It is reported that JD.com is currently focusing on how to layout its short video sector internally. The company's management has organized several small-scale discussions and reached a consensus on prioritizing investment in the short video sector, with cash subsidies totaling around 1bn yuan.

On April 10th, JD.com officially announced its plan to invest 1bn yuan in cash and 1bn yuan in flow to attract more original creators and high-quality content institutions, providing users with a better consumption experience through high-quality content, and helping brand merchants find new growth points. Currently, JD.com is actively preparing for the incubation of top creators and plans to select the top 100 creators by the end of the year.

On one hand, subsidies will be provided to creators covering more than 20 creation areas including digital 3C, home appliances, home furnishings, maternity and baby products, pets, fashion, sports, beauty and personal care, health, and automotive products. All creators meeting the recruitment requirements can receive a cash creation subsidy of up to 30,000 yuan per account per cycle, and creators also enjoy video playback subsidies and commission on sales.

On the other hand, high-quality original videos will receive more exposure opportunities. Through weighted algorithm processing, providing fixed flow subsidies, and special display methods such as reviews and dressing tabs in the browsing channel, as well as adding reviews and dressing floors in the product details page, more flow will be brought to high-quality content.

Additionally, JD.com has set a substantial amount of institutional incentive list. With the development of the live streaming industry, high-quality creators are gathering in MCN institutions. Therefore, JD.com has set up an institutional incentive list with an amount of up to 5mio yuan. As long as the number of people introduced by the MCN institution reaches a certain scale, there will be opportunities to receive one-time cash subsidies every month. After joining, JD.com's category responsible persons will provide one-on-one guidance and services to enhance their operating capabilities.

The "Research Report on the Development of China's Internet Audiovisual Industry (2024)" released on March 27th reveals that 71.2% of surveyed users engage in online shopping through short videos and live streaming, with over 40% of internet users considering short videos and live streaming as their primary consumption channels. Content consumption has become a key battleground for major platforms.

In recent years, the "video + e-commerce" business model has become increasingly popular. Data shows that in 2022, the sales volume of livestreaming e-commerce on video platforms increased by more than 8 times compared to the previous year, maintaining strong growth momentum. Platforms like Douyin, Kuaishou, and WeChat video accounts have garnered significant traffic in the short video field and have entered the e-commerce domain leveraging this flow.

However, JD.com has long been laying out its content ecosystem. In terms of video content, JD.com began emphasizing "self-tested" content last year, with tens of thousands of influencers creating tens of millions of videos around "personal trials + reviews." Metrics such as orders, user base, and viewing time saw a year-on-year growth of 300%, and the growth rate remains at 100% in the first quarter of this year.

During last year's "Double Eleven" shopping festival, JD.com launched 20 topic challenges in various verticals, generating 382 topics and nearly 100 million yuan in transactions from 26,000 authors. During the Spring Festival shopping period, over 50,000 video submissions were received for 30 hot topics, resulting in a GMV (Gross Merchandise Volume) of over 20mio yuan.

In terms of live streaming layout, JD.com made continuous efforts throughout last year to explore suitable development models. During last year's "Double Eleven," the total number of viewers in JD.com's live streaming rooms exceeded 380mio; during the Hunan Satellite TV Mango TV New Year's Eve Gala, the number of viewers surpassed 100mio within 5 hours.

Insiders at JD.com revealed that the intensified focus on video content this time aims to provide users with a richer and more exciting consumer experience, while also driving profitability for brand merchants and achieving stable growth.

JD.com CEO Xu Ran stated, "Throughout last year, JD.com has consistently accelerated the development of platform ecology and the establishment of a low-price mindset, and the overall performance is in line with expectations. This year, JD.com will continue to focus on enhancing price competitiveness and platform ecology, and we are confident in further gaining market share."