The growth of access to the internet and online retail has led to rising expectations for top-notch experiences at every step of the shopper’s journey. And Asia Pacific region being one of the largest and fastest growing ecommerce marketplaces in the world, Google will invest $550 million in JD.com.
“People in Southeast Asia alone are expected to spend $88.1 billion online by 2025. These consumers in Asia-Pacific are ready to buy, but hard to please. That’s why we’re excited to announce a new strategic partnership with JD.com, one of the world’s leading ecommerce companies,” Google said.
As part of this partnership, Google will work on retail ecosystems to deliver consumer experiences that are helpful, personalised and offer high quality service in a range of countries around the world, including in Southeast Asia.
By applying JD.com’s supply chain and logistics expertise and our technology strengths, we’re going to explore new ways retailers can make shopping effortless for their consumers, giving them the power to shop wherever and however they want, the company added.
As part of this partnership, JD.com will also join Google Shopping and bring a selection of their high-quality products to consumers in multiple regions around the world.
JD.com is China's second largest e-commerce player and is valued at around $60 billion, based on its NASDAQ share price and the firm has partnerships with the likes of Walmart.
The company has invested heavily in automated warehouse technology, drones and other "next-generation" retail and logistics.
Earlier this year, Google was planning to invest in India’s largest e-commerce player Flipkart as part of the deal when Walmart picked up a 77 per cent stake for $16 billion. Google was reported to be looking to invest roughly $2 billion for a 10 per cent stake. However, in May, Business Standard reported that the tech giant was weighing the pros and cons of the deal.
Tiger Global and Walmart are said to have been very keen on bringing Alphabet on board and had nearly five rounds of discussions with Google to make the investment.
