What the new JD superstore says about the future of e-commerce

This article originally appeared on Inside Retail. 

On Singles Day this year, China’s largest online retailer JD.com launched a 50,000 sqm JD superstore in Chongqing, Mainland China.

Nicknamed the E-Space store, the massive, 5G-equipped high-tech complex is designed to flex JD’s strengths in retail technology, logistics, and services.

More than 30,000 customers crammed into the store, purchasing over 10 million RMB worth of products that day.

JD’s E-Space Store grand opening in Chongqing

A true omnichannel experience

The E-Space store displays more than 1500 brands and 200,000 items across electronics, furniture, home appliances, and smaller categories such as health & wellness, beauty, books, and daily necessities.

It is split into seven zones with 55 interactive experience zones, and smart robots designed to guide customers to the right area. This layout gives JD an opportunity to provide a unique offline retail experience that can’t be replicated online.

For example, the store hosts Apple’s largest authorised offline experience store, a Microsoft smart home experience area, and GE’s first omnichannel home-appliances store in China. There’s a special floor designed for immersive virtual reality video games, and there are JD Home sections that display white goods appliances and furniture in different living scenarios.

Such a store format is designed to give customers a better sense of what products would look like at home.

Read the full article visit Inside Retail.