JD.com is a leading supplier of chain-based technology and service. Founded and guided by the steady hands of CEO Liu Qiangdong, JD.com recently announced the opening of two robotic shops in the Netherlands, operating under the new name of Ochama. Steadfast leaders in online ordering and delivery services, two Ochama shops were opened under the new brand with many shops soon to follow, pending results.
Introducing Ochama; A New Way to Shop
Coming first to Rotterdam and Leiden, JD.com is angling to open another pair of Ochama pick-up shops in Amsterdam and Utrecht in the coming months. The Ochama stores mark the first time that JD.com has opted to produce a physical brick-and-mortar retail store in Europe. While far from a traditional retail experience, Ochama stores mark a huge step forward for JD.com and the company’s efforts to bring a new unprecedented shopping experience to the region.
How does Ochama work? A glance at the inner operations would leave most folks thinking of the future. Considered an omnichannel retailer, the word “Ochama” is derived from amazing and omnichannel.
Pass Lei is the General Manager of Ochama at JD Worldwide and had this to say of their latest efforts, “We aspire to create an unprecedented shopping format for customers in Europe with better price and service.”
What Is An Omni-Channel Experience?
Shopping in the future looks both the same and different than our traditional experiences. An omnichannel experience like the one developed by Liu Qiangdong and his team provides the comfort of ordering online with the convenience of local pick-up, all guided by the Ochama digital application. All customers need to do is make their order and flash their QR code at the Ochama location of their choosing.
The Ochama application is one of the first, if not the first, applications in the Netherlands to offer both fresh and packaged food along with home furnishings, beauty products, maternal and child products, and other items. As part of the futuristic experience, a fleet of robots conduct picking-and-packing work for onlooking shoppers. After customers make their order, they get to watch the Automated Ground Vehicles (AGV) as they engage in the entire process from grabbing merchandise to transferring and packaging it on a conveyer belt. This entire process is done without the need for a cashier, thus one will realize that packaging machines are more flexible than people.
Reducing Consumer Cost Through Innovation
Guided by a team of experts, Ochama is thought to be able to bring down prices for consumers by at least 10%. Chief Operations Officer Mark den Butter believes that the shop can reduce pricing by fully tapping into the supply chain management and logistics technologies currently available.
As one of the most urbanized countries in all of Europe, the Netherlands is the perfect place for the Ochama shops to flourish. According to the World Bank, nearly 92% of the entire population of the Netherlands lives in a city with an urban structure – but green environmentalism is still key.
Mark den Butter said, “There will be no queues and fewer traffic jams to do the chores as they can go for convenience, benefits, and everything in one stop at Ochama.”
Learn More About JD.com’s Liu Qiangdong
As the founder of JD.com, Liu Qiangdong has been at the forefront of many fruitful business ventures. Starting his career as an entrepreneur, Qiangdong would utilize his skills and business savvy to develop the largest IPO to date when it was listed in 2014 on NASDAQ. Qiangdong continues to stress the absolute importance of customer service while pushing for the utilization of technology to ease the burden of shoppers while capturing an audience through an entirely new and seamless experience.
Qiangdong was born and raised in China, where he graduated with a B.A. in Sociology from the People’s University of China. Qiangdong spent much of his early life immersed in digital technology, learning to code and program while developing businesses in the e-commerce landscape.