Situated in the Netherlands, JD.com has opened two new retail sites in the country which are staffed by robots that prepare and deliver packages.
The two stores, which are branded Ochama, are found in Rotterdam and Leiden and become JD’s first European bricks-and-mortar retail locations. The Chinese e-commerce giant said that its shoppers will be able to use the Ochama app to order products ranging from food to health and beauty and home furnishings.
Customers can then visit the store where robots will pick and sort the orders for collection, when the shopper gets to the store they can scan a barcode using the app before their orders are carried to them on an automated conveyer belt or delivered to their homes.
JD said it plans to open two more stores in the Netherlands, choosing Amsterdam and Utrecht. Experts believe that the move comes as part of JD’s strategy to potentially challenge Amazon, after the US e-commerce behemoth has launched a number of its own bricks-and-mortar stores in the UK and US over the past six months.
Currently, most of JD’s revenue still comes from its base of China, however in recent years it has expanded its overseas presence by starting operations in Thailand and Vietnam and an international e-commerce platform called Joybuy.com.
