The £30billion ecommerce firm sells technology, appliances, beauty, home, groceries and other essentials
Chinese online retail giant JD.com has launched its new Joybuy platform in the UK as it seeks to challenge major rivals such as Amazon.
The £30billion ecommerce firm sells technology, appliances, beauty, home, groceries and other essentials. It said it will also offer next-day delivery to about 17 million households across the UK from its launch after establishing its own logistics operations. The group will run distribution sites from Milton Keynes and Luton.
The move comes after US and Hong-Kong listed JD.com – which is the largest retailer in China, and is not related to JD Sports – pulled out of talks to buy major UK retail brands over the past two years.
The group was looking at a possible deal to buy Currys in 2024, and last September it walked away from talks over a potential takeover of Argos from Sainsbury’s.
Bosses said the business plans to establish itself in the UK for “a long time” and believes its product range, value and convenience will attract new customers.
Matthew Nobbs, managing director of Joybuy UK, said the firm was “confident” about its growth prospects in the country.
He told the Press Association: “We are here for a long time, as our CEO has said. We have spent a lot of time working and honing to get our web and app proposition right, making it work in beta testing over the time.
“We have to make sure the customer experience is really great.”
The company is also launching in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Luxembourg. The business struck a 2.2 billion euro (£1.9 billion) deal to snap up Germany-based electronics retail group Ceconomy last year.
