New Chinese Player in Europe – Ochama by JD.com

On January 10th, 2022, JD.com launched two new Cashierless stores called “Ochama” in the Netherlands. This marks its official entry into the autonomous store market in Europe. The first two shops are in Leiden and Rotterdam. Another two more Ochamas have been planned in Amsterdam and Utrecht.

Who is this new player Ochama?

JD.com is the second-largest e-commerce platform in China, a strong competitor of Alibaba. The company was founded by Richard Liu on June 18, 1998. It was transformed into an online retail platform in 2004. In the beginning, JD sold mainly electronics, mobile phones, computers, etc. Later the categories were widely expanded, and JD became a full-fledged e-commerce platform, just like Amazon. On May 22nd, 2014, JD became China’s first major e-commerce company that got listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. Until today, JD has 310,000 employees and generates a net revenue of $114 billion annually.

JD puts its focus heavily on logistics. It serves more than 550 million active customers and owns around 1300 warehouses. JD manages every step of the supply chain, right through the “last-mile” delivery to the consumers. It provides nationwide standard same- and next-day delivery in China.

To step up its logistic game, JD has invested in high-tech and AI delivery through drones, autonomous technology, and robots. It owns the largest drone delivery system, infrastructure, and capability in the world.

How is Ochama different from other Cashierless stores?

JD, as an online platform, has many similarities to Amazon. However, it takes a quite different angle when entering the brick-and-mortar retail market.

Most Cashierless stores we have seen so far, are in a traditional supermarket format, but with a fully automated payment system. The shoppers scan their App once at the entrance, cameras capture all the movements, AIs analyzes and verifies the payments and customers leave without going through cashiers.

Ochama introduces a new model of shopping experience.

It is a merge of online ordering and pick-up shops which are operated entirely by robots. Consumers can place orders through the Ochama App. The products range widely from fresh and packaged food, household appliances, beauty, as well as fashion and home furnishings.

After the order is placed online, a fleet of robots including automated ground vehicles (AGV) and robotic arms, will pick, sort, and prepare the order. When the customers arrive at the pickup shop, they can just scan their code on the app, and the order will be delivered on a conveyor belt to them within 2 minutes. Ochama is aiming to be the “one-stop” shop through its cutting-edge logistics technologies.

With the regulations getting tightened at home, Chinese e-commerce companies are trying to expand the market overseas. Ochama is the first physical shop that JD opened overseas. We are excited to see how the customers will react to this new model of Cashierless shopping.