JD.com shortlisted five couriers, and then the backlash starts
By recommending the use of only a handful of courier service providers for its platform, JD.com is facing an angry backlash from excluded providers
One of China’s biggest e-commerce players and one of its biggest offline retailers are locked in a battle over the use of courier service providers.
JD.com, China’s second largest e-commerce player after Alibaba Group Holding, has earned the wrath of Suning Group, whose Tiantian Express was removed from JD.com’s platform as a shipping option.
In its overhaul of courier service providers to eliminate the “unqualified” ones, JD.com has also recommended to merchants who sell goods on its platform in a notice on Monday, to work with five couriers from the end of this month. They are the company’s JD Express, SF Express, ZTO Express, Yunda Express and STO Express.
Although JD.com said providers not recommended could still be used as a shipping option and using them would not lower the merchants’ ranking on its platform, it stressed that the quality of delivery was crucial in an increasingly consumer experience-driven market.
The notice came after an announcement last week in which JD.com removed Tiantian as a shipping option. The provider was ranked last in a comprehensive assessment on all players by service quality and customer satisfaction for the first half of the year, said JD.com in a statement.
Suning paid 3 billion yuan for a 70-per cent stake in Tiantian at the end of 2016.