosts, attracting a large number of viewers. During the Double 11 period, the total number of viewers exceeded 380 million, and sales exceeded 1 billion yuan, far exceeding expectations.

However, what really caught people's attention about this livestreaming room was the slogan "no booth fees, no influencer commissions", which not only satisfied users' demand for low prices, but also catered to the audience's resentment towards high influencer commissions after the Super Head incident. After gaining momentum, JD continued to invest in promotional resources, creating a scene of miracles.

Unfortunately, the peak moment of the live streaming rooms did not last long, and the viewership quickly declined after Double 11.

Clearly, while the live streaming rooms gained temporary traffic by competing with Li Jiaqi, relying solely on marketing-generated hype and sales is difficult to sustain. Compared to Douyin, Kuaishou, and Taobao, JD still has a gap in terms of user habits for regular live streaming.

(Left: JD, Right: Taobao daily live streaming situation)

Whether it's Douyin's "Dongfang Zhenxuan" and "Fengkuang Xiaoyangge," or Taobao's Li Jiaqi, or Kuaishou's "Xinba," they are known for their distinctive styles, high live streaming recognition, and strong appeal. This also makes it easier for users to identify them in the competition. Once users develop a sticky relationship with their entertaining content, they will naturally visit the live streaming rooms again, thus generating traffic.

What JD currently lacks is such a person to attract traffic.

JD's Battle with Dong Yuhui: Striving for more chips in live streaming e-commerce

This is why JD is so eager to recruit anchors, even disregarding GMV and gross profit as measures of anchor quality, only seeking popularity.

With Douyin and Kuaishou having already enjoyed a wave of dividends, and with social platforms such as Video Number and Xiaohongshu increasing their investment in live streaming, JD can only invest a large amount of resources to fill the content gap, gather users, even if the conversion rate of some anchors is temporarily low. As long as there is popularity and user stickiness through entertaining content, once a certain scale is accumulated, JD can leverage its supply chain advantages to monetize the platform.

However, time is running out for JD.

The live streaming e-commerce industry has long passed the stage of traffic aggregation. Even during last year's Double Eleven, there was a slowdown in growth. Some e-commerce practitioners revealed that "because the growth of traffic has reached its peak, many brands have canceled hourly incentives for anchors and have higher requirements for GMV standards."

Competition among major platforms has also intensified. While Taobao consolidates its traffic anchors, it also supports mid-tail anchors and actively cultivates a large number of new anchors. Dong Yuhui is being sought after by various MCN agencies. Douyin's Xiaoyangge actively recruits new disciples while focusing on supply chain improvement...

At this point, JD is just entering the game. Is it too late?

Indeed, in the internet field, once a window of opportunity and dividend period is missed, even if more resources are invested, it may not be possible to catch up. It depends on whether the latecomers can make good use of their advantages, find differentiation from their competitors, and tap into unexplored needs.

Taking Video Number e-commerce as an example, although it started late, with the huge monthly active users of WeChat and the continuously enriched content of Video Number, it has been listed by Pony Ma as a key business with high profitability and high growth potential. According to industry estimates, the GMV of Video Number live streaming sales is expected to exceed 300 billion yuan by 2023. **

Small Red Book, which has always been criticized for its commercialization capabilities, has successfully captured the core user group of young middle-class consumers by focusing on high average order value and niche products. With the help of celebrities like Dong Jie and Zhang Xiaohui, who have live-streamed multiple times to boost GMV, it is reported that due to the rapid growth of its e-commerce business, Small Red Book is expected to achieve a net profit of $500 million in 2023, exceeding expectations.

The large user base of Video Number and the high-end customer group of Small Red Book have given them the leverage to enter the live-streaming industry. In order for JD to secure a place in this field, it also needs to consider its advantages compared to other competitors in the live-streaming industry chain and fully utilize its strengths.

Whether in the era of traditional e-commerce or the new e-commerce era, the supply chain and logistics advantages have always been the labels of JD and its biggest strengths. While hosts are good at attracting traffic in front of the camera, the supply chain, merchants, and product selection require a lot of time and effort behind the scenes, which is also a barrier to the growth of the live-streaming industry.

Behind the soaring GMV of "With Hui Tongxing" live-streaming room, even surpassing the main account, some viewers have complained that the product selection in the live-streaming room is similar to that of "Eastern Selection" live-streaming room, with some overlapping products. If the new live-streaming room does not have more new products to support it and the differentiation in product selection is not clear enough, it may eventually fall into a "left hand to right hand" situation.

From the premiere of "With Hui Tongxing," it can be seen that three hours after the premiere, it topped the Douyin sales chart with a sales volume of 150 million yuan, while the sales of "Eastern Selection" dropped to outside the top 10.

If JD can leverage its strengths in the supply chain and product selection, as well as the content and traffic strengths of Dong Yuhui, a win-win cooperation is not impossible.

JD still holds the cards, but the next steps are crucial.