New | E-commerce giant JD.com chief promises technology-driven future
Richard Liu tells staff at the 13-year-old firm it is perfectly positioned to play a key role on the eve of a ‘fourth retail revolution’
Richard Liu Qiangdong, the chairman and chief executive of JD.com, China’s second-largest e-commerce player after Alibaba Group Holding, says the country is on the eve of a “fourth retail revolution” that will see intelligent technology optimise funds, goods and information flow across the entire sector.
In a letter to employees on Sunday, which marks the company’s 13th birthday, Liu said JD.com was perfectly positioned to play a key role in the next stage as a “retail infrastructure service provider” by offering more technology-driven solutions to clients on the platform in the form of cutting-edge artificial intelligence.
He also used the occasion to underline the firm’s future commitment to deliveries by unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones, particularly to rural areas of the country.
JD.com, which already uses about 40 drones for deliveries in four of the country’s 30 administrative divisions, wanted to expand that number considerably, he said.
Liu said the company also planned to build an open platform to share its retail infrastructure with the community while business functions within the firm would become modular and market-oriented to meet the changing demands of its clients.