What’s Going On Here?

JD.com – China’s 2nd-biggest ecommerce retailer – reported better-than-expected 2nd-quarter results, which was 34% higher than the same period last year

What Does This Mean?

That was thanks to:

• an almost 30% increase in active customer accounts – now totaling almost 420 million
• a surge in cellphone-using customers who tend to buy things more often.

JD then benefited from the money that was being spent as shoppers increasingly wandered the internet during the coronavirus phase.

Why Should I Care?

For markets: Retail wags the dog.

• JD.com’s stock initially rose 3% after its announcement, probably appreciated for its similarity to Amazon and Shopify, whose sales have been boosted by the shift in
  consumer behavior toward online shopping even as stores have reopened.
• But Chinese retail sales data fell short of expectations again the previous week, while the US spending is back to pre-pandemic levels.

The bigger picture: Loud bark, worse bite.

Close to his bans on TikTok and WeChat, the US president said over the weekend that he’s now considering banning Alibaba, but the company’s still expected to grow sales by 30% and profit by almost 70%.

Content source: Finimize. (2020) Hot Diggety Dog. Available at: https://www.finimize.com/wp/news/hot-diggety-dog/ [Accessed on August 21, 2020]