Worldwide sales jumped to unimaginable levels with the JD618 Grand Promotion. The cross-border e-commerce marketplace saw sales increase steadily for months leading up to the promotion. This happened across the board; JD Retail, Logistics, Health and Technology.

The JD618 Grand Promotion, a cross-border e-commerce marketplace for China and international brands, doubled in sales within one day.

At one point during the promotion, there were nearly 500 brands advertising products through sale channels – double what they usually offer during off-seasons.

During the first 24 hours, sales of cross-border food, beverage products, imported alcoholic drinks and small kitchen appliances saw a massive increase in transactions. This is a testament to how far the company has come as an industry and what opportunities lie ahead.

JD.com’s business model is premised on the tenet that e-commerce should improve people’s lives by providing them with more convenient and reliable access to products and services.

JD Retail has invested more than 40 billion yuan on user services alone in the past two years. In addition to logistics and consumption service, they are also focusing heavily on making sure that customers have an enjoyable experience when buying anything through their website or App.

JD.com’s international business is booming. The company is using its 582 million active users to grow the number of brands that sell on its sites. They are also providing access for third-party merchants who want in too. The company will provide customers with superior products that satisfy their needs for better quality at an affordable price through this channel.

JD’s worldwide network of users means that it is easier than ever before for Chinese brands and third-party merchants to gain a firm footing in the country. With over 580 million active monthly accounts, JD has far-reaching power when empowering these companies with superior products or services to satisfy customers’ needs.

JD Worldwide’s National Pavilions are an essential part of the company’s international presence. Finland, Singapore, and Denmark are three of the most popular pavilions among customers. Each pavilion offers a unique experience showcasing the best of JD’s worldwide products and culture.

With this recent success in the market, Richard Liu Qiangdong, the billionaire founder of China’s e-commerce giant, hailed the company for its growth and change with time. He also asserted that the company is currently expanding internationally through various means such as initial public offerings (IPO).

The eCommerce company is working hard towards creating an environment that fosters integrity and compliance with the relevant laws in China as well as internationally. The company is committed to achieving success the right way.

JD.com founder, Richard Liu, celebrated the company’s anniversary by reaffirming its commitment to social responsibility. He noted that the company intends to remain a leader not just in e-commerce but also in social responsibility.

A case in point is when the company set up a special portal on their App and offered discounts. This was meant to meet the demand for anti-epidemic and life necessities during the COVID season. In effect, the initiative helped reduce cross infections through this innovative way of doing business.

In the same breath, JD Health has launched a free online consultation service for users in Hong Kong to have easy access to healthcare advice from telemedicine doctors and multimedia guidance on coronavirus infection prevention.

This company knows exactly what consumers need nowadays and is prepared to provide just that. The founder believes he is setting an example for other businesses in China and around the world.

During that initial, excitement-filled process of starting your business, it can become easy to get lost in the moment.

You’re buying one product for “x”, selling it for “y”, and making the profit between the two figures. It’s simple, right?

Suffice to say, there’s far more to it than that. A whole host of costs can enter the picture and through today, we’ll talk through some of the ways you can cut some of them as your new business attempts to make its first profits.

Do you need an office?

In today’s day and age, this question is more relevant than ever before. Sure, having an office for your company can add an aura of professionalism, but it also creates a significant expense.

In some cases, you won’t have an option. After all, some industries require people to be in the building, or at least need a base for client visits.

However, if you’re not involved in such an industry, think long and hard about this decision. Generally speaking, you’ll be tying your company into a long-term rental agreement – and this can be a huge commitment for the small business which is yet to turn a profit.

Let’s not also forget that this decision can have umpteen knock-on effects. For example, your public liability costs will change, as will the total cost for utilities etc. Of course, these won’t be eradicated if you turn to the remote option, but they could be lower.

Do you need to hire just yet?

The hiring process is a tricky one for any business. After all, you want to be in a position where you’re making sales and generating revenue, but you also need to have enough staff to make this happen.

In some cases, it can be worthwhile to wait a little while before hiring your first employee. During this time, you can focus on the day-to-day running of the business, and you can also use this opportunity to get a feel for the specific skillsets which will be required further down the line.

Outsourcing temporary workers can be a fantastic way to get around this issue. If you need someone to do a particular job, but you’re not in a position to hire a full-time member of staff, then you can simply outsource this work to a third party. This is an option which has grown in popularity over the years, and can provide you a happy medium during those early days.

Do you need to buy new?

We’re all guilty of it. When we start a new business, we want everything to be new and shiny. We want the best possible products, the best possible office furniture and the best possible computers.

However, these purchases come at a cost – and in some cases, it can be a significant one.

In reality, you don’t need the newest products on the market. Just because a new iPhone has been released, it doesn’t mean that you need to go out and buy it. The same can be said for office furniture, computers, and any other equipment which your business might need.

Ever wondered what success looks like for a startup like Koyo Loans? Here are five steps that any tech startup can follow to achieve business success.

Step 1 : The right amount of process

A high level of process is the correct structure for highly repetitive tasks (think flipping burgers at McDonald’s, for instance). But building exceptional software is a different ball game. Yes, there are design patterns and best practice guidelines, but every problem and solution needs to be unique. Having the right amount of process allows for creativity and prevents bureaucracy. In other words, it’s the perfect amount of structure for successful startups to thrive in. It’s also important to note that in tech, tools are not focused on the process. Rather, the right processes and tools evolve as the team evolves and grows.

Step 2: Laziness (Really?!)

Consider this quote from Larry Wall:

“The quality that makes you go to great effort to reduce overall energy expenditure.”

This is largely referring to the automation of internal tasks. In other words, if we see boring, repetitive work, a startup should be vocal about putting a stop to it. If we’re not prepared to do tasks that seem so mundane, we need to automate them. This is evidence of a company testing the status quo and thinking outside the box. A tech-led company is one that strives for automation at its heart. It is also one that can be lazy by not following the latest tech fashions without knowing when they’re actually appropriate.

Step 3: Doing the right thing

If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing well. This hits back at the notion of getting to market quickly and iterating, but patience is a virtue. Of course, compromises are inevitable, but short term solutions often become long term ones. In the tech world, architectural shortcuts are worse than those at the code level. After all, when you continuously take shortcuts, you end up with something like spaghetti – when you pull a strand to fix one thing, a whole host of other necessary changes become apparent.

Step 4: Hiring the best

Working with bright people means problems are more likely to be solved. In all cases, small, highly motivated teams will outperform large, demotivated teams. Although systematising the recruitment process is important, if the wrong candidate comes along, it’s important to take a pass. What’s more, if the wrong person has been hired, steps need to be taken to resolve the situation. Leaving the wrong person in situ for too long breeds resentment and can upset the entire work culture. The next person you hire needs to be better than you, and you can’t afford to get the recruitment process wrong.

Step 5: Full distribution

Hiring in the big city is a competitive process. The key to getting the best people is broadening the parameters and making sure the right people are considered. It’s about hiring within the right time zones, to ensure people are online at the right times and don’t need to work anti-social hours when they should be with their families. Slack and Zoom are key communication tools and ensure everyone is on the same page. This is what it means to be fully distributed.

Find out more about the story behind Koyo’s tech culture and what it means to be a successful startup in 2022.