Li & Fung is strengthening its partnership with JD by launching a multi-category collection of own-label products for the online marketplace, including homewares and pet products. JD invested in Li & Fung last year with a view to partnering in end-to-end digital supply chain management services for JD’s private brand initiatives, including the emerging consumer-to-manufacturer (C2M) business model currently gaining momentum in Mainland China.
Today the companies jointly announced the first brands under that partnership: ‘Made by JD’ and ‘Best Home’ covering homewares, and a range of pet products called Jingmeng, which translates in English to Cute Pet. “JD can leverage Li & Fung’s 3D product design expertise and supply chain know-how to create and produce these new private label brands,” said Wilson Zhu, newly-appointed head of C2M initiatives at Li & Fung.
By continuing to play on each other’s respective strengths, the two companies can deliver products to consumers that are within their budget and developed at a much faster speed, said Zhu, “through better forecasting, smarter production and maximum supply chain efficiency”.
Zhu said C2M enables manufacturers to dramatically shorten the time from design to consumer from an industry average of 40 weeks to as little as a fortnight. Products are tested in multiple SKUs of small quantities through e-commerce channels, providing more accurate data analysis of end-consumer preferences so that iterations can be made quickly and inventory can be adjusted in real-time.
Wang Xiaosong, senior VP of JD and head of the company’s private brands division said Li & Fung’s industry-leading 3D product design capabilities and wide-ranging product category expertise will greatly enhance JD’s ability to create private-label brands that online consumers welcome and trust.
“The brand development process will also be informed by insights from our big data analysis,” he said.
See here for more: Li & Fung reveals first private-label brands created for JD - Inside Retail
