JD CEO Richard Liu (third from right) celebrates the launch of the new site at an event in New York on Monday. Photo: Xinhua
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https://scmp.com/tech/e-commerce/article/1842403/chinese-e-commerce-site-jdcom-launches-us-mall-nets-exclusive-taylor Tech
Chinese e-commerce site JD.com launches ‘US Mall’, nets exclusive Taylor Swift fashion line
JD said it has inked an exclusive deal to sell Taylor Swift's fashion line on a separate site from its new online mall putting Chinese consumers directly in contact with US brands. Photo: EPA
Chinese consumers can now buy trendy American shoe brands like Converse and luggage from US retailers such as Samsonite directly from Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com, which has launched an online mall to sell US goods on its site, the company said on Monday.
Called simply ‘US Mall’, it is part of JD.com’s cross-border platform JD Worldwide.
The company also holds the rights to exclusively sell a fashion line for singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, which will be released later in the summer via another online store on JD.com named after the star, it added.
The launch of the new site dedicated to US brands comes amid fierce competition among e-commerce companies to attract international brands to its platforms.
Jack Ma’s Alibaba already has products from 11 countries, including the US, on its international online shopping platform Tmall Global.
“Chinese consumers appreciate that the United States is a global leader in the areas of product reputation, quality, reliability and variety of goods," said Richard Liu, CEO of JD.com.
“With JD.com's US Mall up and running … Chinese consumers have an ever-growing range of new choices of American products,” he added.
Counterfeit goods have plagued e-commerce companies such as Alibaba but will not be tolerated on the new shopping site, the company said.
“As American companies increasingly understand our core advantages of zero tolerance towards counterfeits … we are gaining excellent momentum attracting US brands," said Liu.
As Chinese consumers’ appetites for international products grow, JD.com will partner with logistics company DHL to deliver the products from the US to consumers in China.
According to DHL, exports from the US to China in 2014 amounted to over US$123 billion.
The US is the fifth country added to the list of international malls on JD Worldwide. Others include Australia, France, Japan and South Korea.
Launched in April, JD Worldwide now provides over 1,200 brands from overseas suppliers in various countries, including Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.