Chinese ecommerce giant JD has announced the opening of unmanned store JD.ID X-Mart in Jakarta, Indonesia. The JD.ID X-Mart is said to be the first ever unmanned store in the South East Asian country. This also marks JD’s first attempt to bring its unmanned store technology overseas. The new unmanned store sells everything ranging from fashion and apparel to beauty products to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG).
The company noted that the JD.ID X-Mart is the largest store to integrate JD’s unmanned store technology to date. As one would expect, in the AI-powered store shoppers can purchase products without having to queue up. The stores are equipped with cameras placed throughout the retail space, which collect real-time data and track customer movements. The data can then be used to understand shopping behavior and optimize inventory, product displays, and other aspects of store management.
JD first introduced its unmanned convenience store in its Beijing headquarters last October. Now, the company operates over 20 unmanned stores across China. Two months after opening its first unmanned store, JD announced plans to open hundreds more.
JD launched its online shopping platform in Indonesia in March of 2016. The company sees the opening of the new store in Jakarta as key to putting its “Retail as a Service” strategy into action–leveraging its enormous database to offer useful insights such as what products sores should stock and advertise.
Now JD’s operation in Indonesia is supported by nine warehouses across seven islands. The company has plans to build more warehouses–around three to four across the country this year–to achieve its target of 85% of orders to be delivered on the same or next day.
China’s second-largest ecommerce company by sales, JD largely referred to as the “Amazon of China.” It has been foraying its footprints rapidly into other markets such as Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam and most recently Europe.