YUP, JOYBUY = OCHAMA

Last week, I wrote that JD has reincarnated its old Joybuy brand and domain name as a B2C webshop in the UK (substack.com/@techbuzzc…).

In a different post (substack.com/@techbuzzc…), I wrote about how Chinese internet companies follow a quick-and-dirty approach of launching things when they are not quite ready yet. In China, this is called 'cha bu duo' (literally 'it doesn't lack much'). Problems are fixed as they go along.

I think this Joybuy site is a good example of quick-and-dirty 'cha bu duo'. 

JD operates the Ochama brand in several European countries, which I wrote about extensively when it launched four 'robot stores' here in the Netherlands. Check out the many articles I wrote about Ochama on chinatalk.nl.

As expected, the stores were a failure. After a year, Ochama, which had become mainly just another webshop for Asians, pivoted to an approach that is very much like the 'community group buying' you will find in China. In this concept, consumers order online and collect their orders at pick-up points (making the last mile less expensive for the webshop). In a typical Chinese fashion, these pick-up points were recruited among Chinese WeChat users and were primarily Chinese restaurants, tea shops, etc. Ochama also struck a deal with Blokker but lost about 400 pick-up points after the bankruptcy of this Dutch retailer. Currently, Ochama seems to be using many individual consumers as pick-up points; I received several reports of people having to collect their orders at 'regular houses' instead of stores.

Ochama claims to be doing well (I have my doubts), but the appearance of Joybuy adds another layer of suspense to the whole story. Not only does the site resemble Ochama in many ways (the layout, the pastel colours), it even sells 'ochama' branded goods. Clearly, JD is using part of Ochama's private label assortment for Joybuy. 

On a site note, the site also has the same gamified coupons you will also find on Temu.

The question is whether this is just Ochama under a different brand name for the UK (which seems unlikely since the site shows a country selection drop-down that currently only shows the UK), whether this is a second brand (which would not be very cost-efficient), or whether we are seeing the beginning of a rebranding from Ochama to Joybuy. 

I have asked my JD PR contacts for comments, but they don't have an official statement yet. A week ago, I also notified them of a bit of 'cha bu duo' on their privacy page, where they misspelled their name ('Jindong' instead of 'Jingdong') ... it's still there.

There have been no comments, but I will keep you posted as the story unfolds.

Meanwhile, Tech Buzz China will soon publish a two-part report about JD's venture into food delivery in China. Stay tuned!

-Ed