China’s JD.com to open grocery stores by merging 7Fresh, other units

Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com plans to open retail grocery stores through the merger of its 7Fresh supermarket unit with other business lines such as its group-buying arm Pinpin.

Beyond opening actual stores, the new division will explore innovative retail models. The latest development comes after JD.com laid out an ambitious 20-year blueprint recently to build 7 enterprises that will be valued at more than Rmb 100 billion (US$13.83 billion) each.

JD.com faces an increasingly competitive landscape, with Chinese consumers able to choose from a growing range of platforms including Alibaba Group, PDD Holdings’ Pinduoduo and ByteDance’s Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok.

JD.com created 7Fresh in 2017 after Alibaba introduced Freshippo.