JD.com's Founder Sounds the Alarm: Can New Strategies Revive the E-Commerce Giant?

JD.Com, Inc JD founder Richard Liu called for significant changes within his company, echoing a similar sentiment recently expressed by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd BABA founder Jack Ma. 

Liu responded to an employee's post on a JD.com forum, acknowledging the employee's critique of issues such as poor merchant support and high-priced items. 

He agreed with the assessment and emphasized the need for transformation within the company, Bloomberg reports.

JD.com and Alibaba, long-standing leaders in China's e-commerce market, are losing ground to newer competitors like PDD Holdings Inc PDD and ByteDance Ltd's Douyin. 

This year, JD.com's stock has plummeted over 50%, a more significant drop than Alibaba's 19% decline and starkly contrasted with PDD's 75% increase in value. 

Recently, PDD surpassed Alibaba in market value, becoming China's most valuable e-commerce firm, signaling a need for change for the established players.

Jack Ma, who had stepped back from the public eye following regulatory scrutiny of Alibaba, re-emerged in November to call for action and praised PDD's Temu. 

JD.com is implementing strategies like discounts and lower prices to regain market share, especially as consumer spending shifts amid China's tentative post-Covid recovery. 

Ma, who has been less involved in daily operations since 2020, unexpectedly responded to a staff post on Alibaba's internal forum. 

Liu emphasized the urgency of adopting a more proactive approach rather than a defensive stance, underlining the critical need for JD.com to innovate and adapt to maintain its competitive edge in the evolving e-commerce landscape.

In November, JD reported third-quarter FY23 revenue growth of 1.7% year-on-year to $33.95 billion, missing the consensus of $34.61 billion.

The Alibaba rival's adjusted net income per ADS of $0.92 beat the consensus of $0.80.

JD.Com stock has lost 56% year-to-date.

Price Action: JD shares traded higher by 0.78% at $25.80 premarket on the last check Tuesday.