BEIJING, Nov. 12, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- JD.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:JD), China's largest online direct sales company, and Otto Group, a globally operating retail and services group, today announced the establishment of a joint venture (JV) to provide B2C ecommerce services for international brands on the JD.com platform.
Based in Germany, the new JV, Zitra, will serve as an accelerator for international brands looking to expand their sales on JD.com’s leading e-commerce marketplace by providing services including third party operation, marketing strategies, IT system handling, logistics and post-sale services.
Hanjo Schneider, Member of the Executive Board of Otto Group said, “We are thrilled to enter into this partnership with JD.com to help foreign brands take advantage of the enormous demand for high-quality international products in China’s e-commerce market. By providing an integrated e-commerce marketing solution, we look forward to helping international brands gain traction and accelerate their sales in China.”
Haoyu Shen, CEO of JD Mall, said, “As a leading global online retailer, Otto Group is the ideal partner to help more international brands reach consumers through marketing on the JD.com marketplace platform. We are seeing tremendous demand for imported products and this new venture will help further expand our range of products for Chinese consumers.”
JD.com has significantly ramped up its imported products in 2015, opening JD Worldwide and six virtual malls, each devoted to authentic goods from one country, including Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Korea and the U.S.
About Otto Group / Zitra
Founded in Germany in 1949, today the Otto Group includes 123 major companies and is present in over 20 countries in Europe, North and South America and Asia. Its business activities are grouped into three segments: Multichannel Retail, Financial Services and Service. The Otto Group is the largest online retailer for fashion and lifestyle in Europe and the second-largest online retailer in the world with end-consumers (B2C).
Zitra is a subsidiary of the Otto Group with the objective to develop technology and infrastructure for the future of the fashion and lifestyle industry. Their core mission: Scaling up international brands by enabling them to sell directly on international online marketplaces and on retail concession floors. Utilizing the infrastructure and know how of the Otto Group and Hermes Europe, Zitra provides IT, Management and Fulfillment services as one stop solution.
With its headquarter in Hamburg, Germany the company is represented at six locations worldwide: London (UK), Paris (France), Herning (Denmark) Shanghai and Peking (China) – always close to the client and customer.
About JD.com, Inc.
JD.com, Inc. is China's leading online direct sales company and the country's largest Internet company by revenue. The Company strives to offer consumers the best online shopping experience. Through its content-rich and user-friendly website jd.com and mobile applications, JD.com offers a wide selection of authentic products at competitive prices and delivers products in a speedy and reliable manner. The Company believes it has the largest fulfillment infrastructure of any e-commerce company in China. JD.com operated 7 fulfillment centers and a total of 166 warehouses in 44 cities, and in total 4,142 delivery stations and pickup stations in 2,043 counties and districts across China, staffed by its own employees. JD.com is a member of the NASDAQ100.
CONTACT:
JD.com, Inc.:
Media
Josh Gartner
Senior Director of International Communications
+86 (10) 8911-6155 (China)
+1 (914) 439-5315 (US)
press@JD.com
Investor Relations
Ruiyu Li
Director of Investor Relations
+86 (10) 8912-6805
IR@JD.com
Otto Group:
Media
Thomas Voigt
+49 40 6461 4010
thomas.voigt@ottogroup.com
Robert Hägelen
+49 40 6461 3129
robert.haegelen@ottogroup.com