E-commerce big hitters JD.com and Shopify join forces

Chinese online retailer JD.com has formed a strategic partnership with Canada-based Shopify.

The e-commerce giants are aiming to help global brands tap China’s huge appetite for imported goods, and also to aid Chinese merchants as they sell overseas.

According to a press release: “The partnership will link Shopify’s millions of merchants worldwide with JD.com’s 550 million active customers in China who use the platform to find authentic, high quality products.”

Huge unlock for @Shopify merchants today - they can now sell into China, the largest ecommerce market in the world. 90% of Chinese ecomm sales are made through marketplaces like https://t.co/Rt3HiV3bBn - this new channel removes all the complexity and leaves all the opportunity. https://t.co/sxSd706NWZ

— Harley Finkelstein (@harleyf) January 18, 2022

“Bringing together two world class commerce platforms is a major step in solving cross-border commerce for merchants,” says Aaron Brown, Vice President at Shopify.

“The future of commerce is commerce everywhere, and that starts by removing barriers to entry to one of the most important e-commerce markets in the world.”

Daniel Tan, President at JD Worldwide, comments: “We believe that the partnership will unlock the huge potential of the Chinese market for brands outside of China.”

“At the same time, it will increase cross-border commerce by leveraging our global supply chain ability, simplifying what has traditionally been a very complicated process.”