China’s JD.com to shut e-commerce internet sites in Indonesia, Thailand

By Stefanno Sulaiman and Sophie Yu

JAKARTA/BEIJING (Reuters) -China’s JD.com is to close its e-commerce solutions in Indonesia and Thailand, retreating from Southeast Asia right after a bruising year for China’s retail and know-how sectors.

JD.com will stop its expert services in Thailand from March 3 and in Indonesia from the conclusion of the very same thirty day period, its community sites showed. Both models will cease using orders on Feb. 15.

A spokesperson for JD.com mentioned in a statement on Monday that the business will continue on to serve world-wide markets, which includes Southeast Asia, by way of its offer chain infrastructure.

The company, which did not give a purpose for the closures, started out its e-commerce procedure in Indonesia underneath the identify JD.ID in 2015 as a joint enterprise with Provident Money, when the Thai platform was launched two decades afterwards with the country’s biggest retailer Central Group.

But JD.com unsuccessful to get traction in opposition to more substantial gamers this kind of as Alibaba Group’s Lazada, Sea Ltd’s Shopee and GoTo Group’s Tokopedia.

The corporation, which also runs the omni-channel retail model Ochama in Europe, claimed in November that “new companies” – together with units abroad as perfectly as other ventures this sort of as JD residence – accounted for just 2% of full revenue in the 3rd quarter.

In China, the firm, like quite a few of its tech friends these types of as Alibaba, has been battling a slowing financial system and the impact of demanding COVID curbs, which have prompted value slicing and employee lay offs.

Even though JD.com has carried out far better than its friends, putting up an 11.4% increase in 3rd-quarter revenue, its main government has described the second quarter as the most tricky a person considering that listing in 2014.

Nattabhorn Buamahakul, a Bangkok-primarily based lover at Asia Group Advisors, explained JD’s exits mirrored the extremely aggressive e-commerce landscape in Southeast Asia, in particular Thailand.

“Online platforms you should not only contend with every other but also community operators, compact small business which have risen as payments become more simple, making use of social media like TikTok and Instagram as client contact factors,” she stated.

Tale continues

But Jeffrey Towson, a Beijing-based mostly lover at TechMoat Consulting mentioned JD.com had behaved a lot more prudently than its competition in Southeast Asia when it came to shelling out on internet marketing and subsidies, and he thought they ended up exiting with out losing far too significantly cash.

“JD is now exiting the shopper side and focusing on Southeast Asian retailers, brands and logistics infrastructure that connect with Chinese customers. That performs to their strengths,” he stated.

(Reporting by Stefanno Sulaiman in Jakarta and Sophie Yu in Beijing additional reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng in Bangkok Modifying by Kanupriya Kapoor, Stephen Coates, Kirsten Donovan)