Chinese internet giant JD.com sees opportunities in Europe. Alibaba's competitor is moving into an 18,000-square-metre distribution centre in Venray.
There had long been rumours that JD.com was setting its sights on Limburg as a logistics hub, which became official this week after JD.com reached a lease agreement with DHG. The property in question is Smartlog Venray. The part the e-commerce company is renting covers 11,990 square metres of warehouse, around 6,000 square metres of mezzanine and 350 square metres of office space.
Plans for offline retail
JD.com will move in here in the foreseeable future and serve the Dutch market from Venray. What the online giant's exact plans are has not yet been officially announced. From previous vacancies posted by JD.com, it seems to be for offline (supermarket) retail. For instance, it was looking for a store manager in Amsterdam. There are also vacancies for logistics staff, although these are not yet focused on the new location in Venray.
Competitor Alibaba
JD.com is Alibaba's main competitor in the Chinese market in terms of turnover. However, the companies have a slightly different focus. JD.com gets most of its revenue from its own online and offline sales, while Alibaba mainly acts as a marketplace where suppliers can sell their wares. JD.com operates in Asia as a logistics service provider under the name JD Logistics. JD.com's sales partners can use a network of more than 900 warehouses.
