The fight between China’s ecommerce giants has stalled. As the market matures, there is little ammunition left to bridge the gap between leader Alibaba and runner-up JD.com. Alibaba has triple the market share and higher margins. Even JD.com’s record breaking $26bn in transactions during its annual 6.18 sales event (which ended on June 18) is not enough to distract from its low margins.
Tencent and Walmart, JD.com’s two largest shareholders apart from the founder, were once hopeful that it could overtake Alibaba. This looks unlikely. China’s second biggest ecommerce operator is still Alibaba’s only real rival (Pinduoduo is too small) but shares have fallen by a third in the past year. Operating margins have been under pressure for years, at 1.6 per cent in the first quarter and negative on a yearly basis. Low profits and hopes of growth explain why JD.com shares trade at 41 times forward earnings compared with Alibaba’s 25 times.
Yet JD.com’s own operating model accounts for much of its weakness. Like Amazon, but unlike Alibaba, JD.com operates most of its supply chain. The extra security this implies makes JD.com a popular destination for big ticket transactions, with amount spent per customer higher than peers. But it also means costs, from logistics to warehouses, are higher.