JD.com expands to home delivery in the Netherlands with Joybuy

The largest Chinese retail chain, JD.com, has expanded to the Netherlands with its online store Joybuy. Delivering everything from groceries to electronics from the warehouses to a customer’s door, the new webstore will compete with Amazon and Bol. 

New online store Joybuy launches in the Netherlands

The new online store of JD, called Joybuy, has kicked off in several European countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom. 150.000 different products will be sold online, including clothing, electronics, household goods and groceries - providing competition for the well-known Amazon and Bol.com.

Electronic stores will also face greater competition as Joybuy sells large household appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines at more affordable prices than European brands. "JD is very strong in electronics,” China and retail expert John Lin told De Telegraaf. “They could even force a company like Apple to offer a higher profit margin, because they sell so much of it in China."

The Chinese retail chain announced that it would also introduce its own express delivery service, called JoyExpress, dedicated to supporting Joybuy, which is currently in beta testing across Europe. Home deliveries will be performed using its own trucks, cars and bicycles, and the company will have its own European-based warehouses.

Joybuy aims for better quality than other Chinese retailers

While it may seem that Joybuy will also compete with other food delivery services, such as Picnic or those from supermarkets like Albert Heijn and Jumbo, the Chinese company will not deliver fresh foods. The groceries on offer will consist largely of discount products from the brand G’woon, which is owned by the purchasing group Superunie, and sourced from Boon supermarkets.

"JD wants to make home delivery accessible to people on a budget. Home delivery currently has an expensive image," said ING retail banker Dirk Mulder. "Delivering discount store brands generates additional volume that can further reduce costs, and that's not bad for the other stores that sell these brands."

Joybuy employees in Europe can’t comment much about the intentions of the new online store, but have said that the goal is to offer competitive prices while avoiding the reputation for selling “trash” that many other Chinese retailers have. Joybuy also uses the Thuiswinkel Waarborg quality mark, which assures customers about warranties and mediates complaints.