Chinese retail giant JD.com to start home delivery in the Netherlands
China’s largest online retailer, JD.com, is launching a new online platform in the Netherlands under the name Joybuy, introducing home delivery of groceries and electronics, De Telegraaf reports.
Joybuy will offer about 150,000 products, all stocked and managed by the company itself. Deliveries will be carried out using JD’s own trucks, cars, and bicycles. The arrival of Joybuy reportedly adds a new competitor for online retailers Bol and Amazon, as well as for supermarket delivery services operated by Albert Heijn, Jumbo, and Picnic. JD.com is the largest online retailer in China and the second-largest globally, behind Amazon. Employees involved in preparing Joybuy’s European rollout allegedly anonymously reported that the company’s explicit ambition is to compete with Amazon across Europe and with Bol in the Netherlands.
A significant share of Joybuy’s grocery assortment consists of discount items sold under the G’woon private label, owned by purchasing cooperative Superunie. Joybuy sources these products through Boon supermarkets, one of Superunie’s members.
Retail banker Dirk Mulder from ING said he does not expect supplying Joybuy to cause tension within Superunie. “The competition is still limited, because JD, for example, does not sell fresh products,” Mulder told De Telegraaf.
Mulder said JD aims to make home delivery accessible to consumers with limited budgets. “Home delivery currently has an expensive image,” he said. “Delivering discount private labels creates additional volumes that can further reduce costs, and that is therefore not bad for the other stores that sell these brands.”
China and retail expert John Lin said electronics retailers should be particularly alert. “JD is very strong in electronics,” Lin told De Telegraaf. “They can even force a company like Apple to give a higher profit margin because they sell so much of it in China.” Joybuy’s offering also includes refrigerators and washing machines from lesser-known Chinese brands.
Online retail expert Patrick Petersen said Joybuy is positioning itself clearly as a direct retailer. “Joybuy emphasizes a controlled supply chain,” Petersen told the newspaper. “For distribution, Joybuy uses its own warehouses, which makes fast delivery possible. That model differs from many marketplaces that ship directly from China.”
Employees preparing the Joybuy launch said they are not allowed by JD’s Chinese management to speak publicly but confirmed to De Telegraaf that the company wants to offer competitive pricing without selling low-quality products.
Joybuy has joined the Thuiswinkel Waarborg quality mark, which provides Dutch consumers with protections related to warranties and dispute mediation. That distinguishes the platform from Chinese webshops such as Temu and Shein.
JD.com is the largest online retailer in China and the second-largest worldwide. In its home market, the company operates under the “double eleven” rule: orders placed before 11 a.m. are delivered before 11 p.m. the same day. The phrase “double eleven,” when spoken in Mandarin, sounds like “absolutely fine.”
